Cody Wyoming and the Big Horn Mountains

Driving from Yellowstone to Cody
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8/14/2008

Left Yellowstone via the East Entrance this morning. The drive down through the Absarkota Mountains following the Shoshone River was beautiful. There was a fire going on somewhere high up in the mountains and we drove by the fire camp. Made a decision to stop at Buffalo Bill State Park to camp. It is wonderful, right on Buffalo Bill Lake, with easy in and out sites. After setting up we drove to the Buffalo Bill Dam (highest dam in the US) and explored a little. This is one of the places I remember from my trip here with my parents in 1955. The road is much better now. Drove into Cody and visited the Buffalo Bill Historical Center – what a place. Gene and Robbie Grant told us we had to go there and they were right. There was a lot of memorabilia on Buffalo Bill – what a life he led. Also there was a wildlife museum and an art museum. We thoroughly enjoyed the visit - it took most of the day. We had a great dinner at Cassie’s – the happening place in Cody . After dinner we attended the Cody Rodeo – they have a rodeo every night during the summer months. It was fun, but the wind came up and we both got cold so we left a little before it was over.

Yellowstone to Cody
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8/15/2008

It was quite cloudy this morning with a little rain but the weatherman says it will clear. We decided to take a car trip into the Big Horn Mountains on a road that would be tough in the motorhome. Left Cody and headed for Big Horn Canyon which is just as beautiful as the Grand Canyon but not as extensive. On the way there we drove through the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range. Saw a few wild mustangs. From there we headed to Burgess Junction. The road was incredibly steep with amazing views of the valley below. At the summit we had reached over 9,000 feet. Headed up a dirt road to visit the Medicine Wheel (an Indian sacred area) but it was covered in clouds and there was a 3 mile hike. It was such high altitude it was hard to breathe so we didn’t make the hike. Just outside of Burgess Junction we saw three moose lying in the brush – two bulls and a cow. We descended into the Shell River Canyon and stopped in Shell at Dirty Annie’s where we had the greatest hamburger and malt. What a beautiful area, sheer cliffs everywhere. Some of the rock is deep red making the hills come alive. Headed home for a drink and then back to Cassie’s where they had a western band so we danced with the locals.