2008 Wrangler National Finals Rodeo

Wyoming's talented video program manager Mike McCrimmon delved into the national finals day tapes to find all the best action and combined it with music from the new AC/DC – CD “Black Ice.” We used the song War Machine and I think you’ll agree it suits well with what these athletes are put through over ten grueling days.

Lil' Wyoming Yodeler

Cora Rose Wood was five years old when she performed with her mom, Laurie, at the Grand Encampment Cowboy Gathering in Encampment, Wyoming in 2007. Cora, and her big hat, sings “Daddy Was a Yodelin’ Cowboy” to an appreciative crowd. The young girl had not yet found her falsetto voice but she sure gives it her best cowgirl try. She’s gotten the knack now and will compete in the youth division at the National Western Yodeling Championship in Albuquerque, New Mexico later this month. More information is available from the family website: www.woodwesternmusic.com

Chris LeDoux Tribute Park

The guitar-shaped base stonework is completed and fund raising is well ahead of schedule for the life plus quarter-sized bronze that will be set as centerpiece of Chris LeDoux Memorial Park in Kaycee, Wyoming. Project Coordinator Pam Kinchen says she has contacted sculptor Michael Thomas of Buffalo, Wyoming to tell him the timetable is being moved up in order to open the park by next fall. Thomas’ work “Good Ride Cowboy” in tabletop form has been used as the primary fund-raising tool. It depicts hometown hero LeDoux riding the horse “Stormy Weather” to a world championship in 1976. Chris LeDoux moved on to a successful music and concert career, selling more than six million records. He died of a rare form of cancer in 2005. The annual LeDoux tribute pro rodeo, art show and concert is Oct. 31- Nov. 1 in Casper. More information on it is available by going to: www.wyomingtourism.org

Yurt-to-Yurt

A well developed yurt-to-yurt winter camping system near Evanston extends over a wide swath of trails that are, for the most part, designed to be traveled in non-motorized fashion by skinny ski or snowshoe. Five comfortable units comprise the system that covers pristine landscapes along the southwestern Wyoming and Utah border – 90 minutes from the airport in Salt Lake City. Overnight charges range from $30 during the week to $60 weekends. The Evanston Parks & Recreation Dept. handles the system. More information and reservations available at: www.evanstonoutdoors.com/yurt or by calling: 307.789.1770.

Wyoming's Miss Congeniality

Wyoming’s state tourism office is completing its third year of sponsoring professional rodeo athletes who call Wyoming home and have qualified to compete at the national finals. A new addition to the list is a Wyoming-bred and raised horse that goes by the name “Wyoming’s Miss Congeniality.”

Favorite Fall Hikes

Fall can be fleeting in the American Rockies but when it cools the day and colors the leaves there is little that compares to filling your lungs with the fresh air of a Wyoming short hike in autumn.