USA-Wyoming - Dreamers On The Road

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Cheyenne (http://www.cheyenne.org/) is in its most dynamic moment of the year in the last ten days of July, when the festival of Frontier Days takes place (http://www.cheyenne.org/cheyennefrontierdays/).

This festival celebrates the westerns epic through numerous rodeos and events related to the time of the pioneers. In the same time there are the Pow Wow (http://www.gonativeamerica.com/1-BlueMoonPowwow.html), which consist of songs and tribal dances of native American people, taking place within the Indian Village in town.

Apart from this period, Cheyenne does not offer much to the visitors, but it is the capital of Wyoming and an important transit point of the Union Pacific, the legendary railway company for the transport of goods around the center-west, founded in 1862, which played a key role in the economic development of these territories.

We arrive at Cheyenne in the early evening and we have no difficulty in identifying the Motel 6, two steps from downtown. This time the accommodation is very simple, but it has the advantage to let us get in touch with the "purists of the journey", as the bikers we have a chat with, who spend even 6 months traveling around on the roads of the United States, just for the pleasure of enjoying the huge American territory, riding their Harley: basically they are kind of philosophers who find the meaning of life in traveling all the time, staying forever young in their soul.

We take a quick tour by car in the downtown: apparently it does not really have that much to offer and so we directly go for dinner to the Sanford's Grub & Pub, (http://www.thegrubandpub.com/) classical American style restaurant, with plenty of memorabilia and neon lights:

to get to the spectacular counter you pass by a corridor, where we find the Blues Brothers car coming out of the wall, with the inevitable silhouettes of John Belushi and Dan Aykroid leaning out of the window,

and eventually we end up eating some excellent super stuffed burgers in the company of a fake of Marylin, in her  legendary fluttering white dress and the King Elvis, in his typical stage costumes: all very cool and funny !!

We arrive in Shoshoni, a tiny center with few houses and from there we take the Us 20, the Wind River Canyon Scenic Byway (http://scenicbyways.info/byway/2340.html), a scenic route through the spectacular Wind River Canyon, about 50 km long, that leads us to our goal of today.

We walk the 34 miles that separate Thermopolis from Shoshoni, meeting the Boyson Reservoir, surrounded by rocks with incredible colors that change from yellow to red and which contrast with the blue of the lake. We then enter the canyon with its high cliffs, one of the oldest formations in the world, dating back to 2.9 billions of years ago, at the end of which we come out to Thermopolis (http://thermopolis.com/attractions/hot-springs -state-park/).

The town has about 3,000 inhabitants and is known for its many hot springs that are within its territory and which were opened to the public in 1896 after a treaty with local Indian tribes Shoshone and Arapaho.

In Thermopolis we are staying at the Elk Antlers Inn, (http://www.elkantlerinn.com/) a classic motel here, with rooms decorated in a country style. We have dinner at La Fiesta, a Mexican restaurant overlooking Broadway Avenue, the main street,  where we eat some good burritos.

Besides this wonderful geothermal phenomenon, the scenario isn’t less remarkable: the particular morphology of these hills surrounding the park, with their typical red color, due to the presence of iron, characterizes this area within the Indian Reservation.

We climb by jeep on the hilltops overlooking the thermal park,  and we fully enjoy the great views of the surrounding territory.

After this tour we leave  for Cody, where we arrive in about 4 hours, through the boundless territories of Wyoming, that make us daydream: it’s like being inside one of the many movies about how the West Was Won!

In Cody you can watch everyday at 6 pm. a brief presentation of this show, culminating in the classic "gun fire", a mock gunfight, but very noisy, which takes place in front of the Irma Hotel, founded by Buffalo Bill, which is in the heart of down town.

The Main Street of Cody is full of souvenir shops but the most interesting thing for us are the western stores, selling clothes for life in the ranch, boots, pants, shirts, hats and other characteristic accessories. There are entire shelves with every type of boot for men, women and children, and choosing the right hat, given the variety of shapes and colors, is really hard!

We leave our luggage at the Green Gables Motel (http://www.codysgreengables.com/) and the first night we head to the Stampede stadium (http://www.codystampederodeo.com/), to attend a real rodeo, in order to come into direct contact with the local customs and traditions!

Riding enraged horses and bulls is not a thing for young ladies, you know, but when we see that there are also children who do it, we are a bit shocked: it is a very dangerous challenge between a man and a ferocious animal, and seeing a kid, though equipped with all the necessary protection, be thrown to the ground and trampled by a furious bull in the space of 4.3 seconds, well,  it is something that affects!

Day 11-12-13 :Yellowstone Park- Teton National Park



We leave Cody early in the morning heading west, towards the East Entrance of the Yellowstone National Park (http://www.yellowstonepark.com/), to discover the wonders of what is the oldest national park in the world, founded in 1872, placed above the caldera of a supervolcano, characterized by a multitude of geothermal phenomena, that attract tourists from all around the globe. The park, which covers an area of nearly 9000km2, is located on the ridge of the Rocky Mountains and is crossed from north to south from the river itself, which feeds an internal lake.

Entering from east we travel 40 km inside the park, before meeting a herd of grazing bisons, seemingly peaceful, but to be observed at a safe distance.

Continuing on, the road starts climbing along a mountainous area and before going down we meet a road that quickly leads  to an observation point called Butte Lake, which offers a wonderful view over the Lake Yellowstone, the heart of the park, and the immense surrounding forests, unfortunately largely devastated by a recent major fire.

Getting down towards the lake we meet other view points and the first geothermal phenomena: small hot springs and fumaroles that originate from the edges of the lake, which seem to welcome the first visitors of the day.

We make a first stop in the village of Fishing Bridge, for a coffee and some souvenirs, before heading north on the Grand Loup Road, along the Hayden Valley, crossed by the Yellowstone River, to discover the wonders of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

Along the way we meet a lot of Wild Life, as they say here and we stop to visit the thermal area called Mud Volcano, characterized by a series of boiling mud pools to be observed from a distance, walking along a walkway.

Further along we find the sensational Upper Falls, waterfalls that are formed in the river after a series of rapids, which can be observed from different points: we head towards Inspiration Point, which requires a detour by car and a short walk and when we arrive at the point of observation we understand why it was called like that: the view is simply amazing!

We continue north, passing through Canyon Village and then again up at Dunraven Pass at 2700 meters, in a more rugged landscape, but equally spectacular, then back down again, following the Grand Loop Road that veers to the left and leads to the Mammoth Hot Springs, the most interesting point of the area:

a series of hot springs that flow from a hill and down forming several terraces, framed by edges formed over time by the action of the minerals in the water, creating a unique setting.

After visiting the Mammoth Hot Springs we take the 89 that goes south and then turn west on the 191, to reach the center of West Yellowstone (http://www.visitmt.com/places-to-go/cities-and- Towns / west-yellowstone.html), trespassing in Montana to the western edge of the park, where we booked an accommodation for the night at the Madison Motel (http://www.madisonhotelmotel.com/).

Staying on the edge of the park in one of the so-called "gateway towns" is a very good idea: these towns are very well structured to accommodate the many visitors of the park and the prices aren’t so high even in the middle of August. The next morning you can re-enter the park and continue the tour, since the ticket is valid for one week and it also includes the access to the Teton National Park, which is located further south.

Early in the morning, after a quick tour of the town, we return to the park to visit the central area, with its two biggest attractions, making it famous throughout the world: the area of Grand Prismatic Spring,

a giant hot water spring edged by spectacular colors, due to the presence of different types of bacteria, depending on the heat of the water,

Before seeing the Old Faithful we had already witnessed such phenomena within the park, but this is the most ever seen and in fact there are many facilities around it, including the historic Old Faithful Inn, where it is necessary to book well in advance, it goes without saying!

We continue along the road leading south to the Teton National Park (http://www.jacksonhole.com/grand-teton-national-park.html), which we cross to arrive in Jackson (http://townofjackson.com/), winter sports resort and capital of the Teton County.

Altough the town is very touristy, it looks like an exclusive ski resort and certainly it doesn't have the authentic western atmosphere of Cody. It is sorrounded by the mountains, where you can clearly see many lifts and slopes, which makes it more like the ski resorts we have seen in Colorado.

The downtown is lively and teeming with sports and souvenir shops, as well as hotels, motels, exclusive resorts and variety of restaurants to suit all tastes.

We stay at the Motel 6, which here is very modern and far more comfortable than the version of Cheyenne, indeed, in need of maintenance.

After a good restful sleep and a hearty breakfast in the room, we take our jeep and return in the Teton Park, carefully avoiding paved roads and making a circular route along a dirt road, to get better in touch with nature and the wild life of the park.  

The Teton Range is in the background:  the mountain range dominated by the summit of the Grand Teton, of almost 4200 meters, so called by French-Canadian who first settled here, because of the similarity to a female breast. We explore the vast territory of the park driving along the road between Wilson and Moose and then we take the River Road, which runs along the Snake River, in the hope of spotting some wildlife.



We spot a family of mule deers, that are the American antelopes, among the animals that have less fear of man.

An eagle is circling above us: watching this bird opening its large wings and exploiting the winds to hover in the air is a truly unique sight. We stop at the riverside with the jeep, just for the time necessary to eat a sandwich, keeping our eyes open, given the numerous signs that recommend closing the food in airtight containers to avoid attracting bears that roam in the park .

We cross the extraordinary territory of the Wind River Range, a mountain range running along the Continental Divide, that separates the flow of waters from west to the Pacific  and east to the Atlantic. We are still within the larger Yellowstone ecosystem.

We stop in Dubois, which is 136 km from Jackson, at the Exxon gas station, to eat a hot dog. With just under 1,000 inhabitants, Dubois, pronounced as written, is surrounded by mountains and forests, and is not turisty at all, but it owes its charm perhaps especially to this.

After Dubois we enter the Wind River Indian Reservation, in a beautiful but rugged territory, characterized by red cliffs, flat rocks protruding from the ground with a color that turns from orange to red.

Once overcome this rocky area we arrive in Fort Washakie, a town of about 1,700 inhabitants, which is the headquarters of the Indian Reservation, established in 1878, to accommodate the Shoshone and Arapaho tribes.
Fort Washakie, originally a military outpost established in defense of Indian populations, named after the great Indian Chief Washakie, who devoted his life to peace between whites and Indians and is buried here in a small cemetery.

The Indian population survives mainly through the rearing of livestock and construction. Tourism also employs a small part of the Indians. Despite everything, however, unemployment and poverty are widespread within the reserve, and you can tell it even from the ramshackle houses, that seem to communicate the melancholy of these people, once free to roam on horseback, chasing herds of bison in open spaces and now relegated to the reserves, deprived of their land and freedom.

In Fort Washakie, besides the Indian Trading Company's store, where you can buy handmade Indian souvenirs, like earrings, knives and various objects, there is nothing else, and indeed the atmosphere is pretty bleak.

30 miles far from Fort Washakie is the town of Lander (http://landerwyoming.org/), immediately south of the Wind River Reservation, our landing for the next two days. With its approximately 8,000 inhabitants, Lander has numerous recreational facilities, almost all adjacent to the main road, as well as supermarkets and shops.

We are staying at the Holiday Lodge (http://landerholidaylodge.com/), where we find a very spacious and comfortable room.

In Lander you can’t miss the museum of the American West (http://museumoftheamericanwest.com), which tells the pioneer life, through the exhibition of objects and equipment of the time, and entire rooms faithfully redecorated in every detail.

Here you also find an amazing wagon equipped with all the facilities: a kind of "old west " pulled by horses, used by more affluent families to undertake the journey to the west.

Outside you can visit a pioneer village with 10 original buildings removed from their original location and transported so far, where they were faithfully reassembled, to witness what the life inside a western village could be.

Around here also the Sinks Canyon State Park is worth a visit (http://www.sinkscanyonstatepark.org/), a park that includes a canyon, where the Popo Agie River runs, fed by the waters of the smaller glaciers in the Wind River Mountains. The river, flowing between the rocks of the canyon, makes many jumps that create several small waterfalls and disappears underground, to resurface a few hundred meters downstream to form a pool, where hundreds of giant trouts swim.  



We leave with a heavy heart the state of Wyoming, to get back to Denver, Colorado, and conclude our round trip, with our eyes and soul full of images and emotions that we won’t easily forget.