Bonnie Patterson Fine Art: The Story Behind Those Mountains

Snowy Range, Wyoming

Small watercolor study

Any opportunity that comes my way to be in the Snowy Range of Wyoming is gladly taken! I love that area to the west of Laramie and just north of the Colorado border. But just how did I come to find out about the Snowy Range? Well, there's a story behind that.

As a young child, my family spent many wonderful occasions at a cabin in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Later some of my siblings and I attended a camp up in the Rocky Mountains near Estes Park, Colorado and my family enjoyed the time in the Rockies. So what were we to do the summer of '71 when Dad and Mom were unable to agree on where to go for summer vacation? Dad was longing for a return to the cabin in the Black Hills, but Mom wanted to go camping in the Rockies of Colorado. Much debate ensued for several weeks, but only a stalemate resulted. So my younger brother Robert and I decided we needed to come up with a compromise plan and present it to the parents. As we pored over the maps, we decided to try and locate a suitable camping spot that would be nearer to halfway between the Black Hills and the Rockies. We landed on the Snowy Range of Wyoming as a hopeful candidate. Being in the age before Google, we had limited information to go by, but cooked up as good a presentation as we could. Would you believe it? That was the deciding factor! Both parents agreed to give it a try and loved it! Many of us in our family have been there repeatedly ever since that fateful summer. I was blessed to have been there again this last July with my brother, his daughter, and two of my sons to hike Medicine Bow Peak.