Trip around Yellowstone

One morning we made another attempt to see some bull moose that were sighted by friends. Here is what we saw this time.

The black bear entertained the crowd for a while but still no moose......

On our day off this week we decided to drive around some of the park. Our first stop was Norris Geyser Basin, but there were no parking spaces to be found. We thought the crowds had diminished but we were wrong. Since we walked through the boardwalk last year we moved on. Our next stop was Beryl Spring named for its resemblance to the color of a blue-green gemstone. With a temperature above the boiling point it's one of the hottest springs in Yellowstone.

We then headed to Old Faithful and were able to visit with several associates that we worked with last year . Continuing on our drive we stopped at West Thumb of the Yellowstone Lake to see that geyser basin. We were in time to listen to a ranger talk at Abyss Pool named for its impressive deepness.

Ranger John filled us with information about the formation of Yellowstone from a volcano. Toward the end of his talk thunder started to rumble in the distance and dark clouds rolled in. During the question/answer period we hustled back to the car before we got drenched. The lake which is usually brilliant blue was grey that day as we drove by.

After driving through the rain we stopped at the Lake Village lodge, hotel, museum, and visitor center. When we entered a ranger was explaining how to use bear spray. It was very interesting and informative. We carry it with us when we hike and hope we never have to use it.

As we continued up the road we got stopped in a bison jam by Hayden Valley. Cars were stopped on both sides of the road as a few bison crossed in front of us.

Since it is mating season there were lots of weird noises and activity among the animals. The males were closing in on the females

and sometimes going up against another male vying for the female's attention.

It was fascinating to watch, and we didn't mind being stuck in traffic. Once we got moving again we headed back to the northern end of the park. The rain and chilly temperatures dampened the day, but we enjoyed the park in spite of it.

Next week we are taking an extra day off to travel to Glacier National Park in northern Montana.

Livingston Train Depot & Chico Hot Springs

When we visited the Yellowstone Gateway Museum earlier in summer the Northern Pacific Train Depot was not open. We decided to revisit Livingston, MT which is about 50 miles north of us. It's the closest large city with a population of about 7500. Livingston was considered the original entrance to Yellowstone National Park. People would take the train to the city and then ride a stagecoach down to the park. The depot is quite impressive.

I read that there is an historic bus tour of the city, and when I called about it I found out that it only runs on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Since we have Tuesday and Wednesday off I figured that we wouldn't be able to take the tour. When we arrived at the depot we found out that they were doing a special tour for a group of Japanese and Livingston children. After inquiring about it we were invited to join them since there was room.

The American children had gone to Japan and now the Japanese were visiting here. There was a woman who interpreted what the guide said along the way. The guide was the granddaughter of one of the original hotel owners. She was very informative and interesting and costumed as her grandmother would have been dressed.

Along the tour she pointed out houses and hotels. We drove past the Sacajawea Park where we saw her statue with her son Pompey. Sacajawea guided Lewis and Clark around this area. We skipped the "Red Light" district, but she pointed it out to us and told us that we could explore it on our own. The tour was geared to the children and probably not exactly what they usually do, but we were delighted to have the opportunity to ride the yellow bus around the city.

We were also able to view the miniature train display since they opened it up for the kids. We were amazed at how extensive it was with so many intricate little pieces.

 

This gentleman actually worked for the railroad and was very informative.

 

We had to chuckle at this drive-in move lot.

 

 



Inside the depot museum were a variety or train and railroad related articles and pictures. It gave us a good idea of how folks lived and worked over one hundred years ago. This shows what the depot office looked like.

Dan sat down at the controls of an old train.

 

We walked around town a little bit and saw a train pulling into the station.

 



On our way home we stopped at Chico Hot Springs Resort where we soaked in natural hot springs pools. Guests have been enjoying this pleasure since 1900. Hot water flows into it constantly so chemicals are not needed. The small pool is 103 degrees and the larger one 98. During the summer cool water is added to the swimming pool for the comfort of the guests. The hot pool is at the end under the roof.

This is the view from the small hot pool. The water flows from the small pool to the larger one.

We got a laugh from this sign by the side of the pool.

In addition to the pools are a hotel, cabins, day spa, dining room, poolside grill, and saloon. They have an abundance of summer and winter activities, and it looked like many families were enjoying all they had to offer. We certainly took pleasure in the peaceful time we spent there.

Visit to Cody, Wyoming

Last week for our days off we drove to Cody, WY which is east of Yellowstone. Since we haven't seen a moose yet this year our first stop was an area in the park where several friends had seen one recently. This is what we saw.

It was a beautiful hillside of fireweed, but no moose.....
As we continued toward the northeast gate we encountered a bison clomping toward us.

Dan stopped the car, and we got a little nervous as he kept heading right at us. The vehicles in the other lane were blocking the way for him to pass us on our left and for some reason he didn't want to go right. Fortunately at the last second he veered off  to the left side of the car. Wheew! That was a close one!

Farther down the road a grizzly was tromping through the field.

After we left the park we passed through Cooke City and took the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway to Cody. In 1877 Chief Joseph led the Nez Perce tribe from Idaho through Yellowstone to escape to Canada. They surrendered after a six day battle 30 miles from the border. The 47 mile road crosses the Shoshone National Forest through the Absaroka Mountains. The scenery was outstanding.

 There was still a little snow on one far away mountain.

Since it was too early to check into our cabin we traveled 13 miles northeast of Cody to Heart Mountain Relocation Center where the Japanese Americans from the west coast were confined after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. At the Interpretive Center we saw how they had to leave everything behind and live in cramped barracks surrounded by barbed wire and guard towers for about three years. This is a room that a family of six moved into.

Here is a plaque depicting how they felt.

After viewing the displays inside we walked out to the memorial where the housing used to be.

Between 1942 and 1945 Heart Mountain had the third largest population in WY. A total of 14,025 people lived there. 556 babies were born, 148 people died and 800 men and women served in the Armed Forces. It was heart wrenching to see and hear about what these families went through. We were touched by their stories.
On a lighter note.....After eating at the Irma Hotel, named after Buffalo Bill's daughter, we decided to watch the gunfight reenactment in the street.
The gunfight took place to the left of the hotel.

We sat in chairs close to the action, and they began with singing the Star Spangled Banner. Here is the cast in the street.

And here are the girls at the saloon.

A few minutes into the skit clouds formed overhead and the wind began to blow. All of a sudden we were being pelted with hail on our heads. The audience scrambled for cover on the porch as the hail slammed down on the street.

The grass was covered with it.

The cast members took cover in the saloon.

After the hail came the rain. All we could do was wait for it to quit. Eventually it cleared up and the show continued. They did a good job of adlibbing. It was pretty hilarious! The good guys got the bad guys, of course.

That evening we attended a cowboy music concert. It was a flash from the past with songs from back in the day of Roy Rodgers, Dale Evans, Gene Autry, and more. It was fun to reminisce. We were definitely in a western town...."Home on the Range."

Last year we took the trolley tour and enjoyed it so much we decided to repeat the adventure.

The guide pointed out many things in town including the town's largest gun.

We heard about the history of the city and saw the houses that original settlers and founders lived in. We passed the rodeo stands which we attended last year.

We drove through a mountain to the Buffalo Bill Dam and learned more about it. This is the river west of the dam and reservoir.

The tour was as enjoyable and informative as last year.

On the east side of Cody we discovered a war memorial for the veterans of Wyoming.

 This is the Korean War monument.

 These are individual monuments to other areas of the world.

 The Vietnam memorial was quite impressive.

 They had a special memorial for the marines.

It was an awe-inspiring sight to see.

After our trip to WalMart, we headed back to Yellowstone through another spectacular route. We enjoyed the beauty of Wyoming once again.

Once inside the park when we stopped for a break there was a cute little deer watching us watching him.

Another bison was relaxing along the side of the road.

It was an entertaining and interesting trip.

The next blog will describe our trip to Livingston and Chico Hot Springs which we took yesterday.