Fri, 8/9--Northern Wyoming

Waking up from a wonderful night's sleep in Cody, WY, I got on the road a bit later than usual but I still had it all to myself.  I like Cody - it seems like a real town where people live and shop.  Not that they don't welcome tourists.

I had planned on going up to Montana from Cody but decided to head across to at least Sheridan.  I was compensated for my rotten luck yesterday and found the Bighorn National Forest to be as beautiful and dramatic as anything I've seen.  I was stopping constantly for pictures, but don't get excited about that as you know I'm no photographer.

First on my camera which I discovered when uploading my pictures tonight, are the Flat Stanley Brothers in Craters of the Moon NP.  I don't know why they didn't get uploaded with the photos I posted yesterday, but here they are:

This is the spot where I was going to camp in Buffalo Bill Cody State Park.

I put the rainfly on the tent as I was worried about a little rain.  The wind picked up, it rained, and my tent blew over.  I set it upright and pounded the stakes a little more but within minutes another gust of wind blew it over.  I should have tied out the guy lines, but it's been so long since I've tented in this kind of weather I didn't think about it.

At one point I was sitting in my car thinking, Marty, you've hiked and camped for a week in the rain, and you had a wet dog as well, so quitcherbitchin!  After the 2nd time the tent blew over I just packed it up and headed for Cody.  I'm glad I did as the place I stayed in was so nice.  

The rest of the pictures are from along the Highway 14 between Cody and Sheridan, mostly in the Big Horn National Forest.  I want to come back here some time in the future.

The route got to be a little more crowded and the overlook parking was filled with RV's and tour buses so I gave up stopping for photo taking.

As far as yesterday, I won't argue with anyone that the Tetons and Yellowstone are spectacular.  I don't do crowds well, and they make me feel hemmed in and claustrophobic.  I stopped at the Info/Visitors Center in Jackson, and when I tried to stop in the VC in the Tetons every single parking space for cars was taken.  With no where to park, and not feeling like driving up and down the aisles to try to snag one if someone should be leaving, I drove on.  Every pull off/scenic view overlook was jammed.  Especially when I realized that camping spots in the Forest Svc campgrounds weren't as easy to find even early in the day as the internet info led me to believe, I just didn't want it bad enough to put up with the traffic, the constant stopping for one lane road work, the crowds piled up where I would have liked to stop, etc.  So my tolerance level is different than yours might be, my likes and dislikes different, but I won't apologize to anyone for doing things as I feel like doing them.  As I said at the start of this post, I felt compensated by the beauty and solitude I found in the Big Horn National Forest.

Thanks to the commenter who reminded me that the Smokies will be filled with "leaf peepers" in late September.  The thought had come to my mind that it will be the same way in the Shenandoah and Blue Ridge Parkway, so I will try to drive those sections on weekdays.  I might weekend over in Asheville and try to get to the Smokies on a weekday, or I might just wait for another time.  I remember backpacking trips to the Smokies in the Spring as well as in September, although I always preferred springtime there.

I'm in Miles City, Montana tonight, and glad to relax and use the free wifi (slow).  I'm going to wander over to the general store now and might even stop in the saloon/casino for a belly up to the bar!


A little later:  I just got back from Lucky Lil's Casino, which turns out to be only a casino with no bar.  The barmaid told me they only serve beer & wine to the patrons, and that the closest bar was across the road and down a bit at the Stardust Casino, but I'm not going to walk across a busy highway and down the road for the same thing I have in my cooler!  Then there is walking back :~)