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Night at the White Wolf Saloon

Published August 28, 2019

I, Bernie Harberts, did not use generative AI to write or illustrate this article. Spell check and grammar check, yes. AI, no.

I walk across deserts with mules. I drink beer in saloons. Last night I ended up sitting across from a bottled alien talking mules and Wyoming with Carl and Diane Strode. They own the White Wolf Saloon.

Carl and Diane Strode owners of the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas, Wyoming with a pickled alien from Devils Tower.
Carl and Diane Strode: White Wolf Saloon proprietors. The pickled alien is from Devil’s Tower.
Creepy top hat ghoul mannequin welcoming guests at the entrance of the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming.
Welcome to the White Wolf Saloon: never accept candy from a ghoul with a top hat (though a beer is okay).

I don’t carry beer on saddle trips. It weighs too much. In fact, I don’t carry much to drink at all: 2 – 3 quarts of water is about all I travel with. It’s that weight thing…

Mule Brick loaded with pack gear including a water bottle during Bernie Harberts cross-country mule ride through Wyoming desert.
Brick and her pack gear. All up, she carries just over 100 pounds. That includes water. Here you can see the 2 quart plastic bottle I carry water in. It’s hanging behind the yellow strap picket. It’s an iced tea bottle given to me by Suzan and Jeff Kendall earlier in the week.

All of which is my way of saying, when I get out of the desert after a week of traveling from small communities to wind mills in search of water, I’m thirsty.

Thirsty for some frosty hop-y goodness.

There’s a reason that when the pioneers built a settlement in these desert regions, the first thing they nailed up was the saloon.

Thing is, these days, when a community expands, it’s usually in a look-alike wave of corporate eateries:

Not so the White Wolf Saloon. It’s funky, hand crafted and just a little bit creepy. The perfect place to drop in for a mug o’brew after a week of scrounging water in the desert.

Bernie Harberts and mules riding toward a windmill in the Wyoming desert in search of water during cross-country mule ride.
Aiming for a windmill. The mules and I rely on windmills for water in these water-less stretches. It can be a nerve wracking riding through a land with names like Poison Creek and Buzzard Gulch wondering if the water you find will be good…

Carl and Diane bought the bar, listed on eBay as a haunted bar in Wyoming, 11 years ago. At the time, they were living in a log cabin in South Florida, outside Miami. Diane had worked 31 years in a vet clinic. Carl was a teacher and coach. Diane says their cabin was, “filled with all kinds of stuff like mounted mako sharks.”

They bought the bar and a home in Douglas. The bar was a nondescript watering hole. They soon changed that. They bought timbers from a bar going out of business, nailed up barn boards for interior siding and moved their collection of stuff from Miami to Wyoming.

Exterior of the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming a funky handcrafted bar visited by Bernie Harberts on cross-country mule ride.
The White Wolf Saloon

Here are some photos of the White Wolf Saloon. A very cool place to slake a thirst or vampire. Well, that rubber chimpanzee mask starts looking like a blood sucker after a pint of Ten Fidy (as in 10.5 percent alcohol)…

Miner and dog display greeting guests at the front door of the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming.
A miner and his dog greet you at the front door.
Quirky interior decor and bar seating inside the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming.
Don’t worry, you don’t have to drink alone. Not that that was a problem. Within minutes of sitting down at the bar…
Tom Fuller at the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming encountered by Bernie Harberts for the third time on cross-country mule ride.
…I ran in to Tom Fuller. This is the third time I’ve run across Tom. The first time he passed me in his RV outside Ansely, Nebraska, 370 miles ago. Then Friday we met outside Douglas. Tom was in town hunting prong horn antelope with his friends. Thanks for the drink Tom!
Sign inside the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming about the owners not drinking their own bar stock.
Not everyone can drink at the saloon. “We don’t drink here,” says Diane. “You can’t have a sweet tooth and own a candy store.”
Stuffed alligator head mounted at the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming said to be Elvis from Miami Vice.
Remember “Miami Vice”? Diane says this stuffed alligator is said to be character Sonny Crockett’s alligator “Elvis”, from the series. She says it came of Don Johnson’s sailboat. It still looks cranky about having its head severed and mounted in a Wyoming bar.
Historic photo of bronco Steamboat bucking at the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas over 100 years ago.
Photo of bronco Steamboat doing his thing over 100 years ago at the Wyoming State Fair in Douglas. The mules and I are staying close to where this photo was taken. Steamboat is famous as being the bronco….
Bronco Steamboat on the Welcome to Wyoming road sign seen by Bernie Harberts on cross-country mule ride.
….that shows up everywhere in Wyoming. Here, on the welcome to Wyoming sign.
Humorous notice sign on the wall inside the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming.
I noticed you noticed the Notice.
Brahma bull mount on display inside the White Wolf Saloon in Douglas Wyoming.
Definitely a Bra-hma bull.

From Douglas, the mules and I head to Casper. Then it’s 100 miles of almost water-less desert to Lander. Out there in that dry land, when my lips start sticking and my eyes dry out, I’ll be daydreaming of my night at the White Wolf Saloon.

Thanks guys for the great time and empty plastic water bottles! The bottles will sure help us carry a bit more water in the desert ahead.

More about the White Wolf Saloon right here.

Vast open Wyoming desert landscape ahead of Bernie Harberts cross-country mule ride toward Casper and Lander.
The desert ahead.

More about the Two Mules to Triumph journey.

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2 Responses to Night at the White Wolf Saloon

  • Ed Ross on August 29, 2019 at 5:15 pm

    Sounds real interesting! I’ve come to the conclusion,with the exception of yourself, if one wants to do a long ride…they must be single,I’m married, and have a host of critters that need attention. I have 4 horses n 2 miles. So I usually end up going on week long pack trips.

    Reply
    • Bernie on August 29, 2019 at 5:45 pm

      Hiya Ed.
      Great hearing from you. Taking a long ride with a spouse means a lot of variables have to line up including willing spouse and care of one’s animals (if those are factors). I’m incredibly lucky. My wife Julia joined me on my last mule ramble from Virginia to North Carolina and back.
      She’s staying home for this one to take care of Snookie the family dog.
      To read Julia’s take on why she’s not going on this trip, you might enjoy her article
      “Not Going This Time” and “Acknowledgement of Time’s Worth.”
      I think it’s great you’re taking week long pack trips. Sure there’s nothing like being gone for months but there’s also great value in being gone for a few days.
      All the best to you, your wife and your horses and mules.
      Happy Adventuring!
      Bernie

      Reply

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