(Laramie, Wyo.)—Walden—Rand—Junction US 40 (Granby); State 127 and State 125. Wyoming Line to Junction US 40, 80.3 miles. Graded and graveled road; poorly maintained. Route paralleled by Laramie, North Park & Western R.R. between Wyoming Line and Walden. Accommodations limited between Rand and Cabindale.

This route follows the North Platte River southward across North Park, a circular sloping valley walled in by lofty mountains. From an altitude of 7,700 feet near the Wyoming border, the park, approximately 40 miles in diameter, rises gradually to 8,700 feet at its southern extremity. The upper slopes are covered with sagebrush and scrub oak, but on the well-watered bottomlands grows wild hay. The park has always been a grazing ground, and certain place names, such as Bull Pen and Cow Lodge, are literal translations of Indian names given them when the region was dark with slow-moving buffalo herds. Their presence brought trappers and hide hunters, who named the park Buffalo Pasture, although it was also known as New Park, to distinguish it from South Park. Later, when Middle Park became well known, the name was changed to North Park. Hunters were followed by prospectors, who found gold, coal, and other minerals in the surrounding mountains.

Lieutenant John C. Fremont, who visited North Park in 1844, said of it: "The valley narrowed as we ascended and presently descended into a gorge, through which the river passed as through a gate—a beautiful circular valley of thirty miles in diameter, walled in all around with snowy mountains, rich with water, and with grass, fringed with pine on the mountain sides below the snow and a paradise to all grazing animals." Although the park's reputation as a natural game land has led to considerable exploitation, there is still good fishing and much small game.

State 127, traversing the northern end of the Medicine Bow Mountains, crosses the WYOMING LINE, 0 miles, 27 miles southwest of Laramie, Wyoming (see Wyoming Guide). Near the line the clear lazy North Platte River winds across the valley in a series of intricate loops. The wild beauty of mountains here accounts for the ancient belief that the hills were the abode of spirits. The route passes KINGS CANYON, 5.6 miles, a shipping point on the Laramie, North Park & Western Railroad, and winds through a gap. In spring the landscape is a tapestry of greens and blues; in late summer and fall it becomes a field of matted gold. A log blockhouse (L), 9 miles, built in 1876 by James O. Pinkham, a pioneer, was used as a refuge during numerous Indian uprisings. Pinkham panned gold in near-by hills, and his tales of rich placers brought other settlers into the valley.

At 9.5 miles is the junction with State 125, which the route now follows.

COWDREY, 14 miles (8,000 alt., 25 pop.), a village of log houses, is an outfitting point for fishermen on their way to the North Platte and its tributary, the Michigan. South of Cowdrey the road follows the Middle Fork of the North Platte, which meanders through high meadowlands. Above the green valley, slashed by the silver arabesques of the river, rise (L) monoliths of rose granite, resembling grotesque sand dunes.

BROWNLEE LOADING STATION, 20.2 miles, is a shipping point for products of the North McCallum Oil Field.

Left from the station on an improved road to NORTH McCALLUM, 3 miles, a recently developed oil field, its chief claim to distinction being an ICE CREAM WELL. Here at a depth of 5,000 feet drillers struck a mixture of oil and carbon dioxide gas having a temperature of 136° below zero. Even on the hottest summer day the machinery, pipe lines, and derrick are covered with a thick coating of pale yellow frost resembling lemon sherbet; it has been found impossible to reduce the gas to dry ice.

The highway crosses the MICHIGAN RIVER, 28.8 miles, a tributary of the North Platte, where (R) a small gray building houses machinery to regulate the flow of water for irrigation purposes. Water measurement is of much importance along the North Platte because it is an interstate stream over which Colorado and Wyoming have engaged in extensive litigation.

WALDEN, 23.5 miles (8,300 alt., 284 pop.), is at the junction with State 14 (see Tour 2).

RAND, 49 miles (8,900 alt., 100 pop.), named for J. A. Rand, a frontier scout, is a starting point for fishing trips along the Illinois River and tributary streams.

Left from Rand 20 miles to the SITE OF TELLER, accessible only by pack horse. This town was founded after a silver strike in 1879, and within a year its population exceeded 2,000. Lack of transportation prevented profitable development, and the mines were soon abandoned. Timbers of collapsed houses mark the site.

The highway traverses rolling sagebrush-covered foothills, crosses the northern boundary of Routt National Forest, 54 miles (see Tour 7b), and climbs the Rabbit Ears Mountains by way of WILLOW CREEK PASS, 59 miles, a densely forested rocky gorge at the boundary between the Routt and Arapaho National Forests. The timbered slopes at these altitudes abound in bird life. The three-toed woodpecker, the ruby-crowned kinglet, and the purple finch are perhaps less in evidence than the noisy Rocky Mountain jay. This friendly but mischievous bird is dubbed the "camp robber" for its habit of pilfering small articles left in the open. In its nests have been found rings, keys, silver coins, even watches.

South of the pass the route winds through Willow Creek Valley, hemmed in by towered hills. The GILSONITE RANGER STATION, 62.9 miles, is summer headquarters of the rangers. At intervals are seen traces of abandoned corduroy roads, relics of early logging days. The highway crosses the southern boundary of Arapaho National Forest.

At 80.3 miles is the junction with US 40 (see Tour 7b), 3.6 miles west of Granby (7,935 alt., 90 pop.) (see Tour 7b).