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Published: December 20th 2010
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I started the day, after sleeping in the car from Twin Falls in Idaho, and waking up in Jackson, Wyoming.
It was 6am and we were outside a McDonalds, where we had stopped for breakfast.
I had heard that it was an unpleasant drive due to blizzardy conditions, low visibility, a lot of ice and also because it was dark.
We drove from Jackson, a very small town in Wyoming, with snow covered roads and mountains. We decided to drive towards Yellowstone National Park. Within an hour of driving, we reached Grand Teton National Park.
We drove through Grand Teton which had around 2-3 feet of snow through it, most of it fresh, and drove through the park.
Once we approached Yellowstone, unfortunately we realised it was closed for the Winter, and only visitable via guided tours.
And so, we drove on towards South Dakota.
We saw wildlife including a family of deer on the road, crows and a fluffy arctic fox.
We also made the mistake of colliding with and knocking over a "stop" sign to leave a dent in the side of our car, due to snowy conditions.
We opted for the scenic drive
to go through the mountain pass and visit Devils Tower, as opposed to just driving on the highway as we did through Nevada (the only option in Nevada).
The result was astonishing. With temperatures ranging from -12C to 0C, and altitudes up to 10,000ft, much of the time we felt like we were on a different planet.
Humidity was extremely low, meaning there was no ice or frost on the road, yet around us there was snow, and the lakes and rivers were all frozen over.
The sun was shining overhead, and despite appearing to be warm outside, it was bitterly cold.
There was a mountain pass heading to the north in Wyoming, that looked similar to, but more impressive, than the runaway railroad attraction at Disneyland.
We followed a frozen river through the red-coloured mountains, through tunnels, and along side a railroad track for 50-60 miles. Next we drove up the mountains watching snow-sport enthusiasts drive their snowmobiles through the fresh powder snow in envy.
It wasn't until the latter part of our 650 mile journey that the snow began to die down.
The beautiful landscapes I would argue, have been the best I have
ever seen whilst driving. The land was so sparse and plentiful.
As we headed to see the Devil's Tower, we missed the turning, and whilst trying to turn the car ploughed into snow 3 feet deep.
The car was stuck in the snow, and despite our best efforts, and the help of those who stopped to help, we were unable to move the car out of the snow.
It took the police to turn up and call us a truck to toe us out. Fortunately we prepaid all damages etc with insurance, so everything has been covered!
We spent 30 minutes trying to get the car out, then a further 40 minutes waiting on the toe-truck.
As a result, we didn't get to visit the Devil's Tower and continued on to Rapid City in South Dakota.
We are staying in a hotel tonight, so a good nights sleep will do us all good.
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