Monday and Tuesday in Yellowstone National Park

Monday 7/17/17 The drive from Cody to Yellowstone's East Entrance is always pretty, with possible bear sightings along the way.  I didn't see any wildlife, only some fishermen along the Shoshone River trying to catch supper.  At the park entrance, there was a short five or six car line . . . by far the shortest line I saw at any of the other entrances later in the week.

A couple of things immediately caught my eye . . . there was still quite a bit of snow on the tops of the mountains and in shaded crevasses on the hillsides . . . and all of the beautiful wildflowers!  There are also a number of waterfalls right along the road, but very few are accessible with turnout parking areas.  I did find a spot where I could park and walk a short distance to take some photos.



A little further into the park was my first opportunity to take photos of bears . . . a medium sized male grizzly (brown) bear.  He was about 150 yards away from the large parking pullout and shoulder where a US Park Service ranger was keeping order.  Most of the people had small digital cameras or cell phones which were rendered useless in attempting to photograph this bear.  Even with my DSLR and a 70-300mm lens, my photos were not very good.  But a bear is a bear . . . and my hopes were high that this was a good omen.  I had only been inside the park about an hour and got to see my first bear!

I made it to my campground at Canyon Village around 1:30pm, plenty of time to locate my campsite and head on north up to the Roosevelt Coral where I needed to pay for my wagon ride and cowboy camp dinner later that evening.  There wasn't much to be seen along the way but I did note how many cars were parked up on the Dunraven Pass hiking trail parking lot . . . and the lack of parking available at the Tower Fall area.

There are two ways to get to the cowboy cookout . . . on horseback or by horse drawn wagon.   I opted for the wagon, which was a good choice for me.  There were a lot of people, young & old, who rode horses the mile and a half to Pleasant Valley where our dinner was being prepared by cowboys.    The horseback riders left the Roosevelt Coral first, with the wagons leaving about 20 minutes later.  I think I counted five wagons each with around 30 people on each.  There were probably 25 horseback riders, so the cowboy camp area was pretty full once everyone arrived.

Coffee was on the open fire, while ice tea and lemonade awaited those looking for something to quench their thirst.  We were entertained by a guitar playing balladeer who sang old country and western songs from back in the day.  His jokes were corny so I was happy that he mostly stuck to singing.

When the dinner bell rang, folks were encouraged to line up to fix their plate.  The steaks were cooked to order at the grill, and were actually very good.  The accompaniments made for a very nice outdoor cookout style meal.  I was glad I did this somewhat touristy thing.

For others thinking about it, please be advised you must make your reservations in advance!  I booked two weeks out and Monday was the only day that week with openings.  I was lucky.  The price was around $68, which for a roughly 4 hour experience and meal, seemed to me to be a decent value.

After supper, it was time for me to head back to my camp at Canyon Campground.  Total miles today was 252 (running total = 1,624).

Tuesday 7/18/17 Brrrrrrr! It was only 44f when I woke up at 5:30am . . . and even chillier in Hayden Valley where it was 38f.  Due to the warn river water and cold air, there was very dense fog throughout the valley.  Bison were everywhere, having just crossed the Yellowstone River en mass.  The bulls were co-mingled in with the herd with the calves and cows.  It was the start of rut so visitors are to be on guard for aggressive behavior within the herd.

The fog created a surreal image with the animals everywhere for as far as you could see.  I never get tired of seeing the huge bison in the wild.  It was pretty difficult to view and photograph them with the low light and big crowds trying to work their way along the park road so I turned around and opted to head north back over the Dunraven Pass to see what might be out and about.

I did see a black bear approaching the Tower Fall area.  Amazingly, there were people with children walking down into the creek area to get a better look.  Someone in the crowd said there was a small service parking lot a little further down the road, so a group of us headed that way.  I was the second vehicle there, so I backed into my parking spot for ease of departure.  This "bear jam" got quite big and totally out of control.  It was bad enough up on the main road, with people literally parking in the lane of traffic while others tried to get their cars off the road but only managed to get their right tires on the other side of the while shoulder line.

In the parking lot, it became a zoo quickly . . . with more dumb people getting out of the cars and hiking down into the woods for a better look at the bear.  I sat up in the tailgate of my van watching from a comfy seat.  It wasn't much longer that "Ranger John" arrived to restore some law and order among these dumbass tourists!  After chastising folks, he proceeded to give a little lesson on the perils of black bears in the park and how poor human behavior can cost bears their lives.

From there, I went up to the North Entrance to Cooke City.  In the Lamar Valley, heading towards Soda Butte, a black bear sow and two first year cubs crossed the road in front of a long line of cars.  Amazingly, people simply stopped their cars, turned off the engines and left their vehicles right there in the road!  LEFT THEIR VEHICLES!!!  They could be seen running up the road and to the hillside where the little bear family went up and over.  Geesh . . . I could not believe my freaking eyes.

Once the bears were out of sight, people came back and moved on down the road.  I stopped at a pull out about a half mile away, hoping I might luck out with a glimpse of these bears. I  was rewarded with patience, even if my photos were not very sharp.  They were quite far away, but I could see them with my naked eye. 

For the next couple of days, there were reports throughout the park about these bears. She had been seen numerous times near and crossing the road, heading over the Lamar River and up on the other side of the valley.  Unfortunately, my subsequent trips through the area never resulted in a sighting.  I did, however, enjoy my picnic lunch at the pullout facing the river where they had been seen playing below the road.

In Cooke City there was a small visitor center with historical museum. I spent some time learning about the area.  The museum had a lot of neat artifacts about life in the 1800's in the Rocky Mountains.  The volunteer working the desk was very nice, letting me use their phone to call David to let him know I was alright.  Unfortunately, he was out so I had to leave a voice mail message for him.

By this time, I was ready for a shower!  The campground showers are closed typically in the middle of the afternoon so I planned for a 3pm return to camp.  As I approached the Canyon Village area, the road ahead was blocked off by a park ranger vehicle.  Traffic could turn either right into the village (where the visitor center and store are located) or to the left to the campground . . . so I turned towards camp.  About that time the ranger got on their loud speaker, directing all people into their vehicles as there was a black bear in the area.  I saw the bear dart across the street, so I stopped my van and rolled down the passenger window so I could watch him amble through the woods heading up to the campground.

As I sat there watching him, I noticed a couple with a small child walking down from the campground towards the village.  Not wanting to startle the bear, I refrained from honking my horn.  I tried waving them away at which time the ranger told them to stop and not run as there was a bear about 25 yards in front of them.  It was then, the bear darted across the road, right between my van and the family!  It was amazing, but scary too . . . and I was in my vehicle.

Fortunately the rangers were able to continue to drive the bear out of the area and out towards the main park road.  I saw nothing more of the bear.  But it was exciting!

After my shower, I headed back out.  Since the Hayden Valley was socked in with fog earlier, I went in that direction hoping to see some wildlife.  I was surprised to see just how far off the bison had gotten since the morning.  They were barely visible to the naked eye.  The rest of my drive was uneventful . . . too many people at the Mudpots thermal area to pull in.

So I decided to check out the Lamar Valley as often wolves are seen around dusk in that area.  This year, however, the wolf activity was mainly down in Hayden where the pack had pups.  I had read the famous Lamar Pack had been decimated with mange over the past year and were all but non-existent.  I was looking forward to seeing them again, as during my June 2016 visit they were one of the highlights of my trip.

I did see several of the young big horn sheep at the area known as "Yellowstone Picnic" which is on the road heading out towards Lamar.  On past trips, I've often seen small groups of big horns here.

One of my most "fun" sightings of my entire trip was the Oscar Mayer Weinermobile . . . not something you see every day, even living in Wisconsin where they are based!

For Tuesday, I drove 306 miles (1,930 total).  I was in my camp and asleep by 9pm!

Hitting the Road

This was yet another one of my solo road trips from Milwaukee to Yellowstone, with a short stop at Badlands NP.  I've got the route and packing/camping down to a science.  What I wasn't prepared for, so much, was my mobile device (and only communication piece with me) crashing in Cody on Sunday night at the rodeo . . . and the huge, no massive crowds inside Yellowstone!  It was frankly, depressing.  So here goes . . .

Saturday 7/15/17 left home in Milwaukee @ 8am CDT & logged 850 miles for the day.

The drive through Minnesota can be quite boring if not broken up with a break.  On this trip, I used TOOTS (my Garmin GPS) to find a local distraction.  The bowling center in Fairmont, MN fit the bill so I made an impromptu visit while in town for gas.

Bowl Mor had 20 lanes.  I was surprised by two things . . . first they were open in the middle of a beautiful Saturday afternoon . . . and second the owner was actually in!  Being in a lake community with lots of vacationers in town, it's unfortunate that nobody was there to bowl.  It did give me an opportunity to chat with Dave who had owned the center for nearly 40 years.

From there, it was on to South Dakota!  I had pre-booked my campsite in Badlands NP at the Cedar Pass CG inside the park.  It was a nice, but very warm day (100f).  I did drive the park road to Pinnacles and back to camp.

Way toooo many motorcycles in the park!  And lots of them on those loud "crotch rocket" type bikes.  Sometimes they would drive through a straightaway fully throttling, just to make noise.  So totally annoying!

While the day was warm, the night was comfortable for sleeping (I car camp in my van).

Sunday 7/16/17 I woke early and headed towards the east entrance to see what that was like around sunrise as usually I go west and then exit the park at Wall.  The views were lovely . . . and worth doing.  After sunrise, I took the Old NorthEast Rd, a rather well maintained gravel road that goes to several hiking areas.

Due to my physical limitations (gimpy knees & asthma) I don't do much "hiking" but do enjoy a short stroll along the boardwalks when they are available.  On this particular morning, I was delighted to be the first person to spot and stop to photograph a beautiful large male (ram) bighorn sheep.

I'd seen lots of the younger males and nurseries with young (and this trip was no exception), but never a ram with the nice big curled horns.  By the time I was ready to move on (after about 20 minutes of photographing him) there were several more cars and people there.  One lady got way too close to him; I thought for sure he would charge towards her . . . but he didn't.

On my way back out on the park loop road, I stopped by the prairie dog town hoping to see the burrowing owls, but didn't see any.  What I did see, was yet again DUMB people . . . out walking in the area where it is clearly marked to not approach the animals as they carry the plague.   One of the ladies in the group got within a couple of feet of one of their holes, trying to capture a photo with her camera phone.

I was on the road out of Badlands through the Wall interchange by 10am . . . with Cody, WY as my destination.  With that game plan in place, I called ahead to book my campsite at the KOA there.  I was surprised at the rate . . . around $35 including tax.  Very nice!

It was another hot day for driving, right about 100f.  I stopped in at the Vole Buffalo Jump National Historic Site (http://www.vorebuffalojump.org/content/) right at the SD/WY border.  While not a US NPS site, it is worth a stop to learn about how the Native Americans hunted bison by running them over a cliff.  Thousands and thousands of bison were hunted this way.  The site had been discovered in the 1970's when the I90 highway was being constructed.

On to Cody . . . arrived at the KOA around 6pm . . . took a quick shower and went to the Cody Rodeo.  Cody Rodeo Nights only runs a few weeks, something like July 4th weekend until the end of the month.  On my prior trips through Cody, I've always been too early or too late.  I was happy to finally get to take it in.

Admittedly, I struggle a bit with whether or not rodeos for entertainment are inhumane to the animals. I guess if it was really harming them, PETA or other animal rights groups would have shut them down by now . . . so I relaxed and enjoyed the 90 minute show.  The cost was $20 with discounts for children.

Total miles for Sunday = 522 (running total 1,372)

Monday 7/17/17 I was up early, before the KOA's free pancake breakfast . . . so I headed out to the BLM's McCullough Peaks area known for their herds of wild horses.  Apparently the number of tours and off-road vehicles has had an adverse impact on the land and animals.  I had hoped to be able to schedule a personal trip into the area with a well known photographer, but she advised that she no longer took guests into the area.  It seems strange to me, that if people are going there anyway, taking someone else along isn't really creating any more environmental impact . . . especially if that "someone" is then going to drive their own vehicle anyway.

What I realized once there, the gravel road that transverses the area is only a fraction of where people actually go once on the BLM land.  There were lots of ATV type paths; way too muddy and bumpy for me to take our van.  So I stayed on the gravel/dirt road and hoped I might see something of note.  While the road is supposed to be 2-way, I will say in many areas it was very narrow and would have been scary to cross with another vehicle of similar size.

I was amazed at the beauty of the landscape, badlands similar to what are seen in the national park in SD.  That was frankly worth the 90 minute drive over the approximate 30 mile road.  As I exited the BLM area on the far end, I did come upon a couple of beautiful stallions.  They looked pretty healthy, I couldn't see their ribs . . . their long manes flowed in the morning breeze.

Back at the KOA by 9am, I enjoyed the pancakes!  Sausage and beverages were  available for purchase.  With breakfast done, it was time for me to find the Verizon store in town to deal with my crashed cell phone . . .

Oh yeah, that's right . . . my damn cell phone!  I didn't say what happened to it.  At the rodeo the night before, while videoing the barrel racing, the darn thing crashed.  A hard crash that I couldn't get it to boot up past the screen of death.  When I got "home" to the KOA they let me call home to let my hubby know I was ok, but may be off the grid for real if they can't find a way to fix my phone.

No such luck . . . I was now unable to call or text home . . . which as a woman traveling alone and being in remote areas, was something that worried me a little about.  I was also frustrated because I had become so dependent on my mobile for storage of documents for the trip and for the ease of use of the camera when I didn't want to use my DSLRs or other camera equipment.  In fact for this trip, I didn't even bring my small Canon SD600 pocket digital or my nice video camera.  Now I was down to "just" my DSLRs which would mean "drive-by" photography would be next to impossible.

Leaving Cody, I did stop at the Buffalo Bill Dam, one of the free US National Park Service sites.  The dam was built in 1904 on the Shoshone River and creates the recreational area around the reservoir which is known as the Buffalo Bill State Park.  It is worth a short 30 minute stop to view the movie telling of the building of the dam (325 feet in height, at the time, the tallest dam in the USA) and all of the challenges and failures along the way.

With this stop complete . . . the next stop . . . Yellowstone National Park!