The intention was to leave early to try and spot more wildlife, the morning dawned with an almost cloudless sky. We hit the road at 0830hrs and left Jackson in glorious sunshine. We left the highway and entered Grand
Teton National Park on the South Jenny
Lake Road. The early signs were good as we soon saw a group of deer and a large buzzard like bird. Elk and moose were notable by their absence as were grizzly or brown bears. Mostly the countryside consisted of untidy woodland and we had the feeling that there were thousands of critters
sniggering as they hid behind logs and boulders. Jackson Lake was
unbelievably huge with the reflections of the surrounding mountains only disturbed by the odd very ordinary looking water foul. Yellowstone Park seemed very different in bright sunshine from our first
gloom lit visit. The Autumnal hues of th
e turning trees positively glowed. We turned East near West Thumb where we stopped to see the hot water springs, some bubbling out of seemingly bottomless holes at 160 degrees. One was spewing boiling water like an ornamental fountain. Near Natural Bridge we happened upon a small herd (30 -40) Bison spread either side of the road. They treated us with the
disdain we deserved and demonstrated a remarkable lack of animation. The most active one was a huge bull which crossed the road at funereal pace as if perfectly aware that it was causing inconvenience and we couldn't do anything about it. Strangely one of the
attendant vehicles was an ambulance as if the crew were waiting for someone to get gored. Judging by the demeanour of the languid creatures they would have a long wait. Eventually
Steph spotted a solitary Pelican at Sylvan Lake looking slightly bemused as if it had just emerged from the rest rooms to find the rest of its tour party had already left to travel south. I think it was a Roosevelt who described the journey from Cody to Yellowstone as the best 50 miles of scenery in the United States and while I
don't fully agree, the landscape was definitely spectacular, even in reverse. We had lunch at
Pahaska Tepee which was connected with
Buffalo Bills tourist organisation. The road then dropped down beside an enormous gorge with strange shaped rock formations emerging at
Buffalo Bills Reservoir. The road then passed through two impressive tunnels before crossing the Shoshone
River and arriving at Cody, the town which
Buffalo Bill
layed out for his
Yellowstone tourist industry. The original site of the town is now occupied by a museum containing many original historic log cabins removed from all over Wyoming and Montana. There was a saloon with bullet holes in the doors, believed to have been frequented by the Hole in th
e Wall gang, another cabin believed to have given Butch and
Sundance refuge. Another cabin had been built for a native Indian called
Curley who as a scout for Custer was one of the only survivors of the Little Bighorn Battle. The museum also held a hundred old wagons of all descriptions including a remarkably well preserved Hearse. The whole had the aspect of a ghost town, one of the ghosts would undoubtedly be John (Jeremiah) Garrison, Liver eating JOHNSON! His regular camping site was at the base of some cliffs within sight of the museum and whose grave had been relocated to within the grounds. We continued on into Cody itself where we visited
Codys Historic site, an enormous modern museum with areas devoted to Cody and his wild west show, natural history, Native American culture and the largest collection of firearms in the US. The day was completed appropriately by Dinner in the Hotel built by Bill Cody and named for his daughter Irma.
Lake Road. The early signs were good as we soon saw a group of deer and a large buzzard like bird. Elk and moose were notable by their absence as were grizzly or brown bears. Mostly the countryside consisted of untidy woodland and we had the feeling that there were thousands of critters sniggering as they hid behind logs and boulders. Jackson Lake was unbelievably huge with the reflections of the surrounding mountains only disturbed by the odd very ordinary looking water foul. Yellowstone Park seemed very different in bright sunshine from our first gloom lit visit. The Autumnal hues of th
e turning trees positively glowed. We turned East near West Thumb where we stopped to see the hot water springs, some bubbling out of seemingly bottomless holes at 160 degrees. One was spewing boiling water like an ornamental fountain. Near Natural Bridge we happened upon a small herd (30 -40) Bison spread either side of the road. They treated us with the disdain we deserved and demonstrated a remarkable lack of animation. The most active one was a huge bull which crossed the road at funereal pace as if perfectly aware that it was causing inconvenience and we couldn't do anything about it. Strangely one of the attendant vehicles was an ambulance as if the crew were waiting for someone to get gored. Judging by the demeanour of the languid creatures they would have a long wait. Eventually Steph spotted a solitary Pelican at Sylvan Lake looking slightly bemused as if it had just emerged from the rest rooms to find the rest of its tour party had already left to travel south. I think it was a Roosevelt who described the journey from Cody to Yellowstone as the best 50 miles of scenery in the United States and while I don't fully agree, the landscape was definitely spectacular, even in reverse. We had lunch at Pahaska Tepee which was connected with Buffalo Bills tourist organisation. The road then dropped down beside an enormous gorge with strange shaped rock formations emerging at Buffalo Bills Reservoir. The road then passed through two impressive tunnels before crossing the Shoshone River and arriving at Cody, the town which Buffalo Bill layed out for his Yellowstone tourist industry. The original site of the town is now occupied by a museum containing many original historic log cabins removed from all over Wyoming and Montana. There was a saloon with bullet holes in the doors, believed to have been frequented by the Hole in th
e Wall gang, another cabin believed to have given Butch and Sundance refuge. Another cabin had been built for a native Indian called Curley who as a scout for Custer was one of the only survivors of the Little Bighorn Battle. The museum also held a hundred old wagons of all descriptions including a remarkably well preserved Hearse. The whole had the aspect of a ghost town, one of the ghosts would undoubtedly be John (Jeremiah) Garrison, Liver eating JOHNSON! His regular camping site was at the base of some cliffs within sight of the museum and whose grave had been relocated to within the grounds. We continued on into Cody itself where we visited Codys Historic site, an enormous modern museum with areas devoted to Cody and his wild west show, natural history, Native American culture and the largest collection of firearms in the US. The day was completed appropriately by Dinner in the Hotel built by Bill Cody and named for his daughter Irma.
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