Wild west trips offer a taste of native America

Operator view

Wild west trips offer a taste of native America

I WILL never forget the cemetery tour in Deadwood, South Dakota, where myths about wild Bill Hickok and Annie Oakley are told in a side-splitting monologue by a local guide.

Nor seeing the native American prayer bundles of feathers, sticks and cloth placed reverently at the base of Devil’s Tower National Monument in Wyoming.

Or the beauty of Logan Canyon in northern Utah and Red Canyon in southern Utah. The diverse landscape, the people and the culture in this part of the American West never falter.

Cowboy country

Then there are the simple, fun things like sitting astride a cowboy saddle for a tall beer at the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar in Jackson, Wyoming.

And the cowboy cookout, where the wranglers warn you to hold your tin plate with your hand under the apple sauce or it will be painful when they ladle on the hot baked beans. Best of all was the ice cream on the south rim of the Grand Canyon, a great place to enjoy a double-dip cone.

Stunning views

I was rewarded with expansive views since the trip began in Denver, two weeks earlier.

From the edge of the Great Plains and the traditional cowboy country of the Powder River in Wyoming, to the Painted Desert and the Great Salt Lake, I experienced many of the varied landscapes that make up most people’s fantasies of the Old West.

Changing scenes

It was good to sample contrasting cities, like Denver with its lively jazz clubs and Salt Lake City, with its history of the Mormon settlement. Home of the Mormon church, the magnificent temple and the tabernacle are well worth visiting.

Some of America’s classic national parks and monuments are also in the Rockies region.

The massive faces carved into Mount Rushmore National Park stand in contrast to the monument of Devil’s Tower, the crystalline basalt rising hundreds of feet above surrounding hills.

Yellowstone’s famed geysers would be dramatic anywhere. But with the bull elk and bison grazing as I viewed Old Faithful, the scene was unlike anything else I’ve experienced.

The wildlife is abundant in Yellowstone’s Hayden Valley. From one vantage point, I spotted a bison, elk, sandhill cranes, osprey and a coyote.

I was excited to be the first to spot a pronghorn antelope – and dismayed four hours later when we’d seen hundreds of them.

Product factfile

The tour: Cosmos has a 16-day National Parks and Canyon Country tour from £1,295. It includes a guide, sightseeing and excursions, accommodation and flights into Denver and out of Las Vegas.

Flights: with United Airlines from Heathrow via Washington; Delta from Gatwick via Cincinnati; Delta from Manchester via Atlanta; and American Airlines from Birmingham and Glasgow via Chicago.

States visited: Colorado, Wyoming, South Dakota, Utah, Arizona and Nevada.

Tour highlights: Denver, Cheyenne, the Black Hills, Mount Rushmore, Devil’s Tower, Cody, Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks, Jackson Hole, Salt Lake City, Bryce Canyon and Grand Canyon National Parks, Lake Powell and Las Vegas.

Accommodation: 14 nights in twin share accomodation with private facilities.

Departures: from May 3 to September 16, 2001.

Graham Mumford, Cosmos generalmanager for America and Canada, recalls some memorable encounters of the US Rockies on a research trip for theoperator’s National Parks and Canyon Country itinerary

Grand Canyon: a spectacular place to enjoy a double-dip cone

Rock Arch: shows Utah’s diverse landscape