Thinking of relocating to Lander.... would appreciate info on city, climate, things to do (where to live, town)
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You didn't say where you were in MN so I picked Grand Rapids. If you compare the weather charts on these two City-Data webpages you will see that..
Lander is warmer year round.
Lander gets less percipitation especially in Summer.
Lander has significantly lower humidity except around Dec-Jan.
Lander has much lower wind speeds all year round.
Lander has less snow fall most of the winter but has a higher peak around April.
Lander has more sunshine year round.
Lander has fewer cloudy and partly cloudy days year round.
For enjoyment of the outdoors, if you take the Sinks Canyon Road #131 SW out of Lander there are some really nice campgrounds only 6 miles from town. The canyon is lined with stone cliffs and buttes that are a lot of fun to climb with varying degrees of difficulty. Which is probably partially why the National Outdoor Leadership School has one of its bases there. NOLS - National Outdoor Leadership School
If you continue up the the Sinks Canyon Road up the switchbacks it becomes Louis Lake Road, you will enjoy some great scenary going up the switchbacks and find three other lakes with campgrounds before you get to Louis Lake. All of these lakes are small but very pretty, Louis Lake is the largest and as I recall has some nice little beaches on the East side. There are also cabins and a lodge for rent in the area. Louis Lake Lodge in the Wind River Mountains near Lander Wyoming
These lakes are too cold in summer to enjoy swimming, but they make for a nice really refreshing quick dip in the mornings.
There are also numerous other lakes a short hike back from the Louis Lake Road.
FYI - it takes a full year to establish residency in Wyoming. Meaning you will pay out of state fees for any hunting or fishing you do during that time period.
Thanks to all of you who have replied to my questions.
I hadn't checked back in recently as I hadn't heard back from the people in Lander regarding the job I was looking at...... But, finally got an email back today that the position is still open so Lander is definitley back in play.
I just don't know about the winters.... Northern MN winters really really have taken it out of me. Cold, damp, crappy weather basically from Dec. through End of April (this year snowed just last week) Anybody able to comment on winters in MN compared to Lander???? any transplants able to comment????? Please tell me that there is a signif. difference and it will help me to feel better about relocating.
I think the area looks spectacular and could really see myself enjoying all that there is to do.... just not so much in the winter.
Thanks again!
Deerdoc
well that is something I can comment on, having lived in both places
Snow can happen more months out of the year in Wyoming but it doesn't last... and it's not as bitterly cold in Lander as it is here in Northern MN.
Yes you can, and likely will see snow into June in Wyoming.. but again, it doesn't last.. more of a picturesque snowfall at higher elevations. The growing season is shorter there, so if you garden you have to plan accordingly. Just always have a warmer coat handy. I thought Lander's winters were a piece of cake compared to my native MN. Less humidity and less snowfall. .. bit more wind though, but Lander's the least windy of the cities thereabouts.
You'll have to let us know if you land the job! Have you been out there to actually visit?
Thank you so much for your input on the Lander winters.
I was able to have a phone conversation with the people offering the "job" in Lander.
It sounds dubious at best with alot of risk on my part and involving some bussiness backround which they don't teach in medical school. So..... I have some thinking to do regarding whether to pursue this further, or not.
I appreciate all of your comments. I'll keep you posted on what happens.
By the way CptnRn, you hit the nail on the head with GR.
I've lived in Lander since 1996 so I think I have some insight to answer your question. The hunting and fishing are good - fly fishing is excellent through the summer. Hunting is big around here. Winters are definitely better than where you're from, but still long. Spring is cold and wet, summer and fall are great. If you are not used to small town isolation, that may turn you off. The closest "big" city is Casper, 2 l/2 hours away (box stores like Home Depot, etc.). The closest REALLY big city is Salt Lake (4 l/2 hours away). However, if that isn't important to you, you'll like it fine. Real Estate is pricier here than in Riverton, which is only l/2 hour away.
Hi everyone, I too am probably moving to Lander but from the suburbs Chicago,Illinois. I am terrified to move, I am not an out door person, I'm completely scared of the crazy wild animals, and like the OP I'm nervous for the winters. I only weigh 112 so Winters suck for me But my fiance is a crazy mountain man, and has been offered a job through NOLS and also an EMT job out in Lander. Any suggests on how I can remain the city girl I am? I don't want to leave in the open, I feel more safe and secure in a city setting, is there anything like there near by? I've never been to WY, farthest west I've gone is Rapid City,SD.
Help?
-Jenna
Hi everyone, I too am probably moving to Lander but from the suburbs Chicago,Illinois. I am terrified to move, I am not an out door person, I'm completely scared of the crazy wild animals, and like the OP I'm nervous for the winters. I only weigh 112 so Winters suck for me But my fiance is a crazy mountain man, and has been offered a job through NOLS and also an EMT job out in Lander. Any suggests on how I can remain the city girl I am? I don't want to leave in the open, I feel more safe and secure in a city setting, is there anything like there near by? I've never been to WY, farthest west I've gone is Rapid City,SD.
Help?
-Jenna
Seriously, you need to visit Lander to discover for yourself if you can visualize living in such a place.
For a "crazy mountain man", it may be a wonderful experience ...
BUT
for a "city girl" ... you will be very removed from your entire comfort and support zone. Other than having a place to live with a roof over your head, there's simply nothing about Lander that will match what you've come to expect as normal/routine for shopping/entertainment/recreation/medical services/access to culture/restaurants, or travel. You're coming from a major metropolitan city in the large Midwest population zone to a small town that's fairly remote.
You'll need to be much more independent and self-reliant to enjoy living in Lander than Chicago. Only you can assess if that transition will be satisfactory to you, there is nothing in the region that compares to the city experience. Even the two largest "cities" in Wyoming just top the charts at 50,000 population, which isn't even a suburb density population found in Chicago metro area. The closest large cities to Lander would be Denver or Salt Lake City, some distance away where you'd travel the better part of a day to reach them in good weather conditions ... and your only real option to reach them is by your own car, not public transportation; neither of these cities has a fraction of the Midwest population density around them and the supporting large areas of city development.
You can literally drive from the outskirts of Lander's developed area through town to the other open area in a matter of 10 minutes or so ... it's that small and isolated, and it's a distance away from the next town. FWIW, that describes many of Wyoming's towns ....
Hi everyone, I too am probably moving to Lander but from the suburbs Chicago,Illinois. I am terrified to move, I am not an out door person, I'm completely scared of the crazy wild animals, and like the OP I'm nervous for the winters. I only weigh 112 so Winters suck for me But my fiance is a crazy mountain man, and has been offered a job through NOLS and also an EMT job out in Lander. Any suggests on how I can remain the city girl I am? I don't want to leave in the open, I feel more safe and secure in a city setting, is there anything like there near by? I've never been to WY, farthest west I've gone is Rapid City,SD.
Help?
-Jenna
You need to visit there, I think you will find that most of your fears are unfounded. Crazy wild animals rarely ever come into town, they prefer to avoid people. I only saw one deer in town when I went to high school there. Lander is a very, very safe place to live, violence is almost non-existent compared to most parts of Chicago. Parents can let their kids wander around the streets of Lander and have very little to worry about.
It is not the urban experience you are used to but its not "out in the open" either unless you live outside of town. Living in town is a lot like the suburbs but not as many mom & pop stores. There is no bus service, but you can easily walk or bicycle from one end of town to the other. There are no large shopping centers but you can still find most of what you need in local stores and order the rest off the internet. You will need to learn to dress differently to be comfortable in winter time, think layers. There are lots of people at NOLS who can help you with that. Entertainment usually revolves around spending time with your friends, sometimes going out to a dance, dinner, fair or rodeo, or camping with a friends in near by in Sinks Canyon or at one of the lakes above Lander.
Wyoming in general and Lander especially has some really beautiful natural areas that Chicago does not. There are some great restaurants in Hudson, Wyoming near by, such as Svilar's Bar & Dining Room, Svilar's Bar & Dining Room - Lander - Hudson | Urbanspoon Lander has a lot of new restaurants that were not there when I lived there, so there are a lot more options these days.
When you really start missing the City you can drive to Denver for a weekend.
Since leaving Lander, Wyoming I have lived in Pheonix, Los Angeles, Denver, Austin, and I still consider Lander a great place to live.
Hi everyone, I too am probably moving to Lander but from the suburbs Chicago,Illinois. I am terrified to move, I am not an out door person, I'm completely scared of the crazy wild animals, and like the OP I'm nervous for the winters. I only weigh 112 so Winters suck for me But my fiance is a crazy mountain man, and has been offered a job through NOLS and also an EMT job out in Lander. Any suggests on how I can remain the city girl I am? I don't want to leave in the open, I feel more safe and secure in a city setting, is there anything like there near by? I've never been to WY, farthest west I've gone is Rapid City,SD.
Help?
-Jenna
It's hard to follow a couple of good posters on a question or concern like this, but let me throw my hat in the ring.
I was born and raised in a town of 1500 people. I thought I was in heaven because we had 2 grocery stores, a lumbar yard, a couple of parts stores, 2 car dealers, one which had an exibit of cars, the other had one car and you could order what you wanted.
I had x number of friends.
I moved to a town of 50,000 and had 20 car dealers, 20 grocery stores, 10 lumbar yards. I found 2 car dealers that I liked, I found 2 grocery stores I would deal with, I found one 1 lumbar yard I would deal with. I had x number of friends and the number of firends, hadn't changed.
I moved to a town of over 2 million people and I won't even go into how many car dealers, grocery stores and such were there. But I still only had about the same number of friends.
It wasn't the town, it was me. I moved back to a small town. I know everybody, they are my friends. I don't know of anybody around here that wouldn't help you if you broke down, were without heat during a power outage, couldn't plow your driveway, dig out your home during a snowstorm, give your kids a ride, or help you in any way. I'd have to say, in a small town, you'll have much better quality friends then you have ever had in any city. You will actually have more than you don't even know about. Should you break down, you'll have people pull up and say, "I've saw you, you live over on such and such, jump in, we'll get you some help."
But in any town, be it here or anywhere you might be, you still have to be guarded. It's much the same as they will be when you first get there. Just give it a little time and you'll be fine.
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But my fiance is a crazy mountain man, and has been offered a job through NOLS and also an EMT job out in Lander. Any suggests on how I can remain the city girl I am? I don't want to leave in the open, I feel more safe and secure in a city setting, is there anything like there near by? I've never been to WY, farthest west I've gone is Rapid City,SD.
