Dubois, Wyoming

Coming down the from the Great Divide on the mud road over Togwotee Pass, I rolled into Dubois, Wyoming, population 962. Dubois (pronounced DU-boiz) sits in a valley along the Wind River framed by the Absaroka and Wind River Mountains, some fifty miles southeast of Yellowstone National Park. It began life as a ranching and timbering town and still retains an authentic western flavor. Butch Cassidy once lived on a ranch just outside of Dubois.





I was here to see friend Victor, who works at the local newspaper, the Dubois Frontier. Vic worked for years designing and building exhibits at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington. He is also a very prolific artist.



Several years ago Vic participated in an art show in Dubois and became enamored of its western aura and the surrounding mountains. When an opening came up on the four-person Frontier staff, Vic applied and got the job. He's now a jack-of-all-trades, serving as the sole staff writer, photographer, and layout person.



Vic has also become a mountain man. He has ranged the mountains and wilderness surrounding Dubois, mostly on foot. When he first went out to Wyoming for the art show, he stayed around for six additional weeks, camping miles off the main road in a remote area and spending his days climbing the mountains and roaming the forests.

We spent many hours talking about his new life in Wyoming, the west, and life in general. He showed me all around Dubois (didn't take that long) and the surrounding mountains and valleys, lakes and streams.

Vic showed me a place that I could take the RV and enjoy rent-free wilderness solitude. After spending two nights in Dubois, I spent two days and nights beside a remote lake, miles down a gravel road with snow-capped mountains looming in the distance -- the remotest spot I've ever been in the RV. It was absolutely silent there, and at night there was an amazing display of stars overhead. I was advised by several people to go armed with bear spray as grizzlies are known to inhabit the area. I did buy the spray, but there was never any chance that I'd wander too far from the safety of the RV, especially after dark, other than a for a few short hikes. I don't think that the RV would have been much protection from an angry grizzly anyway, but I felt better inside. I'd have to say that this has been my ultimate experience in the RV to date.






There are a number of Native American petroglyphs just a short walk from where I was camped. I wish I knew more about their origin. I'm not sure anyone knows for sure.




Serenity ...