What Fest, Riverside, WY
When Mags talked us into swinging by Riverside to see her place on our way to colorado we thought she was having a small show with a couple of local bands...turns out to be oh so much more!
We pull into Riverside and easily find the Bear Trap since its one of only about 5 buildings "downtown" and this day its the place to be. What fest is Wyoming's premiere music festival, and the Bear Trap and Riverside just happened to be this years venue. Throughout the day this sleepy little town transformed as people from across several states flooded into Riverside to see 35 bands and two dance troupes perform on 3 stages in and outside the bar.
We may not have known what we were getting ourselves into, but we sure were happy to have stumbled upon it. Mags can really throw a party and it was awesome to watch the local crowd come together to help pull things off seamlessly. By nights end the town of 52 people was overrun by at least 800 music fans...no wonder the locals were calling it Riverstock. Jen and I cant say we did much to help, but we certainly enjoyed the shows and all the food and drink Mags and her crew prepared. The bands ranged from bluegrass to rap (sometimes at the same time) and a bit of everything in between. Its fair to say that Wyoming has a fantastic music scene, and we had an amazing time!
Mags was able to take enough breaks to hang out a bit and show us a good time (as well as give us a tour of her ambulance, which she bout for catering but we think would make an awesome camper). The show went late but we finally stumbled inside and after getting the drunk guy who was spooning karma out of our bed, we called it a night. We were certainly a bit rough around the edges in the morning but took off for colorado before our judgement faded and we got talked into staying for day 2.
We drove over the Snowy Range scenic byway after hearing how beautiful the drive was the day before. It didn't disappoint either, and may be the most beautiful mountain pass we've ever driven- high alpine wilderness and antelope and other wildlife the entire way like we've only been able to reach after a day or two packing in. The bus took it on like a chap and the 10,800' summit is our highest to date. We will most certainly be coming back to spend some time camping and backpacking here in the future.
