Mimi and Maumau, Martine and DD Return! Or the Denver-Denver Loop of the 4 Friends (page 6 of 17)

Hi there.....those mustangs were amazing....we didn’t get that lucky to spot them. I’ve been following your adventures, but I haven’t been very active.....sorry, sorry.....but I’m still paying attention..... Sonia

PS your photos are "amazing"

Hi Martine,

I’m still following you. This brings back memories from 2017. I really liked that museum in Cody—the Native American side is amazing. We stayed at Irma’s place, but we were pretty disappointed... Can’t wait for Yellowstone to come up... Your photos are great. I can tell you loved the Badlands and the lodge, so that’s a great tip 😉

Have a wonderful holiday season, and I’ll keep following your really enjoyable travel journal.😛

Good evening! 🙂 Gilles, you're too modest!!! Your travel journal and photos really don't pale in comparison to my prose!!! I thoroughly enjoyed reading and admiring them!!! And you both look in great shape with all the hikes you've done!!!! Sonia and Sylvie!!! So happy to see you girls again!!! I'm not going fast enough for my liking!! I absolutely need to clear my tablet of March's photos, but we had an issue with our two cameras not being set to the same time—mine switched to American time on its own, while DD's stayed on European time!!! The photos are all mixed up, and on top of that, I'm struggling to choose which ones to keep!!! I'm dreading Yellowstone because I'm afraid I'll get completely tangled up with the different site names!!! Oh well, we'll see what happens!!! Anyway, your kind words keep me going!! Have a great evening, everyone! Martine 🙂

J8 September 9. Cody to Cooke City Alpine Motel: Cooke City: 4-person apartment: 220 € Large accommodation with two big bedrooms and a huge fully equipped kitchen (freezer, fridge, oven, microwave) in a quiet little village about ten kilometers from the Northeast Entrance and close to the Beartooth Highway. The beds are very comfortable, and the welcome is very friendly.

Today’s the big day. Finally, Yellowstone!!!! We chose the Northeast Entrance, but before that, we planned to take the scenic route by driving two gorgeous roads. First, the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway (US 212) for about fifty kilometers, then we’ll head east on the Beartooth Highway up to Rock Creek Vista (70 km round trip). We didn’t count on the rain, fog, and snow teaming up to force us to change our route. 8 a.m.!!! We’re in the car, but first, we need to fill up on gas and some groceries to avoid the park’s sky-high prices. We also need to stop by a bank to get some dollars to top up the kitty we use for shared expenses. Unfortunately, issues with one of our bank cards will make us wait for the banks to open, so we won’t leave Cody and its bronze animal statues until 9:30.



Chief Joseph Highway It follows the path taken in 1877 by this Native American chief when he tried to lead the 1,000 members of his Nez Percé tribe to Canada while fleeing the U.S. cavalry, who wanted to confine them to a reservation. This spectacular road winds through the Shoshone Forest across the mountains. The pale green rolling hills surrounded by red rocks quickly give way to panoramic valleys framed by towering mountains.







It goes up, it goes down, it twists and turns!!! It’s gorgeous!!! Dead Indian Summit OVL

Once again, no words or photos can do justice to what we’re seeing. Once again, these two life-sized Indians bring us back to the harsh reality of the tragedies that unfolded in these remote lands.

From there, the road winds back down through the forests. We even get a little rainbow.

We cross the Sunlight Bridge (where I’d read the view was supposed to be amazing), but it’s under construction, so we don’t stop—especially since a light drizzle keeps misting up the windshield. We start passing small lakes below pink and gray rocky ridges.

At 11 a.m., we arrive at the turnoff for the Beartooth Highway. 8°C, 5°C, 4°C, 3°C!!! The temperature keeps dropping as we climb!!! Oh no!!!! What’s with this weather!!!!

Everything’s gray!!! The blue sky and sun have completely disappeared!!!

At Beartooth Pass Summit, it’s 1°C!!! A kind of sleet has replaced the rain, the wind’s blowing, and we’re in pea-soup fog!!!

What do we do???? Do we keep going to Rock Creek Vista as planned, hoping to break through the clouds, or do we turn back now and spend more time on our first foray into Yellowstone??? Come on, let’s turn around—it’s the smart move!!! As soon as we start descending, it clears up, and the sun and blue sky make timid appearances: river, waterfall, pine trees, little lakes—this road’s pretty too!!!









1 p.m., we’re in Cooke City. The hotel owner checks the availability of our place. Cool, it’s ready, and he kindly gives us the keys 3 hours early!!!! Nice guy!! That lets us have our picnic nice and warm in our kitchen.

Hello Martine,

I’m happily following your adventures—they bring back great memories (our 2015 route was really similar). Thanks for sharing; the good vibes from the four of you are contagious. Great photos and an interesting story. Good luck with the rest of your trip!

Julien

Hi Martine, I notice day by day that our 2020 project was probably inspired by the same forum reads😉. It reinforces our choices. Thanks for the time you spent... Yves

Once again, we're blown away, and thanks to your maps, we can follow along so well! We're really keen to do this route! But what worries us is the weather!!! What will it be like in early June? JP doesn’t want to go in September!!! Looking forward to the next part

Hello

You saw what I did this year. I spent 4 days horseback riding in late May/early June. The weather was nice but not very warm, with some snow still lingering at higher altitudes. It was even quite cold on the first day with wind. We were freezing at night in the cabin near Old Faithful. But I think by June 6th, the park was white again!

So it's a bit of a lottery—the park is still at high altitude, and the weather changes very quickly, especially at this time of year.

Hi Gilles, Yeah, it's still a "double or quits" situation with time! Plus, part of the road to Yellowstone will be closed until 2022, so if we can't even reach the accommodation (booked so early), so many questions!! I saw the photo taken mid-June!!!! More to come!

Hi Martine, Finally a moment to continue reading. I bet you can guess I’m jealous you got to meet the Mustangs. What a joy! For the rest, I’m either reliving my trip or rediscovering places I’d cut from our plan, and all I want is to go back. But aren’t we all like that on this forum? Thanks for all the info and the gorgeous photos. See you soon for Yellowstone!

Hi Martine,

I love your travel journal!! Really looking forward to reading the rest.

We’ll be in Yellowstone in the summer of 2020, early July. We’ve booked one night in Cody and one night in Gardiner. While planning the road trip, I hesitated between taking the same route as you with a round trip to Rock Creek Vista or going directly via the loop through Red Lodge. But honestly, your photos along the route to Dead Indian Summit Overlook are so tempting!! 🙂 Marie

Good evening! 🙂 Wow!!! All these kind little words!!! Thank you all so much!! It's great if this travel journal brings back memories for you (Julien and Françoise) and if it helps with your planning (Yves, Marie Michelle, and Marie). Marie, the Chief Josef Highway is really beautiful, and we don’t regret taking it (we’re almost neighbors since I live in La Seyne). Have a great weekend, everyone. Martine 🙂

Yep, Martine, we're neighbors!!🙂[;]

Yellowstone I’d been dreaming about it long before even considering visiting. I drooled over friends’ photos and travel journals from the forum during my planning, and now here we are!!!! Quietly finishing our snack right at the entrance of the oldest national park in the USA, on this plateau as big as Corsica at over 2,500 meters above sea level. A place with one of the highest concentrations of geothermal phenomena, but with that supervolcano just beneath the Earth’s crust, we’re also standing on the world’s biggest powder keg. This ticking time bomb—even if it’s closely monitored—could wipe out a good part of life on Earth!!!! We don’t care!!!!! We’ve got a little over four days to enjoy it, and it’s right here, within reach of our senses!!! We’re going to open our eyes, ears, nose, and heart and live the present moment to the fullest!! Yellowstone, here we come!!!!

Coke City- Canyon Village- Cooke City With this early turnaround at Beartooth Pass, we’ve got a full afternoon to spend in the park. Cool, we’ll head to Canyon Village to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, as recommended by fellow travelers on the forum—afternoon light is perfect. We arrive at Lamar Valley, its pastures and little silvery bushes after following a small river.







The first bison are in the distance, along with a herd of pronghorns.







This afternoon is off to a great start—it’s sunny, and the animals are right on cue. It’s exactly how I imagined it!!!! Huge meadows with the little river flowing peacefully.

Yellowstone River

The color of the water is stunning.





Toward Tower Junction, heading to Canyon Village.

Calcite Springs What a lovely first taste of geothermal phenomena. As soon as we step out of the car, the smell of sulfur hits us, and we start marveling!!!! These fumaroles at the foot of this whitened cliff, the Yellowstone River, the distant mountains, and the green of the pine trees!! How beautiful it is!!!



Just a little farther, on the other side of the river, there’s another geological curiosity: this line of pillars standing at attention right in the middle of the basalt cliff.

Tower Falls OVL We park at the General Store. Since we can’t go down to the base, we settle for seeing it from above, from a viewpoint just a hundred meters from the parking lot. Even if it’s not impressive, this slender 40-meter-high waterfall is pretty in its setting of rocks and greenery.

The road climbs gently in little switchbacks toward Mount Washburn, which we leave on our left. It winds along the hillsides through the pine trees. We come across entire fields of long-dead trees (maybe from the 1987 fire??) and new life sprouting with little pine trees growing back.

It climbs up to Dunraven Pass before descending again to Canyon Village

We always follow adventure with pleasure and interest! Great memories! Worth noting, after the bison, there are pronghorns... the bighorns look like our mouflons! Christelle

🙂 Oops!!! Thanks for the correction, Christelle!!! I had read it but pffttt!!! Forgot. I’ll fix it right away!!!! Have a great weekend! Martine 🙂

Wow, with all these horns... :)

North rim of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone Brink of the Lower Falls We took 45 minutes for the round trip. This 600-meter hike descends in fairly steep switchbacks. The significant elevation change over a short distance makes it the main challenge, but the trail is wide, with a few viewpoints and benches installed regularly to make the climb back easier.



You arrive at a platform right where the river plunges 94 meters.





Everything comes together to offer a stunning spectacle: the width, the height, the deafening noise, the mist of fine water droplets!!! In the distance, you can see the Upper Falls. On this side, the sun’s rays still play with the water.

While looking at the river below flowing in small rapids, framed by these high, steep cliffs covered in fir trees, you realize that on that side, it’s already in the shade.



We could’ve stayed longer, but we had to head back up because we still had to continue to see the other viewpoints, which can be reached by car via a 4 km loop. Lookout Point



Grand View Point The beauty of the canyon hits you right in the face!!! Orange, red, brown, and especially that yellow of the cliff rock that gives the park its name.









Inspiration Point This is the last viewpoint. We go down the steps to reach the overlook. There, we discover fumaroles rising from the red rock.

and you can see the Lower Falls.

However, you need to be there before sunset to avoid having it in the shade.

We’re so happy to finally discover Yellowstone, which we’ve been waiting for so long! But I think the route you took is the one that’s been closed until 2022!! Can we reach those viewpoints on foot without having to walk too many kilometers, since, unfortunately, my ability to take long hikes isn’t what it used to be!!!😕 Thanks again for this wonderful Christmas gift: our first glimpses of Yellowstone! And I’ll take this opportunity to wish you all

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Return to Cooke City We leave Inspiration Point at 6:10 PM. We’re happy we got to make this first foray and had sunshine for our visit to the canyon, since the weather forecast for the next few days doesn’t look great. A few kilometers past Tower Junction, we see cars stopped on the side. Cars stopped!!! That means something to see!!! Bison? Deer? Suddenly, we spot it!!!! Calmly busy looking for something to nibble on, its head in the green grass under the pine trees!!! We’re mesmerized!!! A bear!!! A bear!!!! Cameras are clicking again!!! In the box, Teddy Bear!!! We can’t take our eyes off it!! It’s so cute with its little lighter snout.

It goes around the tree, passes in front of the trunk and finally turns away to continue its teddy bear life in Yellowstone without a care.

In the car, we’re all excited and savoring the moment. Some travelers aren’t so lucky!!! And right next to the road too!!! The sun has faded and starts to set over Lamar Valley. Shadows appear and play with the hills.

The light is incredible: while some slopes are ablaze, others, on the contrary, are wrapped in soft colors, content to make the river water sparkle while the distant mountains gently fade away.

Soon the moon appears while the sun hasn’t completely disappeared

The herds of bison have moved closer to the road some big males some babies

What a day!!!! No restaurant tonight. We have a fully equipped kitchen, so we might as well take advantage of it!!! Mimi whips up an excellent bolognese that we devour with appetite

But first, like two years ago on Route 66, it’s in Yellowstone that we raise a toast to celebrate our 41 years of marriage. Cheers, friends from the forum!