At breakfast in discussing today's (Saturday's) choices, Mike said that maybe we should just figure on driving straight to Cody with no stops. I immediately said that we both knew that one of the best parts of the trip was the unknown and that we are always ready to stop and look at something of interest. He agreed instantly.
500 pictures and an hour of videos later (we brought two cameras and an extra rechargeable battery for one; we wore out both batteries to one camera and checked in with fumes on the other), we had had one of our greatest scenic days. And we only stopped for a half a day or better en route.
The fabulousest part was the climb up the Bighorn Mountains from the eastern side. For those of you who have driven the twists and turns of the Pacific Coast Highway, this road was very similar, EXCEPT instead of looking out on an ocean of water, you look out on an ocean of land. AND it's way higher. It climbs to about 8,800 feet, which is roughly a mile above the sea of land that you look out on.
If you're really lucky, you make this drive on a beautiful day one day before the visitor center at the top is closed for the season because the weather goes so bad so fast around this time. The picnic tables were being picked up. The gift shop was being packed up.
I think I mentioned in a previous post that there were times on I-90 that I thought I was looking at land equal to the entire square mileage of the state of Vermont. Here I thought all of New England could fit before my wonder-filled eyes.
Soon we would be climbing to the top of these mountains and the Bighorn National Forest.
Three mule deer were right beside the road on the way up. The rangers later said that only in the last week or so had they completed transitioning to their winter gray coats. We'd seen dozens and dozens of pronghorn antelope earlier in the day, but never were able to get a good shot of those handsome, athletic animals.
Above the clouds we took pictures of an hour before.
The Bighorn Mountains
Shell Falls on the way down on the western side of the Bighorns. As Mike said there were many pyramid-like rock formations above us on that part of the journey. Bigger, I imagine, than the biggest pyramid. Many sheer cliffs. The flowing water has cut so deeply into the rock that it's rarely accessible to the wildlife. Then we passed through the metropolis of Shell (population 50), where, as Mike pointed out, half the town was gathered in folding chairs in a parking area in front of their store.
(Not to be confused with the area's other city, whose name I don't remember, but both Mike and I saw the sign and it had a population of 10.)
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