Summer 2021 – Cody, Wyoming
To get to Yellowstone from the east, most people take I-90 through Billings, Montana, and then head south, past Gardiner, entering Yellowstone at Mammoth Hot Springs. We wanted to stay at Buffalo Bill State Park near the dam. So we arrived in Cody, Wyoming on June 13th after traversing the Bighorn Mountains via the southern route, Cloud Peak Skyway Scenic Byway.
Monday, June 14th was our “zero day.” After 3 full days of driving about 1700 miles, we needed a break. We stayed two nights at Buffalo Bill State Park, site #2, right on the reservoir. The site was gorgeous. We woke to 60 degree temperatures. Snow was still on the peaks, and buds were just forming on the trees. This was in stark contrast to the three 90 degree days we experienced, crossing the Great Plains. The kids found an amazing fort made of driftwood down by the shore. The fort complex had 3 teepees and fence. There was so much driftwood here! The park ranger said that in the spring the entire reservoir is packed with driftwood from the winter runoff. That must be an amazing site to see.
Today was going to be hot in Cody, so we prepared for the heat and headed into town. We stopped at Buffalo Bill Dam and learned all about the construction. The kids appreciated the diagrams where you can see the effects of flooding the area where the East and West fork of the Shoshone rivers came together. We saw a ball plug which was used to stop the flow of water through the dam when repairs were needed. Other diagrams showed how the water can be directed and utilized in various processes.
Leaving the dam, we went through 3 tunnels which were a welcome addition to the road that would have been there before the construction. That road was only 12 feet wide with a 22% grade. It was one lane and tractors were placed at the top of the hill to pull cars and trucks up the slope. Following the Shoshone River down through the canyon, we entered Cody.
Each town that surrounds Yellowstone has its own flavor. Cody is definitely filled with cowboys, cowgirls and the wild west. It has built itself on this persona, even naming itself after William Frederick Cody whose nickname, Buffalo Bill, was granted upon him for supposedly killing an absurd number of buffalo in the late 1800’s. We stopped at Irma Hotel which really was a 100 year old hotel and felt like it from the inside. I was the only one to actually get to go in it as we are still in COVID time where the kids are not vaccinated. From there we got burgers from the Proud Cut Saloon, where I waited at the bar and talked to locals and tourists for what seemed like an hour. The bartender was from Alaska, the waiter was definitely interesting and there was another customer seated next to me at the bar from the deserts of Nevada who would not stop talking. We ate in our RV, then headed back to the campground. Showers were in the north end of the campground and required us to drive there. So we stopped at the showers first and then spent the rest of the afternoon at our site waiting for the heat to break, relaxing, and getting ready to enter Yellowstone the next day.
