Wyoming and Yellowstone

We left South Dakota on May 11 and drove as far as Buffalo, Wyoming. There isn’t much to say about Buffalo and we didn’t even unhook the trailer from the truck. We got up early the next day and drove to Cody, Wyoming. On the way to Cody, we needed to cross into the Rocky Mountains and the weather was crazy. We drove through wind, rain, and fog so thick we could barely see the center line. Luckily, we were on the mountain side, but it was still a very stressful drive. Once in Cody we relaxed and planned our next 4 days. We had hoped to spend at least three of those days in Yellowstone.

Once again, the weather had different plans for us. On Friday morning we got up early and made the hour drive from Cody to the East entrance to Yellowstone only to find it snowing when we got there, and the gate was closed. They were not letting people in until the roads were plowed and there was no time estimate of when that might be. We were disappointed but returned to Cody and went to the Buffalo Bill Western Museum. We spent the next few hours in the museum where there is everything from Native American culture to indigenous animals, an entire wing on guns and, of course, a section dedicated to everything Buffalo Bill! It was a great museum, and we had a fun time.

The weather did not improve much on Saturday, but we had learned we could call and get a pre-recorded message about the open gates, so we waited until 8:00 and the message said the East gate was open. On the drive up, there was a road sign that said the East Gate was open and we were very much relieved. We got to the gate at 9:15 and the gates had been closed because of heavy snow and they did not know when they would open. We turned around and drove down to a little restaurant and had breakfast, and waited an hour or so. The gate was still closed after breakfast so we returned to Cody. The disappointment level was high since the weather was awful in Cody as well with wind, lightening, thunder and rain.

Sunday was a beautiful day, so we packed up and made the trek one more time! This time the gates were open, and we finally made it into Yellowstone. I should mention that this was a cornerstone of our trip. We planned on 5 nights in Cody so we could spend as much time in Yellowstone as we wanted. As it turned out we were only going to get one day. Upon entering, we headed for Old Faithful and the scenery in the park was glorious! We got to Old Faithful about 10:30 and went to the visitor’s center which had a sign indicating Old Faithful would erupt at 12:25 (give or take 10-15 minutes). We were planning on eating at the Old Faithful Inn, however they only serve breakfast until 10:00 and dinner beginning at 5:30. Since we were a little hangry by now, we settled for a burger and headed out to see the other geysers. Some of the pools were just amazing and we ended up back in front of Old Faithful at about 12:15. Sure enough at 12:35 it erupted against a bright blue sky and was amazing to watch! We spent the next hour walking around the rest of the geysers.

High on our list to see was also the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone and we chose that over the Grand Prismatic Spring. I think we made the right choice as the canyon and waterfall was simply breath-taking and I later learned there was so much steam that day you couldn’t really see the Grand Prismatic Spring. What we had really wanted to do was hike to the overlook of the waterfall, but of course it was closed due to….SNOW! Bad weather seems to be a theme of this trip!

Hayden Valley is where you are most likely to see wildlife, so we headed that way next. There were antelope, deer, and assorted other critters along the way. We came upon a small heard of buffalo that had just crossed the road and they were running through the valley when we drove up.

It was finally time to leave, and we headed back toward the East entrance. Along the way a huge buffalo strolled right past our truck, all traffic stopped, and Tom took a photo. This was the wildlife we were looking for. Around the next turn was a Park Ranger standing next to a “Road Closed” sign stopping us from continuing our journey. He explained that there was a concern that there may be an avalanche between where we were and the entrance/exit. It was about 4:30 p.m. and we would have to wait until probably 7:00 to see if the snow began to harden back up. An avalanche? Really? It would take us six to eight hours to drive to another exit and then back to Cody, so we decided to wait. We had food, warm clothes, water, and a card game in the truck so we were set. At 7:00 they opened the road, and we were back in Cody by 8:40. I think I previously mentioned that it stays light here until after 9:00 so it wasn’t dark yet when we got back.

Monday was gloomy again, so we opted to go to Old Trail Town which is a collection of buildings from around the Cody area that have been moved to a site just outside town. The buildings include the saloon that the Hole in the Wall Gang hung out in and it is also where Jeremiah Johnson is buried. We toured it for an hour or so and just as we left it began to rain (of course it did!) We went back to the trailer, did some laundry, cooked dinner, and cleaned up the trailer in preparation to move on.

Tuesday morning, we drove to Boulder, Wyoming and stayed the night before leaving for Utah the next day. I can say this about Wyoming; it is beautiful, it is rugged, and it is REALLY WINDY! Everyone we spoke to that lived there commented on the amount of wind they get!