We are camping (yes I am still going to call it that, even with the kitchen sink) at the Shoshone National Forest Wapiti Campground and are actually camped along the Shoshone River. Although we can’t see it from our campsite as the underbrush has grown up and the water is high, making getting near the banks tough, we can hear it well. This is a rushing water river- not a stream. Think of what the ocean sounds like when you camp directly next to it at night - but the sound of the river is not rhythmic, it is constant. The campground is west of Cody, WY about 30 miles and east of Yellowstone about 22 miles. 
We are in black & grizzly bear country, and every site has a bear box that you are expected to use. No food, grills (supposedly), pet food, etc. can be left out over night – they must be locked in the bear box or in your car/camper, etc. We haven’t seen a bear yet (only a young moose) but that is probably because they make you use these items. Bears don’t get much chance as far as I can tell – I think they will relocate them once and then if they have a second incident they kill them. It is our responsibility to be conscientious campers since we are the ones encroaching on their territory- they are only responding to what comes natural for them – searching for food.Tuesday was just a hang around the camp site, visit the only store for miles, The Red Barn at Wapiti and buy ice cream. Have you noticed a pattern yet, we seem to find places to buy ice cream. I think this is my favorite dessert. Anyway, Wednesday was necessaries day, you know, laundry, shopping, etc. They have a Sierra Trading Post Outlet here so we had to take that in as well. Additionally, there are a few quilt stores that Bruce volunteered to let me browse, but I am saving them until Saturday I think. Thursday was our first real ride – into the East Gate of Yellowstone to the Lake area so you can see that there has not been much to add to the blog anyway.
The drive into Yellowstone goes over Sylvan Pass at about 8500 ft and then drops into the park along Lake Yellowstone. There are plenty of reminders of the fires they have experienced in the last years, including one as late as 2008. What is worse though is the damage that is apparent from the Mountain Pine Beetle. Talk about deforestation on a grand scale. I am sure Mother Nature takes this all in stride and will recover, but not in our lifetime. We saw some geothermal activity along the way as well as many waterfalls over the road from Spring melt. Again, we didn’t see any bears, although I have been looking very hard. They say the Eastern entrance in the late Spring and early Summer is the most likely place to see them, but we haven’t been lucky yet. We stopped at all the overlooks going in and concluded our time in Yellowstone that day at the Lake Hotel for lunch. This hotel is the Grand Old Lady of the park and was designed to let those patrons who could afford it reside in as much comfort as Yellowstone could offer in the early 1900s. It is still considered the best accommodations in the park as well as having the best food. Lunch was OK, but I wouldn’t consider it world class. We inspected the campground at Fishing Bridge where we were supposed to stay beginning Monday next week, and we both agreed it left us wanting so much more, so we canceled. That means we are on our own for 9 days with no real schedule – whatever will we do, OH MY!. I still want to go to Crater of the Moons National Monument and also to ARCO, ID to see the first breeder reactor, EBR-1, so we aren’t completely off our original road map. We just won’t be staying in Yellowstone for any time, and will only do a few short visits, especially since this weekend will be a free weekend and I can assure you the crowds are already appearing. I think we would be much happier here in the fall or early spring, even if there is snow in the area. We are finding more and more how much we do not enjoy crowds, especially when driving and stopping. Not a fun event as far as I am concerned and there are always people who want to speed by, rush everything, etc. No, hundreds of families with children and their respective vehicles, including motorcycles and bikes, on a free weekend in Yellowstone are not my cup of tea. Anyway, we have enjoyed all our time so far, and we will see what Monday brings with a trip back through on our way to the other side. We will pass the Geyser Basin and if it is early enough and there are no crowds, we may get a chance to stop – who knows. The scenery outside Yellowstone is spectacular enough for us, so we are contenting ourselves with it.
Friday we did the ultimate scenic highway drives. We began in Cody, took WY 120 west and then turned left on the Chief Joseph Highway, WY 296. It takes you another way to the Northeastern Entrance to Yellowstone. It was a beautiful drive and we enjoyed it quite a bit. This is the land where Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce Indians led the cavalry on a merry chase. We stopped on Dead Indian Pass at the top for a wonderful view of the whole surrounding area. I documented it with many pictures that are now in the album (or will be soon if I don’t have enough time to upload Saturday). It ends at US 212 east of Cooke City which is just NE of Yellowstone. US 212 include east from that point to Red lodge, MT is the renowned Beartooth Highway. It is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies. We did the Beartooth Scenic Highway from East to West when we left Billings, MT for Yellowstone on our 30 day trip with Jeremy in 1987 so decided to try it west to east this time. The west side of the highway is in Wyoming and is still under quite a bit of snow. Once you pass over into Montana on the east side, although there is still some snow, it is evident they have not gotten quite the same moisture that the west has been experiencing. We turned east at Red Lodge, MT on Montana 308 to Bearcreek and past the remnants of Smith Mine #3 of the Montana Coal and Iron Company. 
This is the site of the worst mining disaster in Montana history where on February 27, 1943 74 of the 77 men working the mine were killed when the mine blew up. The old buildings are still there as the memorial and the mine was never reopened. At Belfry we turned south for cody and an hour later completed what was a wonderful drive through the Wyoming & Montana countryside.Today we are running errands and I found a wonderful quilt shop where I just had to buy some Buffalo Bill Cody material for my travel quilt. We are on our way back to the campground- so I am publishing this without the requisite pictures- they will be added later.
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