Cody, WY, Yellowstone National Park, Beartooth Highway

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Sunday, June 29, 2008

After a really good breakfast, the four of us left this morning to explore Cody, Wyoming. We could not have anticipated as we turned south from I-90 toward Cody what this day would bring us. Before this day ends we will travel 360 miles and go places and see things and animals we could not have imagined before today. All of us were on sensory overload just trying to see everything long before the end of the day. Naps were out of the question as no one wanted to risk missing anything.

The drive to Cody is rewarding with vast vistas of open range, snow capped mountains, and herds of cattle and deer. The difficult task I have is trying to convey here in word and picture what can only be appreciated in person. The scale is astounding; photographs do little to capture the sense of space out here.

Cody is a town with a rich western cowboy history. We strolled shops and ate lunch at the Irma Hotel. Mike and I spent time in a local fly fishing shop, Donna and Judy enjoyed the gift, antique and clothing shops. The streets are wide with lanes set aside for parking but without defined spaces; motorists simply pull in where it is most convenient at the time.

From Cody we decided to drive through the Shoshone National Forest toward the east entrance of the Yellowstone National Park. We stopped for water at a local store along the way and discovered an unusual tower-like structure set atop a ridge running parallel to the highway. We still do not know what its purpose or history is.

We entered Yellowstone National Park at the east entrance and turned north through fir covered mountains that prompted Judy to point out that the air smelled like Christmas. At elevations ranging from 3,000 to 8,000 feet we are in the mountains. At one plateau, Yellowstone Lake stretched out at our feet from the overlook to the horizon (and that was cold water, too!!!).
Today, in addition to phenomenal scenery and vistas, we saw elk, pronghorn, mule deer, buffalo herds (up close and personal), wolf, fox, and antelope in Yellowstone National Park. We left the Park by the Northeast entrance toward Cooke City, MT via the Beartooth Highway.

For miles the Beartooth Scenic Byway winds its way along the top of the Beartooth Range with nice wide roads and shoulders. That all changed as we began a steady to climb to the 11,000 foot summit of the Beartooth drive. When we started out from Yellowstone amid the buffalo herds, the temperature hovered at a steady 95 degrees, but; as we ascended to the summit, the temperature plummeted to 46 degrees and we entered the snow fields (that cap of snow we had seen from below). As the sun begins to set we are still climbing the snow capped mountain. As we rise, the road gets narrower by the second. Finally, the roadway becomes so narrow that there is room for neither shoulders nor guardrails and the sheer drops at this altitude are more than 5,000 feet and, at times, just inches away from the truck’s tires. It is getting darker as the road winds its way along snow drifts higher than the truck on one side with sheer drops on the other. Narrow steeply banked switchbacks take the breath away as the world drops away before your eyes to unseen depths. This is a harrowing drive for all of us and completely unexpected. There is adrenalin pumping and the tang of it is on the back of my tongue as I maneuver the truck between the drifts and the drops. The unprotected heights make my stomach drop and we are all both anxious and astounded at what we are doing. It is as though we are mountain climbing, clinging to the narrowest of ledges while the world spins away below just inches from us. There is snow everywhere and, except for that, the landscape is barren and desolate. We encountered a ski lift and wondered at the nerve and fortitude it would take to plunge from this place down the sheer snow covered cliffs to the valley floor below. East of the summit we are driving in the dark and the road remains narrow and shoulderless, yet; amazingly, we can see the sky is still light above us. The light is not able to penetrate the darkness below where we twist and turn seeking the security and safety of lower ground. If you are an adrenalin junkie, this is the road for you; Donna and I had planned to ride this on the motorcycle later in this trip (been there, done that . . . do not have to go back).

At the end of this drive we are exhausted and hungry. Dinner is late at the Denny’s in Billings and we are off to bed. Monday we leave for Canyon Creek Ranch outside Melrose, MT, 260 miles away.

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Photos

Hmmmmm . . .
We did not figure this one out!!

Yellowstone Vista
Note the snow capped mountains.

Comments

[Cynthia]

a wonderful read
I felt the terror of the drive along the edge and was for the first time grateful not to be with you.