HIKING RETREAT IN CODY, WY

I took a weekend for a spiritual hiking retreat at Thomas the Apostle Center (TAC) just west of Cody. It's a small place with a wonderful host and hostess (they took very good care of me). In the "front yard" is this sculpture -- "My Lord and My God." Off in the distance is Heart Mountain (sort of hard to see because I wasn't focused on it). That small group of buildings in the background would be the Cody Airport; or, more correctly, the "Yellowstone Regional Airport -- Serving the World."
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Beginning the Hike

This is the range just to the west of the parking lot at the trail head. We didn't hike in that range, but just over those mountains is Yellowstone National Park.
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Crossing Clear Creek

We hiked the Clear Creek trail. We only went about 3-1/2 miles in. After that, it got sort of rough going. Besides, there was a nice spot for lunch. We had to cross Clear Creek twice. This was the first time.
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Necessary Equipment

This area of the country is Grizzly bear territory. Even on casual hikes you never know when you'll run into one. Consequently, everyone who ventures out into the back country is strongly advised to carry bear repellent. The can has instructions not to spray the stuff on you. Apparently some people thought that bear repellent was to be used like mosquito repellent. Darwinism at work . . .
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Why we carry Necessary Equipment

I didn't see any bears, but the point man did. He came over a rise that led down into Clear Creek when he happened upon a mama black bear and two cubs. Luckily she was too busy tending to her cubs to notice us. So, I never actually saw bears, just evidence that they were there.
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Cool Rock Formation

And this was just a cool rock formation that I saw on the trip.
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Wayfarer's Chapel

This is called Wayfarers Chapel. The priest who led the retreat had this place built a few years ago. As they were designing it, they discovered that it sat not far from a well-traveled Grizzly path. Turns out that they actually had one show up at church one day, but he wasn't interested in staying.
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So, that was the weekend. That part of WY is absolutely gorgeous, and I kept wondering who had the difficult task of deciding where Yellowstone ended. I've got more pictures that I'll put on here in a bit for your enjoyment.