Woodland Park, Colorado to Red
Lodge, Montana
Thursday 9-12-19
Colorado:
Woodland Park, Teller County Colorado
to Wellington, Larimer County Colorado
We started off with Starbucks
coffee at Woodland Park. At Colorado Springs we took I-25 north for a fast and convenient
route to Wyoming. Unfortunately, we had heavy I-25 traffic from Castle Rock to
Thornton, so we had lots of time, in stop-and-go traffic, to recognize all the
landmarks of Denver and the other towns along the Front Range.
After lunch and shopping Cosco
at Thornton, we entered farm and ranch country and took a campsite at the
Wellington KOA Journey. Wellington is called “Colorado’s Northern Gateway”. The
campground was close to a cattle feedlot but the view of the Front Range and
Rocky Mountain National Park, in the distance, made it a nice campsite. We
enjoyed a cool, clear evening and morning.
Friday 9-13-19
Wellington, Colorado to
Casper, Wyoming
The morning drive into Wyoming
was scenic with the mountains on the west and the Plains on the east. We passed
Cheyenne as we are very familiar with the town and we didn’t need fuel.
North of Cheyenne, we entered
the immense high-plains of Wyoming, with rolling hills and endless expanses of now-brown
grassland, interspersed with a few of those green, pivot-irrigated, round agricultural
fields. (Mostly alfalfa)
We Googled things along the
way and found a few interesting facts:
·
We saw Pronghorns, which are native and are not
antelopes.
·
Prairie Dog towns are prevalent and way too
many to count.
·
Chugwater, on Chugwater Creek, is the site of a
“Buffalo Jump” clearly visible along I-25.
Wheatland was our lunch and
fuel stop. The Wheatland Irrigation District is still the largest privately-owned
irrigation system in the country. Agriculture is king but oil, gas, and railroading
are the largest employers.
Douglas, Wyoming served as a
supply point, warehousing and retail, for surrounding cattle ranches, as well
as servicing railway crews, cowboys and the troops of the U.S. Army stationed
at Fort Fetterman. Douglas was the home of a World War II internment camp. 1867
Fort Fetterman was established to protect pioneers and commerce on the Bozeman
Trail.
Casper, our first time to
actually stop off, is a beautiful town on the North Platte River. Casper was
settled on the banks of the North Platte River in 1880. As the point of
convergence for all major westward trails (the Oregon California, Mormon,
Bridger, Bozeman, and Pony Express), the community developed as a crossroads to
the west.
Our campsite was Casper East
RV Park, their web: “Casper East RV Park and Campground is located on the East
side of Casper close to the state’s largest mall. Also close by are Sam’s Club,
Super Wal-Mart, Albertson’s, and Safeway. We are a family-owned, Good Sam Park
and open year-round. Casper is a place to explore in more depth, with lots of
history and natural attractions.”
Saturday, 9-14-19
Following a good night in
Casper, we took US 20 to Thermopolis and a campsite at Eagle RV Park, on the
Bighorn River, on the south side of Thermopolis. This route took us across
Natrona, Fremont, and Hot Springs counties, all huge counties.
Along the way, we saw numerous
herds of Pronghorn and for the first time ever, we saw Pronghorns foraging and lolling
in the towns. We suspect that the biannual migration has begun. Each spring and
fall, multitudes of pronghorns migrate 170 miles to and from their important
summer range in Grand Teton National Park. For over 6,800 years, members of
this indigenous herd travel back to the Pinedale region, a place rich in water
and hardy forage that fosters the largest gathering of pronghorn on earth.
Along the vast Wyoming plains
a few remote old towns appear but not much services available:
Mills- Mills was originally a
boomtown that sprang up in 1919 following construction of the Midwest Refining
Company, located across the North Platte River. The Mills Construction Company
bought the entire section for the purpose of mining gravel with which to
construct roads and tank revetments. Company employees purchased lots and built
makeshift houses. The town was mostly comprised of tarpaper shacks, with one
block of permanent houses, a hotel, and an amusement park. Mills has been “boom
and bust” but now it’s booming again with the initiation of the new propane gas
processing and transportation business.
Powder River- Site of “Hell's
Half Acre” a geologic oddity - a craggy horseshoe-shaped gorge, actually about
320 acres, with jagged rock spires, naturally sculpted into nightmarish chaos
by an ancient offshoot of the Powder River. You can see it from the highway!
Waltman- Some large, remote
ranches and some large oil and gas fields.
Hiland- Was formerly the
high-point on a railroad, now it consists of only a bar in the
middle-of-nowhere.
Moneta- Located close to the
geographic center of the state it has no attractions other that an abandoned, desolate
place in the Wyoming high-plains.
Sand Creek- A very obvious
sandy creek-bed where Col. John Chivington led the attack that "surprised
and murdered, in cold blood, the unsuspecting men, women and children of Arapaho
and Cheyenne tribes, who had every reason to believe they were under the
protection of the United States authorities," investigators concluded.
Sand Creek Massacre.
Shoshoni- Established as a
railroad and mining town, named for the Shoshone tribe of Native Americans,
most of whom live on the nearby Wind River Indian Reservation. This was our
lunch-stop and walk-around/look-around. Hard to believe a 2004 mushroom processing
plant started-up here but failed due to illegal workers.
Wind River- The Wind River takes
its rise near SE Yellowstone Park and officially becomes the Bighorn River at
the Wedding of the Waters, on the north side of the Wind River Canyon. The canyon
is a deep gorge, exposing millions of years of geology. A stunning drive along
the river in the bottom on the gorge! Exiting the canyon on the north end
enters Thermopolis.
Reservation- The west side of
the canyon borders with the Wind River Indian Reservation.
At Thermopolis, on the Bighorn
River, we explored the town and toured the Hot Springs State Park. The springs
are open to the public for free as part of an 1896 treaty signed with the
Shoshone and Arapaho Indian tribes. The park grounds are beautiful green lawns
and landscaping, shaded by huge Cottonwood trees. It’s home to numerous natural
hot springs, in which mineral-laden waters are heated by geothermal processes. You
can take a contradictory dip in the nearby, cold, clear Bighorn River. The park
has massive travertine terraces and cones, formed over the centuries by
cascading hot mineral water. It’s like a “little Yellowstone”! Take a soak as
“hot as you like”!
We ended our day with College
football and a nice dinner at the campground. A peaceful close to a very
diverse and scenic day in Wyoming.
Sunday, September 15, 2019
From Thermopolis, we took WY 120
to Cody and Montana 72-MT 308 to Red Lodge and took a one-week site at Red
Lodge KOA Journey, on Rock Creek.
Meeteese is the only town on
the route to Cody. Tiny Belfry is the only town between Cody and Red Lodge.
At Meeteese, on the Greybull
River, it was a popular meeting place of Native Americans. The town retains
much of its original character with wooden boardwalks, wooden watering troughs,
hitching rails and many historic buildings from the turn of the century. It’s
an authentic “Western town” with three bars!
The Greybull River is a cold,
clear tributary of the Bighorn River, and is a premier fishing stream,
especially for the Yellowstone cutthroat trout. Native Americans named it for a
white buffalo in the area, a powerful omen that made it a sacred place to them.
The Meeteese area also has a
colony of Black-footed Ferrets, previously thought to be extinct. The Wyoming
Department of Wildlife is taking measures to protect and propagate the cute
little critters.
Just north of Meeteese, we saw
a spectacular Golden Eagle, feeding on road-kill. We were up-close and personal
and clearly observed the majestic bird. With a dark brown body, and lighter
golden-brown plumage around the neck, the sun reflected a picture-perfect
image. Unfortunately, I didn’t get the picture!
At Cody, we replaced a
tail-light bulb on our rig and had lunch. Cody is a favorite town, with nice
parks, attractions, and amenities. Cody, Wyoming was founded in
1896 by the living legend, Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, who at the
age of 41 was one of the most famous men in the world. “Buffalo Bill” is still
bringing in the crowds! We drove around town, however, it was sunny and hot, so
we continued north.
Heading on up to Montana, we followed
the Clark Fork of the Yellowstone River, a beautiful valley, with the Beartooth
Range on the west. The river begins in the Beartooth Range, by Yellowstone
Park, then makes a horseshoe arc from Montana, into Wyoming, then back into
Montana, flowing into the Yellowstone River, just above the confluence of the
Bighorn. Hemmed in by 1,200-foot high sheer granite walls, the canyon section
of the Beartooth Mountains is accessible only by expert climbers and kayakers. Today
was another picturesque ride, from Wyoming to Montana!
Monday, September 16, 2019
We started talking about scary
drives we have made so I decided to make a list of the ones that I remember.
Highest and scariest western
mountain roads that we have traveled:
Mount Evans Scenic Byway Colorado
Pikes Peak Highway Colorado
Trail Ridge Road Colorado
Red Mountain Pass US 550
Colorado
Hogback Road Canyon City
Colorado
Emerald Bay Overlook Lake
Tahoe, California
Crater Lake Rim-road Oregon
Hogback on UT 12 Escalante, UT
Sherman Pass WA 20 Republic,
WA
Hurricane Ridge Olympic NP WA
Going to the Sun-Logan Pass
Montana
Beartooth Highway Montana
Cloudcroft, New Mexico
Gila, New Mexico
Tuesday, September 17, 2019
Exploring and shopping at Red
Lodge, we spent a cool, cloudy morning just doing our list of errands. At the
Visitor Center, we got some good information and materials. The VC has an
outside collection of artifacts and “Liver Eating” Johnston's cabin.
Thursday, September 19, 2019
Yesterday, we drove the
Beartooth “Top of the World” Highway from Red Lodge, Montana over to Cooke City
and NE Yellowstone National Park. It was a clear, cool, cloudless day, with
blue skies and excellent visibility. We stood on one mountain range and looked
at a completely different, distant mountain range. Standing on the
glacial-carved Beartooth Range we could clearly see the volcanic Absaroka
Range.
With high switchbacks, shear
precipices, and millions of years of exposed geology, it is a startling,
fascinating, and extraordinary adventure. It was another good day in
Yellowstone Country!
On our return, we took a side
trip on the Chief Joseph Highway to the Clark Fork of the Yellowstone River
which has carved a spectacular 1200-foot gorge between the granite Beartooth
Plateau and the volcanic Absaroka Mountains. The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway is
in the U.S. state of Wyoming and follows the route taken by Chief Joseph as he
led the Nez Perce Indians out of Yellowstone National Park and into Montana in
1877, during their attempt to flee the U.S. Cavalry and escape into Canada. The
plan didn’t work very well but they saw some beautiful country!
Sunday, September 22, 2019
After a cold, rainy Saturday
in Red Lodge, we awoke to a cool, sunny Sunday morning. Our Saturday was a day
of College Football, reading, and doing research. After Sunday breakfast, we
hooked-up, hit the coffee shop, and headed south, back to Cody, Wyoming. We drove
around town, had lunch and resupplied at Cody, then headed up the Shoshone Canyon
to Wapiti, for a campsite at the Green Creek Inn and RV Park, at the south-side
foot of the of the Absaroka Mountains. The RV Park is a neat, clean spot with nice
trees and excellent views of the mountains and Shoshone River Valley.
The Shoshone River runs
through the Absaroka Mountains, and a volcanically active region of fumaroles
known as Colter's Hell. This contributed to the river being named on old maps
of Wyoming as the Stinking Water River. Just out of Cody, we could see the
geothermal features in the deep river canyon. Hydrothermal features spout to
life discharging discolored water and Sulphur us gasses, roiling the Shoshone
River downstream. I just read a fascinating book on John Colter, the first
white man to enter the Yellowstone area, along this route. Also, the Buffalo
Bill Dam and reservoir fill the canyon for a long distance.
Wapiti, Wyoming is situated
along the North Fork of the Shoshone River in Shoshone National Forest, between
Cody and the eastern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. On the south-slope
of the Wapiti Valley, we saw the Smith Mansion, hand-built by Francis Lee
Smith, from logs salvaged from a forest-fire. It looks more like a five-story
mine-structure, possibly because it was never completed, due to the death of
Smith, in a fall from the roof.
Wapiti is named for the
numerous Elk that winter in the valley; we saw no Elk but it’s too early for
them to come down to the valley. It won’t be long though, because new snow from
yesterday is shining on the Absaroka Mountains. Yesterday’s snow was down to
around 8,500-feet, so winter is coming. We hope that our visit to Yellowstone
isn’t cut short by winter weather! Anything can happen in the high Rocky
Mountains, this time of year.
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