CHIEF JOSEPH SCENIC HIGHWAY
I took these photos two weeks ago….there is a lot more snow now! The start of the highway runs through Two Dot Ranch I think for the first 7 miles. Since I don’t have traction tires I only went up until I hit snow on the highway(about 10 miles) These photos don’t do justice to the landscape in person but here they are….
Ever since I move to Billings and started making the twice a month trip to Cody Two Dot Ranch has been my idea of heaven on earth. Beauty surrounds in every direction…
This is Heart Mountain the top is supposed to look similar to a buffalo heart. On the other side of the mountain lies the dark history of a Japanese internment camp….
From the website summitpost.org
“While it’s considered part of the Absaroka Range, Heart Mountain is more of a geologic anomaly with its unusual limestone cap. Geologists from around the world have studied it, yet its origin remains a subject of passionate debate. Somehow it became separated from larger masses of similar formations found sixty miles away in Yellowstone National Park. Moreover, older limestone lies atop younger strata, which is “upside down” in relation to how these strata are found elsewhere.”
LAST OF MY FAMILY VACATION PHOTOS…
Juanita looking at the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone..
Frankie!
Gus – Man of Wilderness!
YELLOWSTONE ADVENTURES
No he isn’t really touching the museum artifact just my attempt at trick photography!
BUFFALO SLIDESHOW
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YELLOWSTONE VIA EAST ENTRANCE
My wonderful nephew Frankie at the Buffalo Bill Dam and Reservoir….
My equally wonderful nephew Gus looking over the dam….
Scenery in the Wapiti Valley the road runs a long the Shoshone River….
Over Sylvan Pass the first lake in Yellowstone…
Gus take the opportunity to skate Yellowstone….
The lovely Juanita at Yellowstone Lake
Visiting the geothermal pools…
EVENING IN CODY
Continuing with the journey of my sister Juanita and nephews Frankie and Gus…
The lightening storm the previous night started a fire in the Beartooth Mountains….
After I slaved away all day we went to a “chuck wagon” dinner with singing cowboys but my photos didn’t turn out so well…the singer/guitar players were great!
After dinner it was off to the Cody Night Rodeo!
MEET ME AT THE MINT
So then we traveled into Sheridan where my sister and I took over the famous Mint Bar…….This is my sister…my brother needs to show up next year!
TRAIPSING AROUND DEVIL’S TOWER
On the way to Devil’s Tower…. Juanita and Frankie dwarfed by Wyoming….What a welcome!
Juanita trying to capture the devil….
little prairie dogs live in the shadow of Devil’s Tower
Frankie getting ready for a run around the tower….
Juanita and I walked as Frankie ran. We stopped a lot to take photos. My lovely sister up close…
Let’s just see who stands taller….
Juanita taking a photo…
Juanita vs Devil’s Tower…..
Back to where we started Juanita and Frankie in prayer….
Me and Frainkie!!
Frankie…
He’s so cute!
Prairie Dogs goodbye…
Frankie before WANTED posters…
Clouds heading for Deadwood….
RANGER’S DELIGHT TWO
The last two photos are actually not part of the Ranger’s Delight trail but are of hills outside of the recreation area and a railroad bridge over the Bighorn River outside of Lovell, WY
WILDFLOWERS AT 9666FT
From the mini but strenuous hike on the Bighorn Mountains at Powder River Pass…
THESE FLOWERS LOOK HOW I FEEL THIS MORNING…
Actually they look like they just came back from a night on the town and are ready to crash….I fell that way except I didn’t even have the night on the town!
(Flowers courtesy of the Bighorn Mountains)
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS 4
Last of the Mammoth photos…
Another hat!
I had lunch here so I could recharge my battery. It looks fancy but its really fast food I had a cheeseburger and icecream! I splurged on carbs after all the hiking I did…
The elk own the town!
This isn’t in Mammoth Hot Springs but on the way back to my campsite. Below are photos of the mountain range…
MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS 1
Mammoth Hot Springs are not what they once were….most of them have stopped flowing but there is still beauty in the terraces after the water is gone.
This is a windy area and people lose their hats! I had my new cowboy hat on and even with the string it started to fly a few times. The good thing about a string on my hat is that I can hold the string to keep it on instead of the obvious hand to the hat maneuver.
Another hat!
More to come!
HEADING TO MAMMOTH HOT SPRINGS
I had not been to Mammoth Hot Springs yet so….off I went (avoiding the scary pass to Tower Falls….
Well its hard to see it in this photo but there is a little puff where the gas escapes from the side of the mountain
I stop for every one I see and introduce myself!
The valley is beautiful….
This was the scary part I didn’t know about but I talked my way through it…you have a small car….there is plenty of room….you have never driven off a cliff before…..in statement analysis the third person language would indicate a removal of myself from the events!
It sure was pretty though!
WHITE FLOWERS
I loved these funny white flowers but they were growing in a marsh disguised as grass! One step near them and you sink in. I had to lay on a log and zoom in to get the photos!
FAIRY FALLS
Fairy Falls is a very popular hike and even though I got there early there was already another car in the parking area . By the time I got back the parking area was full and people were parking on the side of the road. This is a nice hike on a well maintained trail and starts with a walk around a geothermal area. If I remember its about 2 1/2 miles to the falls.
What my hiking book didn’t tell me is that its better to hike later in the day when the sun can shine on the falls.
GREEN SPRING
I was heading for Mammoth Hot Springs when I saw the sun shining on this magnificent gem. I had to find a place to leave my car and walk back. The only problem with that is when you pull your car to the side of the road everyone else does to because they think that you are pulling over for wildlife. That happens to me a lot because most of the photos I take are not of the wildlife but of things like this…
I would have like to follow it but I left my bear spray in the car!
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