usa: wyoming: cody, yellowstone national park, and bighorn national forest

I'm sure I've said it previously, but one huge advantage of keeping in touch with folks I've worked with around the world means I have new places to explore, and sometimes places to stay. I wanted to visit a state I hadn't seen previously, and see a friend, so this ended up being perfect for my next 'trip.'

Not surprisingly, I started driving out of Missoula a bit later than originally intended, oh well. My plan had a stop on the way to Cody, but it didn't work out the way I had hoped. On social media I'd seen a photo of a statue of 'Our Lady of the Rockies' high above the city of Butte, Montana; it was big and seemed worth a visit. 

I put it into my phone, and started driving.

When I got close I discovered a closed gate, argh. I tried going down another road, but that wasn't the correct way either. Using my phone a bit more, I discovered it was a sight you can only see by tour, which happens twice a day, and costs $16. I'd already missed the first time, and the second time was still hours away, so I gave up. Maybe I'll sort it out another time, but I doubt it.

Another stop was for petrol, near the border between Montana and Wyoming. I mention this stop because the petrol station I chose was a chain that uses a dinosaur as a mascot. 

I ended up seeing a number of stations of this brand in the area, always with a giant dinosaur.

Cody, Wyoming is a city of almost 10,000, in the northwest corner of Wyoming. (Wyoming is one of the least populated states, with only about half a million people.) According to wikipedia the city is about 95% white, and has a semi arid climate. The biggest industry in town is tourism, nearly everyone in the city is dependent on it in one form or another. Cody is the closest city to Yellowstone National Park, so heaps of people come through town on their way to and/or from the park.

I arrived in Cody (my first visit to Wyoming!) around 1700. Karla and I had arranged ahead of time to meet in the parking lot of a store that was easy to find, because her house was new and not yet marked on google maps. I followed her to her house and got the grand tour, I loved the way it was arranged. It was great to catch up with another friend from Garmisch, it always ends up feeling like just yesterday that we all lived and worked together.

After a while we went to the country club for dinner, it was nice to see the deer on the golf course. After dinner we went to Walmart to stock up on food for the next couple days.

Yellowstone National Park is the country's first national park, it was established in 1872. The park stretches over three states, Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho, but most people enter through Wyoming. The park is huge, and is best known for all the geothermal sights. The centerpiece of the park is Yellowstone Lake, which is in an ancient caldera of a supervolcano. It hasn't erupted recently, but has erupted a few times in the last couple million years. Wikipedia tells me half the world's geysers and hydrothermal features are in this park.

The next morning we got everything into the car, and drove all the way to the park (50 miles, stopping a few times along the way because I wanted to take a photo of the stunning scenery,) before realizing Karla had left her national park pass in her house. Whoops! That didn't stop us from taking a team photo near the park sign, hee hee. We drove back to the house, picked up the pass, and continued driving out the other side of town.

Instead of driving back the way we'd just come, Karla suggested we go somewhere else for the rest of the day. (We'd already lost a few hours because of all the driving.) 

On the way to our 'next' sight we passed one of the internment camps where Japanese Americans were held during WW2. I hadn't ever researched all the locations of those camps, and I definitely hadn't realized the locations still exist as tourist sights of a sort. It's a part of US history most Americans prefer to ignore, or whitewash. If we'd had more time, I would've liked to visit the sight to see and learn more. Alas. It's already on the list for my next visit to this area. 

Karla knew the right roads to follow to get to Bighorn National Forest. Though it is called a national forest, I saw very few trees. The forest covers several mountains, we drove up rather steeply, my ears popped a number of times, and the car engine wasn't quiet. The reason we decided to visit was to see the Medicine Wheel, a sight of prayer and ceremony for Native Americans.

Though the medicine wheel has long been used by Native Americans, no particular group publicly claims to have built the original Medicine Wheel. It is a large stone structure made of white limestone, laid on top of limestone. 

It is near the top of the mountain, nearly 3000meters up! Scientists have dated it back to pre Columbian times, is almost 25 meters in diameter, with the stones laid into 28 spokes from the center to the rim. To enter the area you pass a hut manned by National Park rangers, who give you a bit of the known history, as well as some requests and rules for how to behave. Since the sight is still used for prayers and religious ceremonies, it is important to be respectful as an outside visitor; there are also boundaries outside the wheel, and only those performing rites or rituals should go inside the boundaries.

We followed the trail from the parkplatz to the wheel, and though the trail was flat and we weren't moving quickly, both of us were breating hard. The wheel is at a noticeable altitude from where we started the drive!

After looking around for a bit, and being careful to stay on the marked trail, we went back to the parkplatz and drove down. While going up the accelerator is pressed to the floor of the car, on the way back down you ride the brakes the whole way.

For dinner that night we stayed in, Karla cooked.

The next morning we packed the car again, making sure we had the park pass with us. Even though we'd already done the drive once, it was just as beautiful the second time around. When driving from Cody to YNP you drive through Shoshone National Forest, another forest without many trees. I really need to learn how land is qualified as a national forest if it doesn't have a lot of trees.

Yellowstone National Park was the

I could go on and on about everything we saw, but I'll say it like this: we saw some of the highlights of Yellowstone National Park. 

We drove the ring road that goes around Lake Yellowstone, this road takes you to some of the best known sights of the park. The next time I visit the park I want to spend more time in smaller parts of the park, so it isn't just an overview.

For many of the sights you can pull into a parkplatz, walk 100 meters or less, take photos of something amazing, then get back in your car and keep going. When you enter the park they give you a map which makes it quite easy to keep track of where you are, and what specific sights you want to see.

We saw waterfalls and thermal vents, we saw rainbows of minerals in water, we saw bubbling mud, etc... My favourites were all the spots with clear blue water, I couldn't get enough of those. My favourite of the blue water holes was quite close to Grand Prismatic Spring, which is beautiful no matter where you're standing when you see it.

One of the most famous sights in the park is Old Faithful Geyser, we stayed to watch that as well. It's not as stunning as I'd hoped, but the fact that eruptions are fairly regular makes it fun.

There are benches on one side of the geyser, people start getting there early before each eruption.

I can see why people would spend a full week or more exploring the park, there is soooo much to see. There are also quite a few hiking trails, though we didn't have time to see any of them. Clearly, I need to go back, probably quite a few times. Summer is a busy time of year at all the US national parks, I think fall would be best? 

By the time we got home the sun had gone down, and we were exhausted. It was a long day of fantastic sights, but so worth it. That being said, we ordered pizza for dinner :)

The next day we were still tired so we spent most of the day on a sofa in front of the TV. I'm a sucker for Law & Order SVU, so we watched a marathon of those episodes. Relaxing is sometimes just as good as getting out to see new places.

That evening we went to another thing people come to Cody to see: the rodeo. 

During the summer months there is a rodeo in Cody every night, heaps of tourists come to watch. During the performance I realized just how sexist rodeos are, which was a disappointment. It was interesting to see, and I'm glad I saw it, but I'm also pretty sure I won't go again.

I'm so glad I went to Cody, it was awesome to spend time with Karla, and see a gorgeous (new to me) part of the country.