Happy Trails Week 06 July 28 - August 4

Drove 101 miles.

We left Cody, Wy this morning after a fun night at the Rodeo wishing we had more time to spend in this neat town. But we had reservations at Yellowstone National Park so off we went.

The drive out of Cody was through the Shoshone Canyon and over Rattlesnake Mountain. We stopped for lunch at a picnic site along the Shoshone River in the Shoshone National Forest and then entered Yellowstone National Park through the east entrance.

It was 26 miles from the Yellowstone East entrance to Fishing Bridge Village where the RV park is located. I was stunned to find that almost the entire drive was through a burned out forest wasteland. And if that weren’t bad enough, there had been rock slides and the road was closed so that only one lane direction of traffic could pass at a time. It was a long 26 miles.

We learned later in the week that the 1988 forest fire burned over 36% of the forest and then the 2003 forest fire burned another large percent (the exact number escapes me). The National Park Service had been putting out the forest fires in Yellowstone for years when they discovered that in order for the forests to replenish themselves, fire was necessary because the Loge Pole Pines' pinecones are coated with a resin that prevents their germinating unless exposed to temperatures above 115 degrees F. Unfortunately the Park Service's "hands off" policy was a little too extreme after years and years of preventing wildfires from their natural progression so over half of the park forest was lost in just these two major fires. We have been told that the National Park Service has changed their policy now to a modified approach to wildfire management. Unfortunately, it will be many more years before the forests return to their former grandeur. The parts that burned in 1988 have naturally reseeded but the trees are only 5 to 6 feet tall and the burned out trunks of the old trees litter the forest floor while many burned out trunks still tower over the seedlings. It's an eerie sight.

The Yellowstone RV park was a pleasant surprise because the trees there had not burned and the sites, while close together were arranged with trees at each site giving a sense of privacy. We got a nice end site with a small wooded area right across from us.

Drove 23 miles.

Tim went fishing early this morning in Lake Yellowstone but because of the dry conditions this past year the fish population was way down so his expectations weren’t too great. And neither were his results.

We drove around the Lake area of Yellowstone a little later in the day to get our bearings. We stopped at the Visitor Center where we found display cases with the local birds stuffed. Can you believe they had a Yellow Headed Blackbird? Remember the bird I mentioned that we saw at the Visitor Center in Bighorn Canyon Recreation Area? So even though it isn’t real, I took a picture.

We also stopped at the General Store and looked around a little and went to Lake Village where the Lake Yellowstone Inn is located. We stopped at the registration desk there and signed up for a tour for Tuesday.

I wasn’t feeling well most of the day. I don’t know if it was Altitude Sickness or what but I had nausea, dizziness and a slight fever. Not pleasant.

Drove 110 miles.

I was still not feeling well but when yesterday the lady at the registration desk in the Lake Yellowstone Hotel told me that Altitude Sickness can last for a week, I decided I couldn’t just lie around waiting for it to go away or I’d miss all of our Yellowstone visit. The altitude hasn’t seemed to affect Tim at all, thank goodness. So today we got a somewhat late start then drove around the “Ring of Fire” touring the Hot Springs, Fumaroles, Mud Pots and Geysers. Did you know that Yellowstone is an active volcano that hasn’t erupted in 644,000 years? Oh, the things we learned! We went to Old Faithful and even took a movie of the eruption with the camera.

Back at the campsite we grilled chicken. We had to wait for the grill to cool so we could store it inside the trailer to avoid attracting the bears. The Rangers warned us to do this when we registered at the Campground.

Drove 41 miles.

Our plan today was to take a Photo Safari with Doug Hilborn. This was advertised as a tour with a professional photographer who would take us to some of the most popular sites for photos. It turned out to be about 100 times more than that. Wow! Doug not only took us to his favorite places to get shots of wildlife and vistas but also gave us lots of instruction on camera settings, etc. Then at the end of the morning he handed out a sheet of instructions he had put together for two additional scenic tours with directions on where to stop for the best photo opportunities. The first drive was out the East Entrance Road around through Cody up to Red Lodge, MT and back down the Beartooth Hwy to the Northeast Entrance Road back into Yellowstone; the other drive was south out of Yellowstone on Hwy 89 to the Grand Tetons. I think we may do both of them over the coming days.

We had to meet at the Lake Yellowstone Hotel at 5:45am for a 6:00am departure so the night before Tim set his watch alarm (we don’t have an alarm clock – it’s our vacation after all) for 5:00am. I woke up at 5:30am for some strange reason. Those who know me well know I’m not a morning person, but I guess I was excited about the tour. The watch alarm hadn’t gone off. So we rushed around like a couple of wild people and just made it to the Hotel by 6:00am. Whew!

We thought that we would be taking the Photo Safari in a van but we were pleasantly surprised to find that we were going to be shepherded around in one of the famous Yellow Touring Cars. This is the first year they have been reintroduced since they were discontinued back in 1936 in favor of large buses. The Panterra Co manages all of the facilities like hotels, restaurants, etc. in the Park. They bought the old vehicles from a company up in Canada a few years ago and arranged with Ford to have them restored. It cost Ford a lot more than they anticipated - $247,000 per vehicle!

First stop on the photo tour was The Fishing Bridge for a few shots of sunrise over the mountain in the background; then on to Pigeon Creek for scenes of Yellowstone Lake with grassy meadows in the foreground. It was here across the road that we spotted a Grisly Bear. Then on for some wildflower photos and a bathroom break. While earlier I thought the burned areas were so sad, I now learned how valuable the wildfires are to the sustained growth and health of the ecosystem in Yellowstone. Did you know that the Loge Pine pinecone is covered with resin that requires temperatures over 200 degrees to melt it off before the pinecone will germinate?

Anyway, after the break we headed north to the Lower Falls of the Yellowstone River and on the way we spotted buffalo in some hot springs so we stopped for a few photos before going on to the falls. After the falls we took yet another bathroom break (you see why I love this tour guide?) at the Canyon Lodge and then headed to his favorite spot, a climb up a couple of hills to where we could see out over a beautiful valley with Mt. Washburn (10,243’) in the background. Along the way we spotted Elk, Mule Deer, a Marmot, and many Buffalo.

Once back at the campground, I took a nap. Later we drove up by Hayden Valley to view the wildlife and ate dinner at the Canyon Lodge Cafeteria. On the way out of the campground we came across a buffalo walking right through the campground between the registration center and dump station

Drove 204 miles

We decided last night to do something different than what we had planned today. We got up early and packed some dog food and a change of clothes, put some drinks in the cooler, and headed back to Cody, WY for the drive up into Montana and then down into the North Entrance to Yellowstone. We had read about the scenic drive down through the Beartooth Pass but it wasn’t until yesterday when the photo safari tour director told us about this drive that we decided to do it. He quoted Charles Kuralt as saying “it is the most beautiful drive in North America,” and he handed out a sheet with driving directions that gave all of the best photo shoot locations.

The drive as described in total was over 10 hours not allowing for stops so we decided to break it into two parts and drive east out of Yellowstone to Cody, WY and then north on Hwy 120 to 212 up to Red Lodge, MT today, spend the night at a hotel, and then drive down through the North Entrance of Yellowstone Park tomorrow. Breaking the drive into two parts allowed us to spend a little more time in Cody, WY. We only camped there one night while on our way to Yellowstone from the Big Horn Mountains. Tim had wanted to go to the Buffalo Bill Historical Center, a huge western museum and I had wanted to go to the Sierra Outlet Store and to some of the shops downtown, but there hadn’t been time.

So early in the morning we drove back out of Yellowstone on the East Entrance Road, about a 26 mile drive from the Fishing Bridge RV Park where we were staying, and then back the 52 miles through the Shoshone National Forest to Cody, WY. We were delayed in Yellowstone by road construction but finally arrived at Cody at 11:00am where we parted ways for two hours and met up again downtown for lunch at a nice Italian restaurant. Tim said he only got to see about 1/3 of the museum but what he did see was incredible. There was one whole wing dedicated to historical firearms! And another wing that was a Natural History Museum. Meanwhile I found a pair of hiking shoes that I needed and a Betty Crocker Cookbook – Cooking for Two. ? There were some really nice upscale shops with lots of western wear and western décor items. We both enjoyed our morning immensely.

The first part of the scenic drive took us north out of Cody on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. At first it was just a lot of scrub brush and harsh hills. But as we ascended in altitude the vistas became more and more impressive. Then we turned off of Hwy 296 onto Hwy 212 north into Montana up the drive that Charles Kuralt called the most beautiful road in America to the Beartooth Pass at 10, 947 feet.

We reached Red Lodge, MT at 5:30pm with the first priority being to find a hotel room. We had forgotten that this is the Sturgess Bike week. We did notice that there were a number of motorcycles driving up the Beartooth Highway but when we got to Red Lodge we found LOTS of bikes. We were lucky to get the last room at a Comfort Inn. We didn’t want to chance being turned away because of Sprocket so we snuck him in the back door.

After getting settled into the hotel we went back into town to walk around and find ourselves a place for dinner. We had a nice time looking in the shops but boy, I have to tell you, the shops here are really pricey. We found a nice coyote skin rug we liked for $4200. We would have gotten it but it was just a bit too big for the trailer. And if you believe that….well, we have some property for you in Florida. Ha ha!

We had dinner at a very nice restaurant, the Bridge Creek Backcountry Kitchen and Wine Bar. (How’s that for a name?) I had a cup of “10 Year Best” Clam Chowder. Who would have thought I would find the BEST clam chowder ever in Montana?!? I mean this put the clam chowder at the Clam Bar in Somers Point to shame! It was very rich with mushrooms and leeks along with the clams in a sherry and pepper cream base. Umm umm! For dinner I had a tenderloin steak. We are in Montana after all. Tim’s dinner was even better than mine though. (Yes, we are totally obnoxious tasting each other’s dinner. What can I say? Double your pleasure, double your fun.) He had Pork Tenderloins breaded and fried served over linguini with a sauce of olive oil, sun dried tomatoes, artichokes, chili flakes, pepper-dew, and black olives. Yes, I asked for the ingredients so I can try to make it. It was delicious – very spicy! After dinner we walked back through town only stopping at one place on the way – the Montana Candy Emporium. It was an old fashioned candy store with dozens and dozens of large bushel baskets of candies. So we bought a little chocolate for desert.

Drove 128 miles

After a free breakfast at the hotel, we stopped on our way through town (all five blocks) at the Beartooth Market grocery store to buy some of the locally brewed beer – Red Lodge Ales Hefeweizen. Tim had this beer for dinner last night and it was really good. Then we stopped in a photo shop we noticed, ostensibly to buy a polarizing lens for the camera but really we had to go to the bathroom. We also found another store we had visited last night and I purchased a T-shirt I had seen the evening before.

Once on the road we headed south back out the Beartooth Hwy through Cook City where we had lunch, then onto the Northeast Entrance Road, taking pictures all along the way. Tim thinks I’m becoming addicted to taking pictures of Buffalo! But they are just so fascinating to watch.

Once back at the campsite one of our neighbors came by to tell us that a coyote had attacked a small dog here in the campground this afternoon while it was leashed outside the camper and its owner was sitting right there only a few feet away. Then another camping neighbor came by and told us that only an hour before, the rangers had spotted a Grisly Bear in the campground and were driving around warning campers to be extra cautious. It started raining shortly afterward so we decided to be safe and just spend the rest of the evening inside the camper.

Drove 125 miles

Today we went to the last major geothermic area of Yellowstone – Mammoth Hot Springs in the northwest area. We took lots more pictures because the springs are just so unusual looking. After driving and walking all through the Springs area we had lunch at the Mammoth Hot Springs Lodge and then drove on back down by Hayden Valley again on our way home to the campsite.

When we got back, we took Sprocket and drove to three different trails looking for one that allowed dogs. The trail headers all had no dog postings, we guessed because of the bears and coyotes. The third trail we looked at was Natural Bridge Trail and it wasn’t until we were part way down the trail that we came to a no dogs posting so we chose to ignore it. And I’m glad we did because once we got to the Natural Bridge (about 3 miles) there were Marmots there and Sprocket was delighted. It was the most excited I’d seen him outside the car. Boy did he want to get a hold of that Marmot!

Drove 463 miles

We left Yellowstone National Park this morning taking the Southern Exit road which left Yellowstone and then shortly entered the Grand Teton National Park. As we drove through we stopped at strategic places and took pictures in the footsteps of Ansel Adams. Doug Hilborn, our photo safari guide had given us directions on where the best stops were along the way. Unfortunately, our photographic skills aren’t that good so the mountain vistas which were just breathtaking in real life, are somewhat washed out and are not nearly as spectacular in our photos as they were to the eye.

We drove south out of the Grand Teton mountains on Hwy 89 and 191 through Jackson, WY – a really neat looking town, down through Jackson Hole (so called because in the early frontier days, the trappers called valleys surrounded by mountain chains “holes”) and then along Beaver Creek until we entered the mineral rich desert of Wyoming. At Rock Springs, WY we got on the Eisenhour Interstate 80. It is called the Eisenhour Interstate because we learned that Eisenhour first envisioned an interstate hwy system across the country when as a young man in the army he had to cross the country on some military excursion and it took 62 days! Later as President in 1956 he got congress to pass a bill authorizing the Interstate Highway System.

We took Interstate 80 east to Hwy 789 south. The desert was completely featureless from horizon to horizon and went on mile after boring mile. The only wildlife we saw were antelope and mule deer. I did more than one Sudoku puzzle.

Late afternoon/early evening we finally exited the Wyoming desert and entered Colorado on Hwy 13. We drove on down to Craig where we turned east onto Hwy 40 for 17 miles until we reached Hayden where the Yampa River State Park is located. It is a “first come/first served” campground (no reservations) but we were lucky and there were still a couple of sites left even though it was after 8:00pm when we got there. For a State Park Campground, it was extremely nice. We had electric and there was a nice bathroom facility with a laundry, flush toilets, showers, and a front porch for rocking and just hanging out.