11. Wyoming

Day 34: Friday, August 23, part 2

Crossed into Montana for the brief drive to the west entrance of Yellowstone National Park. My Golden Age passport got me free admittance.

But as they say, freebies are worth what you pay for. Yellowstone was not at its best today. Cloudy, rainy. Add to that the sorry sight of the results of the big forest fire in 1988, especially concentrated in the western end of the park.

Saw lots of elk cows, many bisons, and this bull who had an island all to himself.

Had orginally planned to leave the park by the south entrance in order to get some photos of the Tetons. However, the rain and the low clouds made me change my plans, and instead stayed on the Grand Loop Road for a beautiful (albeit mostly rainy) drive around the northern part of Yellowstone Lake to the east entrance/exit. The climb out of the caldera to the rim (almost 9,000') was spectacular, as was the drive down the other side.

The initial section of US 14 east of the entrance is very scenic since the road follows the Shoshone River and the rock formations in the canyon are impressive. In addition, the sun came out.

Did not stop in Cody -- no natural beauty there -- and continued on US 14 through Wyoming's high desert (abt 5,000' altitude most of the time) to Greybull.

Got a no hook-up site for $19.25, downloaded e-mail, grilled a steak, watched TV and will be in bed by 10:30 PM. Drove 375 miles today and was on the road for 7 1/2 hours.

Day 35: Saturday, August 24

It was gray outside when I woke up at 6:45 AM and I took my time getting ready for the road -- hoping that the clouds would lift and let me view the Bighorn Mountains in all their splendor. No such luck, so the drive through the Shell Canyon on US 14 was not what I had hoped. The photos didn't turn out all that well

It was some thirty miles to the top, Granite Pass (9,033') and Burgess Junction, then a few miles on a plateau, and then the steep descend to Sheridan.

Picked up I-90 to connect with I-25, the sun came out, and for an hour or so I got good vistas of the Bighorn Mountains on my right. On my left was not so scenic prairie and desert land. Things got sort of boring south of Kaycee, and I was pretty glad when the interstate dropped down into a valley and the town of Caspar suddenly appeared.

A fairly attractive drive on SR 220 brought me to Muddy Gap Junction and US 287. A mostly pleasant drive on US 287 took me to Rawlins, where $17.28 bought me a tent site (picnic table, fire ring, no hook-ups) at the local KOA.

Drove 365 miles today, was on the road for 6 1/4 hours. Bought gasoline in Casper at $1.309/gal and averaged 17.2 mpg on the last tank.

Temperature was 61F last night, 55F in the Bighorns, and in the high eighties during the afternoon.

Day 36: Sunday, August 25, part 1

Woke up to a picture perfect day, with bright sunlight flooding the cabin as soon as I drew back the curtains. I knew that this would be my last day of searching for scenic beauty on this trip, and Mother Nature sure gave me a headstart.

Was on the road by 9:15 AM. After a short drive on I-80 picked up SR 130, the Snowy Range Scenic Byway.

This lovely road crosses the Medicine Bow Mountain Range and climbs from about 5,600' at the intersection with I-80 to 10,847' at Snowy Range Pass before dropping back down to about 8,000' at the valley floor at Centennial and the drive to Cheyenne. Along the way are magnificent views of the Medicine Bow Peak, which towers at 12,013'.

This is a "must do" drive if you are ever in the southeastern part of Wyoming.

Made it to Cheyenne -- interesting history, but no scenic beauty. The attractions I had wanted to visit (capitol, historic governor's mansion) are closed on Sundays. Since it was still early in the day, decided to get started on the long journey home -- miles and miles on non-scenic I-80.

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