Day 209 – Cody Country: Shoshone National Forest and Beyond

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Day 209 of a Year Long Road Trip Along America’s Scenic Byways
Grizzlies in Grand Teton National Park

For a rainy day spent mostly in VANilla, I couldn’t have wished for anything better.  There had been reports of a mama grizzly bear with two cubs roaming around the Jackson Lake Lodge area.  On our way to our hike yesterday, a handful of cars and rangers were camped out alongside the road, so this morning around 7:45 I ventured to the same general area along with several others.  I was willing to wait up to an hour, but much to my pleasant surprise, I only had to wait about five minutes.  During the next 15 minutes, I think I took 83 shots.  Every now and then, I just set the camera down and watched both the bears and the spectacle of photographers.

The bears mostly rummaged around in the wild flowers that seemed to be waist high on the cubs, though it could have been my angle. While mostly oblivious to the line of parked cars, every once in a while a car door closing or the blink of lights from the car alarm alerted them, one time enough to send then romping through the field right past my line of sight!

There had to have been at least 50 cars with photographers sporting tripods and three foot lenses while camped out on the roofs of their SUVs.  I felt like such an amateur, wondering if some of these folks were freelancers that sold their photos to newspapers!

Once the bears moved into the next clump of bushes, I moved on.  I suspect I could have stuck around for some more photo opportunities, but there was more to see!  I turned VANilla around, passed by the campgrounds at Colter Bay and headed north to the southeastern corner of Yellowstone on my way to Cody.

White Marmot in Yellowstone

The burnt forest with substantial regrowth in the southern section of Yellowstone was quickly overtaken by a deep gorge carved by the Lewis River, sandy shore lakes, and steaming hot springs as the stench of sulphur lingered in the air.  On my way to West Thumb, a village in the park, I noticed a white marmot on the side of the road…or at least that is what it appeared to be.  All the marmots I spotted previously had been brown, so I was somewhat dismayed.

Instead of claiming I saw a white marmot when it was an opossum, I decided to check with the rangers at the visitor center.  They were intrigued by my discovery and wanted to know where I saw it and asked if I would forward my pictures so they could pass them along to their biologist.  How cool is that!!  I was really looking for a bull moose, but an unknown white marmot will suffice.

Upon reaching Lake Village, I turned east on Hwy 20 and just after exiting through the east entrance station, I spotted (with the help of ten other cars at a standstill in the road) another grizzly bear slumbering through the woods in Shoshone National Forest.

Shortly thereafter, the cars in front of me stopped again as we watched a bison leading a procession of cars in the opposing lane of traffic.  A few impatient westbound
travelers blew their horns unsuccessfully as the eastbound traffic stopped to snap a few photos of the bison led parade.

Shoshone National Forest

VANilla weaved along the hilly terrain, chugging up the steep grades and speeding down them past numerous waterfalls where we reached Pahaska Tepee, a hunting lodge built by William Cody, alias Buffalo Bill.  We didn’t stop for a guided tour, but instead continued past spires, pinnacles and other rock formations that were identified by road signs including the time period in which they were formed.  I felt like I was in Utah again.  As we followed the Shoshone River through meadows of wildflowers, we eventually reached the Buffalo Bill Dam.  The dam was the tallest in the world without any steel reinforcement when it was constructed in 1910.

Shell Canyon

After passing through Cody, the road led us by pastures of farmland before we again climbed into Shell Canyon past pink granite and rosy sandstone where we stopped to enjoy Shell Falls just as the sprinkles dropped on VANilla’s windshield.  The paved path to the viewing platform was very short and dogs weren’t allowed, so Petey and I continued along the undulating road in VANilla. As we reach one high point, a white substance floated in gusting winds…at times it seemed like cottonwood and
at other times it seemed like snow, but it felt too hot outside.

Eventually the sprinkle turned into a drizzle with sporadic moments of heavy rain which helped wash the red dirt from Utah off VANilla.  As we rounded the bend, we came across a moose grazing by the roadside that jumped at each passing vehicle and periodically shook the rain off its scruffy coat.

After a day of driving I reached the Wal-Mart in Sheridan around 5 pm.  I noticed I’ve been remiss in mentioning deer, elk, and pronghorn…all wildlife I’ve spotted in the last few days, though the grizzlies and moose have garnered my attention!  ETB

Map of My Road Trip Across the USA

Learn more about my road trip across the USA, or click the link below for the interactive map.

Interactive Map of Road Trip Across the USA

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