e-tour Visits CORE Service Learning Project Team in Outlaw Country

July 2, 2010

Today we drove from Casper to Kaycee, in north central Wyoming and then into the Middle Fork of the Powder River Management Area. We met with a great bunch of young folks who were working with Wyoming’s Conservation, Outdoor Recreation and Education youth program (one of Leave No Trace’s Connect Grant recipients). They are doing a service project for the Bureau of Land Management: trail maintenance and eliminating social trails, trash collection, new interpretive signage, and many other projects to protect this beautiful canyon rim campsite and surrounding environment. It was inspiring to hear about how the group was living and practicing the basic tenets of Leave No Trace while actively engaged in healing the damaged landscape.

After our presentation, CORE participants prepare to hike into Outlaw Canyon.

The campsite is high on the rim of Outlaw Canyon and offers great views up and down the Middle Fork of the Powder River. Across the canyon, we could see the cave where various outlaws of the Old West, including the Sundance Kid, Butch Cassidy and the Hole-in-the-Wall outlaw gang, laid low after their episodes of banditry.

Our presentation turned out to be a couple of highly interactive hours with a good mix of dialogue and games. Before we departed, we watched as the group descended the steep trail into the canyon to swim, fish and explore. We could imagine the sense of accomplishment and pleasure that they felt, knowing that the improved trail was largely a product of their own efforts, and that they had contributed to preserving the integrity of this historic and awesome site for others to enjoy.

CORE Team Members Amber and Ed are ready to test their

fishing skills in the Middle Fork of the Powder River.

Our latest addition to define the “e” in e-tour is “electronic” (yes, if you are reading this, you are following us electronically).

Hope to see you on the road,

Peggy and Barrett