Oddly enough we ended up in Ten Sleeps exactly 10 sleeps from setting out on our journey. Ten sleeps was named because that was the halfway point between Fort Laramie and Yellowstone that was a journey of ten sleeps for the Sioux Indians. We ended up here after avoiding the cold of the Bighorn National Forest, we originally intended to stay up in the Bighorn mountains, but the forecasted cold and snow made us decide to drive a bit further through the mountains back into the prairie. We did stop for lunch up in the mountains, I found them quite beautiful and wished I could have stopped and enjoyed them for awhile
In ten sleep we stayed at a little campground on the edge of town, the location was fantastic but the campground wasn’t so nice, the bathrooms were just a bit rundown, but the owners were friendly.
The town however had some surprises, we arrived early enough to check out Dirty Sally’s market, this place had a little bit of everything, for a small town it had much more than I ever expected, including some of the rarer asian spices and sauces that I usually have to go to a specialty shop to find. We then headed over to the Sleepy Coyote for a drink and some snacks, this was a cool little bar and grill with a nice menu. The wings I had were excellent, and the brews from the local Ten Sleep brewery were top notch. I was disappointed we didn’t have time to stop by the brewery, it was outside of town and the location under the red cliffs looked interesting.
I later found out that this is a bit of a climbing mecca. This explains the local shops that seemed to cater to both the local rancher as well as someone with more progressive leanings. I found the city itself to be charming and a lot nicer than what I expected from a tiny town in Wyoming. So if you ever end up in the region, spend a night or two in Ten Sleeps and check out the Bighorn mountains.
