Month: April 2024

We took this trip to Yellowstone and surrounding areas in the summer of 2019.

We got up the next morning to see low clouds in the mountains.

We drove back into Cody for a Walmart so I could buy a knee brace.

Then we drove west on Hwy. 14 beyond Buffalo Bill SP toward the east entrance to Yellowstone NP. We stopped at several small primitive campgrounds. We already had reservations, we just wanted to see what they were like. They were small primitive campgrounds set in beautiful locations just outside the park. Such as this one.

One thing about those primitive campgrounds. Tents weren’t allowed. You had to have a hard shell to camp there. Because of bears. They must have been plentiful. Of course, as we neared the park entrance we passed tourist attractions.

And the entrance sign.

Entering from the east is a steep climb.

Once you go through Sylvan Pass (8,524 ft.) at the top, it’s a steep way down the other side.

We pulled off at a pretty mountain lake, Sylvan Lake, to eat lunch.

Of course, someone was fishing. If you look closely, you’ll notice that the guy isn’t wearing waders. He’s got his bare legs in that icy water. Tough guy.

After lunch, and a short nap, we continued driving down the mountain, approaching Yellowstone Lake. We stopped at Butte Overlook.

There was evidence of a recent forest fire.

Nearing the bottom.

We stopped at Fishing Bridge Visitor Center to walk around Yellowstone Lake a bit.

From there we headed north on the Grand Loop Road, which followed the Yellowstone River. In Heyden Valley we saw some bison.

One came up close.

We drove on to Canyon Village to secure our site we had reserved for a week. In the parking lot we saw this interesting vehicle they gave tours in.

We also saw a lot of big ravens throughout the park.

From there we found our site in Canyon Campground and settled down for the rest of the day. We had a beautiful site in a beautiful campground in a beautiful park. For 7 nights. Ahhh.

Next Location – Yellowstone National Park Day 2: Yellowstone Canyon & Mud Volcano

We took this trip to Yellowstone and surrounding areas in the summer of 2019.

Before setting up in our site, we drove around to see the rest of the park.

Then we went back to the campground to our site.

The campground was right on the lake and ringed by rugged mountains.

After dinner, I went for a hike. The first thing I saw were a lot of birds out on the lake.

I walked across the bridge over the river. Someone was in a boat fishing.

Looking back at the campground from across the river.

I had to cut my hike short after I twisted my knee. I have no idea how I did it. It took me a while to limp back to our site. Needless to say, I was done for the day.

Next Location – Yellowstone National Park Day 1 – Into the park through the East Entrance

We took this trip to Yellowstone and surrounding areas in the summer of 2019.

We drove straight through Cody without stopping in order to secure a camping site in Buffalo Bill State Park, which was just to the west of the city. Once we had a place to spend the night, we drove back into Cody. We took time on this trip to admire the rugged scenery along the Shoshone River.

We took care of business while in town, such as do our laundry and eat lunch at Subway and stop by the visitor center. For some reason I didn’t get any photos of Cody. So here are 2 off the Internet.

Apparently, they put on shows in the middle of the street, but we didn’t witness any.

Since we were set for the night and had taken care of all our chores, the drive back to the campground was more leisurely. We stopped along the way through Shoshone Canyon to admire the view of the two tunnels.

And the canyon below them.

On the other side of the second tunnel we stopped to walk around the dam. The view looking back down the canyon. You can see the first tunnel in the distance.

The view from on top of the dam.

See the stairs? We weren’t allowed down there, that was for authorized personnel only.

The dammed Shoshone River made a good-sized mountain lake.

Looking back at the dam.

Finished at the dam, we returned to Buffalo Bill State Park to set up on our site.

Next Location – Buffalo Bill State Park, Wyoming

We took this trip to Yellowstone and surrounding areas in the summer of 2019.

We turned off Highway 16 onto a dirt road.

That took us to a BLM (Bureau of Land Management) campground, Lakeview Campground on Meadowlark Lake, where we stopped for the night.

I love these BLM campgrounds. There are no hookups, but they are in remote locations, in scenic places, are small and not crowded, and are always well-maintained. After dinner we hiked down to the lake.

With the lake before us, the mountains were behind us. So much better than the campground we’d stayed at the night before in Rapid City.

To make the day perfect, we even caught a good sunset.

The next morning we continued west on Hwy. 16 through the Bighorn Mountains. Another scenic drive.

Especially driving through Tensleep Canyon.

Emerging from the canyon into ranchland, at Worland we turned north on Hwy. 20. This took us to Greybull, where we turned west onto Hwy. 14. Which led us to Cody.

Next Location – Buffalo Bill State Park, Wyoming