Grizzlies, Wolves, Oh MY!

East Entrance Road

We left Cody behind and headed to Idaho Falls to check out the Sawtooth area for a few days.  Headed back into Yellowstone so we could take the most 'scenic' route possible...oh and look for animals.  The eastern entrance into Yellowstone is as different as each of the others.  The drive in reminded us of Hawaii...volcanic rock everywhere.  Lots of ash deposits that rain and rivers have worn to look very much like the hoodoos of Utah's Bryce Canyon.

Wyoming horses

Yellowstone grassland

Howitzer?

As we headed up the mountainside there's an area that looks 'man made'...kind of like a gravel quarry.  We are pretty sure it is natural.  The proof that they manage avalanche prevention is the large cannon on the hillside.  The mountainside showed numerous scars from past avalanches.  Guess that's why this section of Park is closed in the winter months.

Grizzly!

Grizzly!  Where's the spray?

We drove along and tried to spot animals in the clearings and along the rivers.  We stopped at a spot that just screams 'Grizzlies'...none were seen.  On we went when we noticed 3 people at a overlook watching something.  Cindi was scanning the hillsides as we drove and saw it.  Yelled Bear!...then it's a Grizzly.  Right there on the hillside across from us was a bear...not a black bear, but a grizzly flipping rocks.  We watched him for a good 10 minutes before a bear jam broke out then things got a little out of control.  People loose their minds...beep car horns, etc.  Why? Have no idea...

Huckleberry Ice Cream

Waiting hopefully

Continuing on we headed towards Gardiner...side trip for huckleberry ice cream...after all it was lunch time.  We discovered huckleberry last trip so we decided to indulge once again.  Cooper was really excited thinking he had a cone too.  He did not although he did get the last bite of waffle cone.  It was hard to share.

Big Horn Sheep

 On our way back to the Park we noticed people looking up at the cliff face overlooking the river were a herd of Big Horn Sheep.  We have seen them a few times before always at this particular spot...it's amazing how they disappear into the rock.  There were several young among the group...kind of scary watching them on the rock edge.

Wolf

Yes a real wolf

 The last highlight of our day occurred right before we made the turn for West Yellowstone.  A rather big parking lots was ahead of us with a ranger directing traffic and people.  We couldn't tell what the fuss was all about...looked like a bear jam, but the area had a large parking area.  Unusual.  Bill got out to see what was up since traffic wasn't moving.  Guess what it was...wolf.  Right there on the hillside was a female dark gray wolf.  She appeared to be looking for varmints under the rocks.  We thought the bear jams were bad...wolf jams are far worse.  People got crazy parking and running.  By the time I parked the wolf had started to move off into the timber...at least I got a glimpse. 

Looking for a snack

The Bighorn & Medicine Wheel Scenic Highways

Cindi saw this

Then she saw this

So we now have this

Before we headed out today we stopped at Walgreen's for a purchase...a bit expensive, but IF we encounter a grizzly we'll feel a little better.  Specifically Cindi will feel better...now if we can remain calm enough to pull the pin, wait until the bear has gotten within 30 feet, then hit it in the face with spray.   Yeah, that's what the instructions actually tell you to do all while remaining CALM.

Shell Falls

Today we headed out of Cody east to Dayton, WY...specifically the Big Horn Mountains.  Another scenic highway with not quite the same beauty of Bearfoot or Chief Joseph.  The road followed the Shell River through a canyon.  Along the way we stopped at an overlook for Shell Falls...Cooper wasn't allowed on the trails, but he didn't seem to mind.  Most of the time the terrain was much drier and arid with views of prairie rather than mountains.  The elevation wasn't quite as high, but we still managed to hit over 9000 feet.   Actually had free range sheep along the way...Cooper almost slept through the whole flock.

Free roaming sheep...where's the coyote

Elk

We headed back to Cody on yet another scenic byway called Medicine Wheel.  A very pretty road which was much greener.  We kept saying "where's the elk"...must be magic because if you keep saying it an elk will run across the field.  Only saw the one despite our efforts to find more.  All that green pasture and we saw very few critters...pika and a few marmots were about it.  Cooper sniffed the air a good bit, but he never actually saw the pica or the marmot.  During our lunchtime picnic Cooper did a little stalking and some digging. 

Marmot

Pica

We have no idea what was in the holes, but he enjoyed the heck out of it.  He loves all the new smells especially the sage.  Coop has jumped up to stick his head out the window every time we drive through a patch.

The road down to Lovell was interesting...10 % grades (really steep) with lots and lots of signs reminding you that it was steep. Not to mention the huge truck ramps.  We wondered how on earth the truck was supposed to make it around the curves to get to them.  Thankfully we made it down safely...brakes still work too.

Really steep

                                                

Medicine Wheel

One interesting historic site was an area that is called Medicine Wheel.  Ancient Native American's built the wheel between 300 to 800 years ago.  It sits in a wide open area of the Big Horn at over 9000 feet right at the mountain top.  Many offerings were attached to the ropes surrounding the area...   varies feathers from hawks and eagles, strips of cloth, God's Eyes, abalone shells, even a raptor's claw foot and what appeared to be twine wrapped sage. 

Raptor claw foot

Cooper watching Bill walk the wheel

Cooper was allowed to go on the hike out to the wheel...a 3 mile round trip, however, he was not allowed to walk around the wheel.  He didn't seem to mind...he watched as each of us took a turn around the wheel.

Cheers to Moose Drool!

We actually got back to Cody in time for a happy hour outside the hotel.   Actually had our first Moose Drool of the trip while we waited on our pizza.  A nice evening despite the threat of rain.  Cooper made friends with multiple biker dudes while we swapped stories about the scenic highways.

Our New Most Favorite Drive

Chief Joseph SCENIC Hwy

Blue sky & pretty flowers

As unbelievable as it may be we found a road that moves to the head of our top 10 roads list.  Upon the recommendation of Dirk (our hotel front desk guy) and several others including a brother, Tim (or Tom west of the Mississippi) we traveled on the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway (WY 296) and then turned onto the Beartooth  Scenic Highway (US 212).  We thought that Chief Joseph was terrific until we hit Beartooth.  Oh my word what a road...twists and turns along with mountain views that are so much better than Yellowstone's views.  We headed north toward Red Lodge, MT and turned around when the road flattened out.  Retraced our route and headed towards Cooke City, MT and the Northeast  Entrance to Yellowstone.

Damn!  It didn't seem that high coming down.

The Beartooth Highway rises to 11,000 ft. where we found one intrepid sole who had skied down a still snow filled ravine only to find himself at the bottom looking back up at the 1,000 foot high trek back to the car.  I guess he had fun skiing on July 13, but that was going to be one heck of a hike back up to his car. 

Beartooth Scenic Hwy.  Wow!

The views from the top were spectacular (check out the pics) and the mosquitoes were ravenous.  Even Cooper had to get sprayed-down with Deep Woods Off to stay outside of the car for more than 10 seconds.  Heck it appeared that they actually keyed in on the cars pulling off and swarmed as soon as you got out.

Speed limit 65?  Actual 19

We motored on at a rate of 19 MPH on a road that had a posted speed of 65 MPH.   Would love to know how anyone could drive this road at that speed and live to talk about it.  We were told that the Beartooth is the Number 1 Motorcycle road in the country...we believe it.  A huge number of bikers were on the road...not to mention in the Cody area.

Fire in Yellowstone

Rain and hail

The Beartooth Highway eventually becomes the Northeast Entrance into Yellowstone National Park.   By the time we hit the Park the weather was not looking too good.  Heavy clouds and we could see lightning striking the ground.  In fact we saw smoke and suspected that a small fire was ignited by the lightning.  When we got to the Mount Washburn area we were hit with heavy rain and hail.  Thankfully the hail was soft enough that when it hit the windshield it just went splat!  No damage to the car or anything else.

Ummmmm, buffalo

The animals were out and about even in the bad weather.  Cooper saw his first buffalo herd in Lamar Valley.  He seemed excited about it as they crossed the road in front of the car.  We drove a little further down the road and surprise, surprise guess what we saw in the picnic ground just before Tower-Roosevelt...a black bear.  He (or maybe it was a She) was just walking around eating whatever he was finding on the ground.  We pulled into the picnic area, parked and took a few pictures.  When we left there was a bear jam going in both direction.

Hey Clare, THIS is a black bear

Not much else to report as we made our way back to Cody...except for the bald eagle sitting in a tree.  No picture though so you'll just have to trust us. 

Beartooth Hwy

More Beartooth

And, more Beartooth

Coop is VERY impressed

This is the actual Beartooth

Awwww, it's a baby

Not a grizzly, but still pretty cool

Wind River Canyon Drive

Question: are we there yet?
Answer: don't make me stop this car!

It was difficult, but we decided that we would skip the hike up to Medicine Bow Peak.  After the 2 mile hike on Tuesday and the 8 miler yesterday we all needed a break.  We broke camp and headed to Cody, WY.  Once again we headed toward Thermopolis, WY and the beautiful Wind River Canyon.

Major excitement occurred when we managed to avoid a major accident in Riverton, WY when a Toyota decided it wanted to have the space we were occupying at the time.  Thankfully Cindi was able to swerve into the center lane just in time...new car saved!  Cooper learned he should be sitting when she's driving.  On we continued without any further excitement.

Entering Wind River Canyon

We think this is the first time that Cindi has driven Wind River Canyon...she's usually taking in the scenery and the photos.  Which would explain way we missed the shot of the day.  Just before we entered the tunnel leading to the Canyon we notice a bike heading our way.  The biker was pulling not one, but two trailers up the steep incline.  What was so unusual was the first one carried his weimaraner who was sitting just like a kid while his owner peddled.  A very strange site.  How does one train a dog not to jump out of the trailer?   How does one miss taking the picture so everyone else can wonder about the biker and his dog?

Grandma's last road trip?

Hey Tom...largest hot spring!

As we arrived in Cody, WY we did get one final shot at another unusual thing...a vanagon with a 'coffin' on top.  Wonder who was driving and who was in charge of the camera...