Wyoming in mid November - good or bad idea? (Cheyenne: horses, cars)

[joden]

Hello!
My husband and I are driving cross country, from DC to CA, and would love to drive through and visit Wyoming. Is this a good idea in the middle of November? We are thinking about stopping for a few days at a ranch to enjoy the scenery and ride horses and just relax. Are we completely off kilter or is this feasible in November? The ranch we are interested in is in the northern / north eastern part of Wyoming. We understand it is not going to be warm but just how cold and is there going to be snow everywhere or only higher up? Any sun? Snowstorms? Should we focus on the southern parts instead or is the whole thing a bad idea?

Also, we drive a Volvo with 'mud and snow' tires. Is that good enough, or?!?

Please, anyone who has any advice I would appreciate it very much!

[imbobbbb]

Its really impossible to predict november weather.It could be 65 above one day and 10 below the next.It could snow like crazy monday and all melt by tuesday.Plenty of people drive cars comparable to yours all year,once you get off the main roads you could have some problem but most of the time in november you would be ok.Normally you will have plenty of sun in northeast wyoming.I would be more concerned about the weather on your route once you get west of sheridan.

[HighlandLady]

imbobbbb is right...weather in Wyoming is unpredictable at best. The best you can do is plan on wearing layers and just taking the drive slow. You'll either have balmy weather or a blizzard and it will be what you make of it either way

[sunsprit]

With the variability of Wyoming weather, it's also impossible to predict if any region will be "better" than another during this time frame. Southern Wyoming may be nicer or much worse than NE Wyoming at this time, as SE WY is at a higher altitude than the NE corner and has different localized weather patterns which will affect your recreation plan.

For us, if the weather is reasonably clear and the winds aren't howling, trail riding our horses can be a real pleasure at this time of the year. Even though the overall vegetation will be brown (except for the non-deciduous trees) and barren, you'll still have a lot of views and vistas of some pretty incredible country. As long as I can ride comfortably in long johns, levi's, and my chaps, with a layer or two of sweatshirts and a windbreaker pull-over, and a watch cap pulled over my ears ... I'm good to go. The limit of cold for me is when I can't keep my hands warm with thinsulate gloves or my toes warm with thin silk socks inside my regular socks and lace-up ropers; if I have to wear heavy gloves to ride, then I get concerned about being able to "feel" the rein for communication (I ride "natural" style with only a looped over lead rope on a soft rope halter). Some of our friends ride with wet-suit type foam guards across the front of their stirrups, which helps block the wind and insulates the toes a bit ... but I've never tried that equipment. We will ride on snowed-over trails if the terrain isn't too steep or rocky for footing after snowstorms, and it's generally pretty nice if the storm front has passed through and it's a sunny day. You don't have to ride a lot of miles to enjoy the ride and the horsemanship.

So, if conditions are reasonable and the ranch you're looking at staying has some good horses and trails around, I think it may yet be a good opportunity for you to ride. Of course, if the weather moves in ... it's an adventure to ride in a snowstorm if it's not too strong. We've been caught out as a light squall moved through and it wasn't too bad ... but our horses know the area and we were somewhat sheltered from the worst of the blowing snow by the trees along the trail. A lot depends upon your horses, the trails, the conditions, and your riding skills; if it's at all a good combination, then it could be some good riding unless the weather really closes in on you ... in which case, it's time to just settle in.

Your car is quite adequate for the roads around here until they become somewhat impassable to virtually all traffic. If the roads are closed due to storm conditions, it doesn't matter what you're driving ... you'd be best off to find a place to stay and get off the road until the conditions are cleared. It could be a matter of hours, it could be a couple of days ....

Be sure to have your winter travel road kit in your car. This has been a thoroughly discussed topic on the WY forum ... what to carry so you can be prepared for the winter driving conditions. Extra clothing, food/water, car emergency equipment, etc ... are all prudent things to have along "just in case". Keep in mind the distances between "towns" here can be desolate and without readily available services. It's not uncommon to have stretches of 80-100 miles between services or towns. And, I've seen in the newspaper that the WyHighwayPatrol has decided this year to try to reduce accidents along certain known areas of the highways this winter ... by more aggressive speed enforcement, and earlier/more frequent road closures when conditions deteriorate. We're expecting to see I-80 closed more readily in response to bad conditions on certain portions, like the passes between Cheyenne/Laramie, or Laramie/Rawlins, where accidents due to conditions and "excess speed" for them have historically been a real problem ... especially with the mix of heavy truck traffic and passenger vehicles on these roads.

Have fun on your trip; sounds like quite the adventure.

[joden]

Thank you all very much for your replies- the info really helps!!