The hike to Windy is not long, but an uphill climb. You can drive the 4 wheel dirt road to a parking area, which cuts out a few miles. But for some reason I hadn’t yet hiked to the top…either there was still snow, or it was too hot, or the bears were using it in the fall. There’s still White Bark Pines that are living up there and its bear area when the nuts are ripe.
But finally after 5 years I made the trek. The view is a great 360 and that’s why there used to be a fire lookout there.
Foundations of old lookout tower
The Beartooths still had snow on them.
Beartooths
The most wonderful highlight of this hike, aside from the views, is the old outhouse. Try imagining going to the bathroom here! I wouldn’t even get close, though for the ranger there was no clean-up!
Outhouse on cliff edge!
Another view
An old crude telephone line still had the poles standing. Its really quite a ‘hump’ to the top so I can imagine the pack horses carrying all this stuff up there, including the concrete. Probably built by the CCC I would guess (when just about all the country infrastructure was built). A surveyor’s marker from the 30’s said ‘Do not remove or there’s a $500 fine’. That’s a lot of money then.
Old telephone line poles
Telephone line into the distance
Although the map shows a clear trail leading north into another drainage called Reef Creek, the trail was not visible on the way up. I’ve been trying to find that route from the Reef Creek side so I kept my eyes open. There was no clear trail, but by bushwhacking a bit, we found the link and several hundred feet away a trail opened up. I’ll be hiking that this fall!
Filed under: Cody Environs |
Leslie Patten Books: Wild Places, Sacred Spaces 
I have seen a lot of odd, interesting outhouses in my time, especially in the Ontario Crown lands, where an “outhouse” may not be a structure at all, rather just a toilet seat mounted over a small scooped out divot in the ground. No walls, but it saves one from having to squat. This one, however, wins the prize. Squatting may take on an upward rating when compared to this one.
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