Sunday 30th
Traveling south we stopped in Sheridan for supplies and breakfast. Fully loaded, we continued east on I-90 till it splits and we traveled south on I-25 to Casper, then south on 287 toward Rawlins. We had picked out a campground (Grey Reef) at the Alcova Reservoir. The campground is not much, reminds us of the Three Rivers Campground in NM, way back when our adventure began (as we headed toward El Paso). We toyed with the idea of moving on, yet it was getting late so we decided to camp here.
As we were pulling into camp, we saw smoke a few miles north of where we would be camping. We did want to set up camp by the reservoir, yet when we could see the smoke we decided (for safety’s sake) to camp in the ‘no-frills’ campground. We were told a careless cigarette, indiscriminately thrown, started the fire. It is amazing – with all the fires in so many western states, that people are still so unconscious! By 8pm the “all clear” was given by the volunteer fire department, and we slept much more soundly, knowing the fire was out.
Alcova Reservoir, as it turns out, is one of the best trout fishing spots in the ‘lower 48’, according to the Fly Shop tour guide. He boasted there were “5200 trout per mile in this area”… job security. From some of the ‘trophy trout’ pictures hanging on the wall, it sure looks like a river full of very large trout. They offer lessons to the novice, & boat tours for beginners and experienced anglers alike, falling just short of guaranteeing at least a trout per day. So, if any of you out there are trout fisher-people, this might just be the place for you.
As for me, I do not fish… yet I did take a walk after dark to check out the full moon again. It was beautiful, not as spectacular as the last 2 nights on the South Tongue River, but still a good chance to practice night photography. The only place to set up a tripod was not in the most conducive spot and no reflection from the lake was possible. It was still a beautiful evening for a walk.

We left the truck hitched to Rosalita, as this was just an overnight stay in a ‘no-frills fire zone’, so we were off and driving by 10am the next morning. Heading south on 487, we traveled through Laramie and then returned to Curt Gowdy State Park for 2 nights, then we will head back to Lathrop on Thursday staying through Labor Day Weekend.