Yellowstone 2018-10

The Biggest Surprise

A word of advice if you travel by car to Yellowstone.  The park is a dense forest. Most of the time, you cannot see more then a hundred feet off the side road.  There are few reliable landmarks except at major intersections.  Carry the USPS provided map issued to you when you paid your fees at the gate and, if you do not have an electronic compass in your car’s instrumentation, bring a cheap one with you, it will save you from a U-turn or two.  If you don’t know how to use a map, go to Las Vegas instead.

Cody, Wyoming

As shared earlier, my plans included departing Yellowstone via the Cody, Wyoming (east) entrance.  My previous trip to Cody was during the month of April and we could not enter the park due to snow closure.  I closed the circuit by taking U.S.-14/20. The highway segment is 80 miles so make sure you have that much gas in your tank.  

My previous trip to Cody was a pilgrimage to the William F. Cody museum complex.  If you are interested, just scroll down the blog until you get to it. The museums were more than hoped for.  The town of Cody on the other hand appeared to be on life support.  The downtown tourist district was devoid of life and many of the buildings were boarded up.  But something miraculous has occurred and the community is blossoming.  I stopped for breakfast and walked the length of the old downtown. All of the storefronts were occupied and open for business.  They are after the tourist trade, so pack your bags and get up there!

No, that is not my bike!

Wyoming is the second least densely populated state in the U.S. That explains why there are so few highways and why I had to make drive halfway across the state to find a southerly route that would take me to Colorado.  And still, I encountered a savage pass that needed traversing. The pass is not identified on the map; I would have avoided it if it had been because by this time in the trip I was getting pretty weary of winding roads and acrophobia inducing drop offs. When I finally crested this monster, I found a sign designating it “Granite Pass”.  This feature is in Bighorn National Forest.  I would like to return to this area some day and do a bit of exploring.  When I returned to an elevation with suitable oxygen to sustain life I found a service station because I’m old and that’s what we do.  The operators of this convenience just stared as I babbled on about finding a route to Colorado that did not cross a mountain range.

G-g-g-granite Pass

Of note, my route took me through Jefferson County; home to the Jefferson County war.  If that means nothing to you, at lease google “Tom Horn” and I am confident you will have an opportunity to gaze at a picture of Steve McQueen’s baby blues.  From Sheridan it is a pretty easy drive across three-quarters of the state to the little town of Rawlins, Wyoming which seems to have the highest per capita hotel room population in the state.  And the first place I tried was full!  The kind people at Hampton Inn were able to identify the local Best Western hotel as having available rooms.  {See National Park Service ,it can be done.) To my surprise, it was located in another cluster of hotels located at the other end of town.  The clerks there informed me that they were at an eighty-six percent occupancy rate.  When I inquired as to the need for so many hotel rooms in such a non-destination town, all they could offer was that it was on I-80.  The next day found me piloting my way though the grasslands of Southern Wyoming en route Colorado.

I picked up I-70 in Colorado at a town with the intriguing name of “Rifle”.  I did not stop but noticed they were flying banners announcing some type of local festival; maybe someday in the future.  From there I tracked southeast to Montrose, Colorado, home of my Aunt Barbara.  I was all over this part of Colorado and what it had to offer in a previous journey (2016, I think) so you can look at that if you wish.  This will be the last entry unless I stumble something do kvetch about on the way home.

If you are so inclined, I do appreciate feedback.