It's all About the CCC

Great luncheon today in Cheyenne speaking to the Rotary Club on my favorite subject.

I remind myself of a dapper looking, old guy

You guessed it, The Civilian Conservation Corps and the Building of Guernsey State Park.

Order or take a look at the book here

After the drive back to Guernsey what did we do? Well rested for a bit and then off for a hike in the park. 

We took the upper loop of the Red Cliff Trail - the shorter trail

Seems like we just can’t stay away. One of the many things we love about the park is the unexpected, whether it be an opportunity for a super photo

Sun splashed - Photo from Red Cliff Trail

or maybe a C-130 flying over Round Top Mountain.

Interesting photo

This time of year the park is stunning with the changing of colors and the warm days have made it a delight to take a walk in the park.

Great color as the sun sets over the park

Work in the Park

Now that summer has ended, there is a lot of construction going on in the park, Not many people visiting the park and some nice long days has made it great for working in the park.

On the west side, work has begun on Brimmer Point Road. It is being reworked to make it again drivable to the top parking lot.

Guernsey side closure - near the beginning of Red Cliff Trail

On the east side, most of Lakeshore Drive is closed. Driving in from Guernsey visitors can access the dam and spillway area and Red Cliff Trail. Coming in from Hartville only the Long Canyon area is accessible.

Just beyond the Long Canyon turn-in

Park Superintendent Todd Stevenson reported at the last Friends of the park meeting that workers would be shoring up some areas where the road is sluffing away and that work would also be done on some of the parks old CCC culverts.

Most never notice the CCC culverts, but they are most impressive.

According to locals, all work should be finished by the first of the year.

Nice time of year for wildlife viewing in the park

Right now the lake is low, nearly as low as it is during the annual silt run, I would guess this helps with the work along Lakeshore Drive.

West Sandy Beach area on a foggy morning this week

This time of year is great for hiking in the park, lots of colors and perfect temperatures.

Walk in the park colors

Get out and enjoy Wyoming's terrific Fall weather.

Long Canyon yesterday

Red Cliff Trail

Fall has reached Wyoming and Guernsey State Park. We had a great hike today, the air was cool and the wind was blowing, but it felt good to pull on the hoodie and some light gloves and spend an hour and a half in the park.

A splash of fall through the forest

Today we chose Red Cliff Trail, one of our favorites in the park, and coincidently, the only trail now reachable on the east side after crossing the dam. Lakeshore Drive is getting some updates and will be under construction until December. (Find work updates here soon)

Red Cliff Trail starts here

We parked in the small area west of the spillway and headed up the trail. We took the Museum loop first and then the Red Cliff loop past the site of Camp BR-9 of the Civilian Conservation Corps. The trail was in great shape and the fall colors were striking.

Civilian Conservarion Corps remains are all around

Every time we hike this area I marvel at the step work on the trail. This trail, like others on the east side, was built by the men of Camp BR-9. But the interesting thing about this trail is that it was likely the first established and experimental, also a trail that the men went back to when they had finished other projects. This trail alone may have as many of the huge stone steps as the rest of the trails in the park combined.

Huge steps and my favorite walking/hiking partner

Three sets of stairs along the trail

If you have not experienced this trail, give it a try, you will enjoy the exercise, the terrific views and like me, look in wonder at the work done by the CCC more than 80 years ago. And don't forget your camera.

These guys are always watching me, this time I was watching him 

Moon Over the Park

Spent a bit over an hour trying to get a few good shots of the super blood moon and the eclipse this evening.

A few minutes before the start of the eclipse as the early clouds lifted

Clouds made it tough at times as the moon appeared and disappeared a few times.

Just coming up over the horizon near the Castle

But what a nice evening in the park, great weather and nothing but he sounds of the park.

Nice start to the eclipse 

Nearly full

Town of Guernsey

Almost complete eclipse and a little of the Blood Moon look

We did see three other cars out and about in the park, hope they were enjoying it as much as we did.

Moon over the Gatehouse

Black Canyon

Saturday we spent some time in and around Black Canyon Cove and the Black Canyon Trail which is across Lakeshore Drive just east of the cove. I never fail to find something new, even after being in some of these areas dozens of times. The sun was warm and it was a beautiful morning. We didn't walk too much, my wife's step counter said a bit over 3,000 steps.

This is a great time of the year to experience the park, not too hot, not a lot of people and a good chance to get out and do something.

Hollow rock

View from the cove

Taken from up on top east of Black Canyon Cove - I like this one

Red twine on the shoreline

The trail less taken - the start of Black Canyon Trail

With much of the smoke cleared away the Peak once again looks spectacular

Forested area on the trail

Died of old age?

Cottonwoods are starting to show fall colors

Still some nice color in the park

Playing fetch - Yellow Lab with a giant stick

The Cove at Black Canyon - Relaxing
This is also the area I am using for my blog photo at the top of this page

Civilian Conservation Corps at Guernsey State Park

The time of the Civilian Conservation Corps CCC seems to be lost, or almost so, in history, Want to find out more? Take a look at my new book - The CCC and the Building of Guernsey State Park. The book contains nearly 200 photos, both new and historical from the 1930s. It is also full of information about the Corps with many stories about the park, some in print for the first time.

Click this link to take a look, and thanks.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal was a file cabinet full of programs with one common goal; pull America out of the Great Depression. The programs were designed to produce economic growth through job creation, relief through government jobs, and reform with new regulations for transportation, banking, and Wall Street.  Unquestionably, the centerpiece of all the New Deal programs was Social Security and its long reaching benefits to the nation’s retired citizens.

What follows is a brief excerpt from the book, chapter 1, page 3. 

The North Bluff Castle built by the CCC

But the Civilian Conservation Corps and the jobs it would create was, indisputably, FDR’s favorite of the programs created within the framework of the New Deal. He was excited to have a program fitting the two things he held most dear, tremendous environmental benefits with the preservation of many of our nation's natural resources. It also helped put together a jobs program, the human resource element, so needed in a depression locked America.

Walking up to the CCC Museum from the north steps in the lower lot.

Lake Shore Drive - Flags Flying

Interesting view high atop Lakeshore Drive

View without the zoom

Zoomed in view

On the red cliffs


Someone went to a lot of trouble to plant two new flags high atop the cliffs along Lakeshore Drive. I am never a fan of people leaving things in the park, but these are pretty cool. Not sure when they were placed, but I know they have been flying for several weeks now. I don't have the legs to go up and check them out so settled for these shots from the curve in the area of the diving board on Lakeshore.