#2 Buffalo Bill State Park, Cody, Wyoming; June 1 to 14, 2015

South Fork Old Stage Road

Just across the river by the campground is the South Fork Old Stage Road – still used, and I'm sure it's as bumpy as it ever was. It is a spectacular drive through Shoshone Canyon, which is a gorge formed by erosion through Rattlesnake Mountain. Rattlesnake Mountain was born about 66 million years ago, about the same time dinosaurs became extinct. The uplift from the drove rocks vertically about 2,000 feet along the fault line. The rocks exposed range from 230 million years to 2 billion years, the age of the granite at the dam.

We were told Big Horn Sheep were often seen at the end of this dirt and gravel road, which was a Big Horn Sheep Sanctuary so we packed a lunch and headed out. The road wound around behind the mountains you see in some of the campground photos and continued through some beautiful and wild country. We saw a big male pronghorn soaking up the sun – it seems that the males and females stay in separate herds this time of year and the older males tend to be more solitary. Fairly typical, don't you think?

We came upon Castle Rock and found from the

nearby sign that John Colter passed this landmark in 1807 while looking for Indians with whom he could trade. He was also searching for salt caves, which were reputedly located near the headwaters of this stream, the “stinking waters” later named the Shoshone River. Colter was the first recorded white man to visit the Upper Wind River, Jackson's Hole, and the Yellowstone area. I can't imagine being here all alone with only a horse, maybe a couple of pack animals, and some provisions – it gets really dark out here not to mention cold and windy.

Attached to the sign about Castle Rock was a nesting box and there was a pair of mountain bluebirds waiting patiently for us to drive on before feeding their little ones. We didn't move on, and their nestlings were protesting loudly so the pair took turns going to the mouth of the nest to give their youngsters fat, orange grasshoppers. Presumably they enjoyed them more than I would have...

As we drove along, we saw what first appeared to be a pile of tree limbs that had collected in the stream, but after closer inspection, decided it

must be a beaver lodge. We didn't see a beaver to confirm our thoughts, though.

The road wound through some amazing territory – some late-melting snow-capped mountain tops causing waterfalls, rushing mountain streams threatening to overflow the banks, and ranches an hour from anywhere. Mailbox houses are common out here, giving a hint at the weather in the winter. Cody gets only 29 inches of snowfall annually, but up here there is considerably more. One spot had several mailboxes in what looked like a shelter for kids catching a school bus.

We're not in Florida any more.

In the pasture of one of the ranches we came across a large herd of elk cows, feasting on the lush grass. We dallied there for a while then headed out again. We came upon a mudslide over the dirt road not far beyond the elk herd, so backed up to a spot wide enough to turn around and headed back to camp. In spite of not seeing any big horn sheep, we had a great day.

From Camp to Yellowstone to Chief Joseph

Highway to Camp

The campground is located on South Fork Road and goes through the Shoshone National Forest, then into Yellowstone National Park. We drove this road several times and one day spent about ten hours driving the northeast loop in Yellowstone then over Chief Joseph Highway, and back through Cody to Camp. We saw all sorts of beautiful scenery, wildflowers, animals, thermal features in which grow a wealth of microbes, and several different micro climates. I'm still overwhelmed with all we saw and learned, there is so very much and it is all so

different from anything we've seen before. I'm not even going to try to describe or explain. If you're interested, a great place to start is the paperback “Yellowstone: The Official Guide to Touring the World's First National Park” published by Yellowstone Association. It has beautiful photos, and gives descriptions of each of the main roads as well as information about what you will see. It is a must for anyone who hasn't been to Yellowstone.

Chief Joseph Highway

After leaving Yellowstone, we drove Chief

Joseph Highway back to Cody. The route was amazing – going from craggy mountains to the plains in about an hour. We went from near twilight to bright sunlight as we got high in the mountains, then a storm as we descended again. Nine-and-a-half hours of beautiful, eerie, harsh, and any other superlatives you can think of. We're still marveling at the sights of the day. I'm glad I saw the Grand Canyon first, because for my money, Yellowstone beats it hands down.

Our next stop is Baker's Hole CG on the other side of Yellowstone, if we can get a spot. Keep your fingers crossed.