So my mom, aka Cee Cee, just finished a week-long trip to Wydaho. High on our list was to see "Real Wyoming" and to visit Cee Cee's 49th state, Montana. We had a fabulous road trip together with Clydeabus. We started by heading over Pine Creek Pass to Alpine, where we were able to find unguided horseback riding. The scenery was good, the horses well-versed on the route, and the saddles made for four hours of sitting on moving stones. By bum is still recovering, but it was a blast. This was my second time ever riding western!
We then headed up to Jackson, where we checked out to Mormon Row, an historic homestead north of town. The bison cooperated well for us, and were all over the road and amongst the famous old barn, making for great pictures. Clyde was a little nervous about the proximity to volatile horns! It was a windy day, and as we headed through Yellowstone to Cody, Wyoming, Yellowstone Lake truly had white caps. I think both of our routes through Yellowstone were a bit less traveled since they did not pass by Old Faithful, but I would highly recommend the areas we saw, as they were stunning and uncrowded.
We dropped down into the Shoshone National Forest, were the skies were dominated by the Gunbarrel Fire, a fire started a month ago by lightning that has grown to 52,000 acres. It was incredible to see and the setting sun made for some dramatic images. http://www.inciweb.org/incident/1439/
We got to Cody just in time to check into the charming Cody Cowboy Village ("Best Beds in the West") and head to the Cody Rodeo. The highlight was the Pee-Wee Barrel Racing and the side event where about 30 kids 12 and under chased two calves to get ribbons off their tails. Hysterical!
The next day, we perused Cody and visited the fabulous Buffalo Bill Museums which include fantastic art and an impressive collection of guns. We headed Northwest out of Cody, through southwestern-ish landscapes and into the Absaroka-Beartooth range. We entered Yellowstone again after passing through Cooke City, Montana, which had an historic mercantile with a beautiful, huge brass cash register and gas at $4.70. The Northeast Entrance parallels a gorgeous valley and the Lamar River, which must be quite a haven for flyfishing. We spent the night camping in Clyde at Tower Falls, a lovely area, but a little ravaged by beetles and fire, like much of Yellowstone.
Saturday, we checked out Mammoth Hot Springs, (which by the way is pretty dry in August), and headed north, along the Yellowstone River. We had lunch in Livingston, Montana, where we stumbled across some great art galleries, then headed into Bozeman.
Bozeman is a great college town, with strong Victorian influences and more great galleries.
Sunday, we headed back down through the western edge of Yellowstone, into Idaho, and we passed more fishing meccas along the Gallatin River and through some of the country's most beautiful farmland. Who knew potatoes get to grow with stunning Teton views? All in all, our Cowgirl Road Trip was a big success, and I must say that although the pictures turned out well, it was infinitely more stunning in person.
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