1123 September 1, 2024 Ever Changing Landscape

It was a cool morning, perfect for walking.

We stopped to fuel the RV and then drove north on 789 out of Lander.  We drove through the Wind River Indian Reservation or the Popo Agie District.  From the highway, the reservation appeared to be wide open and sparsely populated.  We passed the Wind River Casino and then a billboard for the Suicide and Crisis Hotline.

We went through Riverton. There were some hayfields where hay could grow and where it was too rocky, there was cattle. 

Through the town of Shoshoni or the “Crossroads of Wyoming.”

Over Poison Creek and Badwater Creek…YIKES…don’t drink the water here.

We passed through the Owl Creek Mountains.  We passed by Boysen Lake.  There were lots of lovely camping areas but we already had a campsite reserved for tonight. 

The road followed the curves of the Wind River.

We stopped for breakfast at a roadside pullout at the Golden Rule Ranch.

There were signs indicating that the mountains here were formed 500-600 million years ago.  We felt so small and insignificant.

We passed the “Wedding of the Rivers” where the Wind River and the Bighorn River joined.

We drove through Thermopolis, which actually sounds like the name of a comic book town.  This is home to hot springs.

We continued across rolling, rocky plains toward Cody.  The landscape called to mind old western movies.  We could picture John Wayne on a horse with his band of cowboys, preparing to go after the bad guys.  Tim said it looked like Ponderosa.

We stopped at a rest area where there were signs warning visitors about the presence of prairie rattlesnakes.

We passed Alkali Lake.

We traveled on the Buffalo Bill Cody Scenic Byway.  There were about a dozen RV’s at the Walmart in Cody when we went by at lunchtime. The western town of Cody looked like it might have been a cool place to spend some time. 

We rode another hour to the Threemile Campground in the Shoshone Forest.  This campground is 3 miles from the East Yellowstone Entrance. 

After a short rest, we packed food and drove into the park. We wanted to get maps and information so that we could plan our visit. 

The initial portion of the drive took us through forest.  There are lots of dead pine trees.  Some were damaged by the pine beetle infestation.  Others were burned by wildfires.  Still others lay in long lines on steep mountainsides, fallen like pickup sticks in winter avalanches.

We had seen some significant haze and I could smell smoke.  We went to the Lake Butte Overlook and we could clearly see wildfire smoke.  We learned from a ranger that there was a fire burning in the Shoshone National Forest.  It was 91% contained and smoldering.  She surmised that a wind shift caused the sudden influx of heavy smoke. Even as we were reassured, it felt a little spooky.  Our RV was camped in that forest!

Yellowstone Lake was gorgeous.  It is the largest high elevation lake in the lower 48.  It has 141 miles of shoreline.  It reached depths of 400 feet.  It is cold.  There were a few people swimming but the average water temperature is only 41 degrees…brrr!

We stopped at the Fishing Bridge Visitor Center and that same ranger helped us to make a plan.

We drove to LeHardys Rapids and had our picnic. 

After dinner, we walked along the Yellowstone River.

We are excited to be here and to explore this huge park.  Yellowstone is 2.2 million acres…that is very big and we plan to see as much as we can while we are here.

We did see two pairs of swans, a mule deer, and a couple of singular bison.  We hope to see much more!

Today was a lot of driving but we got to see so much.  It was an incredible journey and a good day!