Yellowstone Trip - Day 2 Billings to Cooke City

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Woke up to rain. Decided to pick up some groceries. Things are cheaper here than at home. Beauty supplies like shampoo and face creams at Wal-Mart are half of what we pay at home. I stock up!

We are passing through another little town in Montana called Joliet. Whoa! Stop! Go back! Charles Ringer Studio and Gallery has metal sculptures like I've never seen before. Gas pump hobos with their wine bottle, warming their hand at the burning barrel. How funny is that!

Going through the Beartooth pass, we get as high as 12,000 feet. Lots of switchbacks up the mountain, and narrow roads. At the peak, we see the pointy peak off in the distance that the pass is named for.

Once we get through the pass and check into our motel, we have enough daylight left to check out the northeast part of the park. The Lamar Valley area is known as the Serengeti of Yellowstone. In some areas, glacial boulders dot the landscape. We see black wolves, mule deer, and big herds of buffalo. Older males are solitary, and one big guy crossed the road right in front of the car. His big beard swayed from side to side as he lumbered through the grass towards the road, and us. He was at least as big as our car. We saw several more on the road through the next few days. They weigh up to 2,000 pounds. His beady little eye watched us as we carefully inched our way past him. It is illegal to come within 25 yards (meters) of these animals as they are unpredictable and dangerous. They can sprint 30 miles/hour, and they say visiters are injured every year. Steve says they are just big cows, but I was relieved to get past him anyway.

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