Yellowstone Lake

Fri, 6/27/08

Yellowstone NP, WY: We left our campground in Wapiti around 11:00 and headed to the west entrance of the park. What incredible scenery. Wild flowers are everywhere. We’re at the Fishing Bridge campground and Mike did such a good job with the reservation because he asked for a site on the periphery and we’re on the end of a loop surrounded by pines. It’s a great site. It’s as beautiful as a national forest campground but with water, electric, and sewer. No TV reception, no cell phone signal and no Internet though. After we got set up we drove around for a while. We’re within walking distance of the Yellowstone River as it comes out of Yellowstone Lake. A beautiful spot. Drove around Yellowstone Lake a little bit and stopped at the Yellowstone Lake Lodge. On the way there were a couple of bison in the road blocking traffic. Back to campground and Italian sausage sandwiches and three bean salad for dinner.

Blooming Cactus

Custer Battlefield

Wild Flower

Custer Battlefield

Yellowstone NP, WY: Got up this morning and did the laundry and cleaned the bathroom. Then I updated our expenses in my spreadsheet. We left Hardin, MT, around 11:00 and headed north on I90. We stopped around Billings and had some lunch, then continued on. On the outskirts of Billings we crossed the Yellowstone River with some pretty impressive sandstone bluffs. There are a lot of oil refineries in Billings which aren’t too attractive. We need more refineries though, but nobody wants them in their city. Just west of Billings we started seeing the Beartooth Mountains. Shortly after that we got off the highway and headed southwest along the Yellowstone River, following the river for quite a while. The river is very high and really cranking. The river valley is pretty, but beyond is a pretty desolate landscape with ridges and buttes covered in sage brush—and probably lots of rattle snakes. We went through Bridger, MT, named for mountain man extraordinaire, Jim Bridger. After Bridger we drove for miles and miles seeing nothing but huge ranches. Went through Cody, WY, which is a neat little town on the Shoshone River. Just outside of Cody the river flows through Shoshone Canyon which is incredible. We definitely will go back sans the fifth wheel. Our campground is at the Yellowstone Valley Inn just west of Cody. They have cabins, the inn, and have recently added a campground. Pretty nice place. Beautiful panoramic view of the mountains all around us. Had dinner in the restaurant there. We’re not even unhooking. Will leave tomorrow for our campground in the middle of Yellowstone. We’ll be in Yellowstone for 3 weeks.

Last Stand Hill

They shot their own horses to hide behind. The only survivor of "The Last Stand" was a horse named Comanche, ridden by Cpt. Myles Keough.

Little Big Horn, MT: A beautiful morning. We headed off to the Custer Battlefield. Mike planned this well, because today is the actual day of the battle that took place on June 25 in 1876. There were two Indian groups on their ponies that did a mock charge on the hills around the battlefield. And the battlefield is spread over a large area. We drove/walked the route through the battlefield where markers were placed where soldiers and/or Indians fell. This place by the Little Big Horn is pretty much like it was 132 years ago. Pretty impressive. And it hit 88 today! YES!

Wyoming's rolling hills

Snow-capped Big Horn Mountains in the distance...

Tue, 6/24/08

Little Big Horn, MT: Left Devil’s Tower this morning at 7:20—an early start for us. Stopped in Gillette, WY, for fuel and breakfast. Driving across Wyoming on I90 was beautiful high rolling grasslands—mostly ranches. We actually saw a guy rounding up some cattle on a horse—kind of an anachronism really. What a great place to have a horse though—no trees and this vast area of rolling hills. You could ride forever. About 30 miles past Gillette we started seeing the snow-capped Big Horn Mountains. And the grassland turned into more scrub land covered with sage brush—sort of like the desert southwest. Prong Horns are everywhere. We arrived at Hardin, MT, at about 2:00. Staying at a Good Sam park. Not the greatest, but we’re only here two nights and we have full hook-ups. We’re going to go to the Little Big Horn battlefield and museum tomorrow and maybe check out the Big Horn Canyon Recreation area. Supposed to have bad weather. We’ll see.

Mon, 6/23/08

Devil’s Tower, WY: Devil’s Tower was our first National Monument—designated by Teddy Roosevelt in 1906. So, Wyoming has the first National Park (Yellowstone) and the first National Monument (Devil’s Tower). We had another storm during the night—a pretty fierce one. It rained hard for about an hour. Hail too. But this morning dawned clear and sunny. So we drove over to the visitor’s center and hiked the tower trail which goes along the base of the tower through a beautiful boulder-strewn pine forest. Climbers come here from all over the world to climb this monolith. But, during the month of June there is a moratorium so the various Indian tribes can perform their sacred ceremonies and leave their prayer bundles. We saw several prayer bundles along the trail and encountered three Indian women performing some kind of ceremony. The Indians still consider this a sacred place. Indeed, this is an unusual formation formed when molten magma was forced into sedimentary rocks above it and cooled underground. Over millions of years erosion of the sedimentary rock exposed Devils Tower and accentuated Little Missouri Buttes just to the west. A beautiful day today—85 degrees. We leave tomorrow morning for the Custer Battlefield at the Little Big Horn in Montana.

View from Inside Spearfish Canyon Lodge

One of Deadwood's Local Miscreants

Deadwood, SD: Another beautiful morning. Washed out a couple of tops and hung them out to dry. Made some smoothies. We leave today for Devil’s Tower in Wyoming. Should be a fairly easy 100 mile drive. We’re at the campground in the national park for 2 nights—no hook-ups. We plan to hike around the base of the tower. Hope the weather holds.

Spearfish Canyon

Spearfish Canyon Lodge

Bridal Veil Falls

Deadwood, SD: A beautiful morning—sunny and warm. We had breakfast at the Iron Horse Inn in Deadwood and then headed out to drive the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. This was the most spectacular drive. The road followed Spearfish Creek at the bottom (thank God) of this beautiful canyon with spectacular granite bluffs on both sides of the road. Passed some spectacular log homes on this road right on the creek. Stopped at Roughlock Falls and took some pictures. Also at Bridal Veil Falls. The town of Spearfish is really nice—not as much history and character as Deadwood, but would be a great place to live—at least in the summer. In fact Kevin Costner’s parents bought a home and retired here. We had originally planned on making a loop by taking the highway back to Deadwood, but it was such a spectacular drive we decided to go back through the canyon again. We stopped for something to eat at the Spearfish Chop House and Whiskey Bar and then continued on. About halfway back we took a dirt road that went up a beautiful side canyon, which is where they filmed the last scene in “Dances With Wolves”. Also stopped at the Spearfish Lodge which is a huge log structure in the middle of the canyon with spectacular views. Reminded me of some of the huge lodges in some of the national parks and also in the Adirondacks. Finished the drive and then stopped back in Deadwood for some more slots. Mike did well again. Me not so good. Had pizza at the Ugly Horse Pub and then back to the campground. It hit 86 degrees today. That’s more like it!