Wyoming 2019

So my mother invited me to meet up with her on one of her trips to Wyoming.

She started going out there a few years ago and absolutely loves the area. Despite her repeated invitations and pleas to get me to visit, it just hadn’t worked out where I was able to get away. When she started talking seriously about moving out there, I decided on a last-minute quick trip to see what all the fuss was about. I discovered that the fuss is well-justified.

We had different flights out, with me leaving from Boston and her from Providence. I arrived in Cody a few hours ahead of her. I picked up the rental car and decided to explore the area and get my bearings until returning to the airport to pick her up. I stopped at the best coffee place around, Rawhide Coffee, and sat outside.

As I drove out past Buffalo Bill Reservoir taking in the scenery, I discovered a dirt road leading off the main road that appeared to go up Cedar Mountain. I decided to test out my rental Jeep Cherokee’s off-road capabilities (what better opportunity than with a rental car?). The road quickly deteriorated into a one-lane rocky trail, and the Jeep handled it well. The road curved along switchbacks up the side of the mountain. There was virtually no room to pass, so I was thankful there weren’t many others up there. It was pretty white-knuckle driving, especially for someone not used to driving off-road (by Wyoming standards, this was really just a regular road, and the locals would surely laugh at my description). The top provided some incredible views.

It was starting to get dark, so I decided to make my way back down and get to the airport. After making a quick stop to foil a violent crime in progress and save the life of a young woman (long story for another day), we reached the ranch where we would be staying.

We stayed at the K3 Ranch in Cody for a couple of nights. My mother has stayed there several times and has gotten to know the owners well. It is a great place and very warm and welcoming!

Sunrise view from our lodging

Rabbit!

Owls!

My mother with a real rancher!

Ranch cat!

We drove into Yellowstone National Park, but since we could not do it justice with only one day, we put together a circuit where we could at least focus on seeing wildlife.

Yellowstone Lake

Bison!

Elk hanging out in Mammoth Hot Springs.

I walked up to the top of the hot springs.

We drove into Yellowstone through the East Entrance from Cody, and then out through the Lamar Valley to the Northeast Entrance into Montana.

You get high up into the mountains on this route, over Dead Indian Pass.

There are a lot of free range cows.

The next day, we went up through Lovell to Bighorn National Recreation Area. The Bighorn area is just amazing, and in my opinion, no less worthy of visiting than Yellowstone. However, it really is a hidden gem, as Yellowstone is packed with throngs of people, and we saw maybe two or three other people in all of the NRA.

We hiked out to multiple abandoned ranches, which were incredible.

We found some tiny apples!

We also decided to take a drive into the Bighorn Mountains (Bighorn National Forest). On an early September day, we did not expect the weather we found!

More cows!

The Bighorn mountains were amazing, and as soon as I can go back, I intend to take a lot more time to explore – on foot!

We stayed in Lovell for a couple of nights in the bunkhouse of some friends. My mother’s horse, Monty, also lives there, since retiring from Rhode Island a couple of years ago.

Baby horse!

My friend Monty!

The following day, we took a drive up Pryor Mountain to find wild horses. This was a serious off-road trip, even by Wyoming standards. The weather had been bad, so the horses were scarce, but we did see a few bands.