Vedauwoo

Published June 11, 2016

Tent, backpack, will travel. Weekend plans.

Just like all camping treks, kicked off with a blood bath. Ash purchased $20 tickets to a way way way off-Broadway production of “Evil Dead the Musical”. Funny campy comedy where you wanna sit in the back row – to stay out of the SPLATTER zone. Cabin in the woods, college kids slaughtered one by one, audience blood spray – what’s not to like? HA!

Tickets are selling fast for the bloodiest, groovy-est show of the year…

“My wife and I came all the way from Memphis to see Evil Dead and it was worth every penny! We loved every minute of it! Amazing cast and gorgeous playhouse. Thank you for so much fun.” – Haywood E. via Facebook

Don’t get me wrong, it was a super fun night…but these nuts drove from Memphis? LOL>

Saturday a.m. start – destination: Vedauwoo, an hour west of Cheyenne. Goal: locate a camping spot early & get in a day hike. Super popular climbing spot. For us though, it was more – let’s go camping/how can we avoid west-bound traffic on Colorado’s east-west highway, I-70? one word: Vedauwoo.

Known to the Arapaho Indians as “Land of the Earthborn Spirit,” the rock formations of Vedauwoo (pronounced vee-da-voo) attract experienced climbers, campers and hikers. This area is conveniently located off Interstate 80 between Cheyenne and Laramie (exit 329) and for westbound travelers is their first introduction to the Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest and its more than two million acres of public lands.

I-25 North to Cheyenne, west on I-80 to Laramie. 28 camping spots – luckily, located an empty one…that would have never happened on a Saturday in Colorado.

The campground is composed of two loops, winding around the boulders, slabs and cliffs of the Vedauwoo rock formation which comprises 10 square miles of weathered Sherman granite. The vegetation is a variety of Limber pine, Engleman spruce, Douglas fir and Aspen. The general area was once used as a hideout for outlaws. Native Americans thought playful spirits piled up the boulders. All the tent sites are walk-ins and some of them are so secluded, one might feel the “outlaw’s spirit.”

big boulder terrain & wind – 2 biggest differences between Colorado & our northern neighbor. Scoped out a spot. Pitched our tents. Chucked 4 good sized rocks inside. Time for a day hike. Off-leash fun for the pups; easy 3 mile trek to Turtle Rock.

Green aspen-filled forest eventually gave way to rocky terrain. Pronghorn antelope & beaver, today’s wildlife count.

The rock making up Vedauwoo’s fantastic rock formations is the 1.4 billion year old Sherman Granite, which is some of the oldest rock in Wyoming. The uplift of the Laramie Mountains that began around 70 million years ago, exposed this rock. Younger and looser layers of rock and sediment have progressively eroded, and this continues today. The hard granite of Vedauwoo is made of large crystals of quartz, orthoclase, plagioclase, and some mica and is more erosion-resistant, resulting in unique, wind and water-sculpted forms.

Back at our campsite, restored Ash & Tom’s windblown digs…and the heavens opened. Piled into their 3-man & passed time with a deck of cards. Tick, tick, tick…hot dogs on the brain. Kept checking/rechecking, waiting ‘til we could evac & start a fire.

an old Nat Geo, twigs & 2-year old firewood – we have FIRE! Maintained a blaze, despite intermittent rain. SUCCESS!!

canned chili, not a huge fan…but fire-roasted hot dogs – FAAANNNTASTIC!

Better idea? Marshmallow s‘mores. Heck, YEAH! We should go camping EVERY weekend 🙂 Eventually abandoned our fire digs & tent-retreated from steady rain. Snug in my rug, held on to Ro ‘til he settled. Strong rain pelted outside. Nite fall.

6 a.m, clear skies & sunshine. Vedauwoo, pretty sweet spot (& only 2 hours away).

Evil Dead the Musical (The Bug Theatre)