Extremes In Weather Out West

Rain, snow and fog closed in on us as we traveled westward through the Bighorn Mountains along US Highway 16 in northern Wyoming on August 14, 1978. Eight of us guys, known collectively as "The Fussum" (it's a long story so don't ask) were taking part in a two-week "whirlwind" tour of the west from our two vehicles. Our route featured stops at the Badlands, Black Hills, Devil's Tower National Monument, Yellowstone and Grand Teton national parks, Great Salt Desert, Carson City, Lake Tahoe, Yosemite National Park, San Francisco/Oakland and finally Reno. To show how temperatures can be extreme in a relative close proximity, just two days prior to when this photo was shot while we were in the Badlands of South Dakota, it was clear and 102 degrees!