We left Hulett at 6:15 am and the temperature was 43*. About 30 miles out of town there were no trees, just wide open spaces. We saw lots of cattle and pronghorn and several fields of sheep. We even saw one pronghorn in the middle of the road. We also noticed there are no brick houses in the area, only frame houses.
Between Hulett and Buffalo we had a beautiful view of the Bighorn Mountains and drove through them on the way to Worland. At Buffalo, we got off the interstate (finally!) and were on a scenic state highway. We started seeing a little snow on the ground just out of Buffalo and kept going up in elevation. The temperature dropped from 50* down to 39*. We reached the highest elevation at Powder River Pass (9,666') and there was a lot of snow. Near the town of Ten Sleep we saw our first moose in the wild!
Beautiful, wide open Wyoming
Beautiful, wide open Wyoming
Some kind of mining operation
Bighorn Mountains
Bighorn Mountains
Bighorn Mountains - love the round cloud!
Bighorn Mountains
Wyoming
Snow in the Bighorn Mountains
The higher we went, the more snow we saw.
Of course, I had to pose in the snow with a short-
sleeved t -shirt!
A snow fence in the Bighorn Mountains
Bighorn Mountains
Interesting little town of Ten Sleep, WY
More mountains
Mountains, mountains everywhere!
We arrived in Thermopolis about 11:15 a.m. It is tucked among the foothills of the Owl Creek Mountains beside the Big Horn River. We headed to Hot Springs State Park. The park contains mineral baths, pools, hot mineral springs, terraces and hot waterfalls, and is home to the state's bison herd. The park claims to be the World's Largest Hot free-flowing spring. Mineral laden waters well-up from Big Horn Hot Spring at a scalding 127 degrees. This huge pool, spewing out 3.6 million gallons of hot water every day makes up the main feature of the park. A treaty between the Shoshone and Arapaho nations and the US specified that the waters of the hot mineral springs here would be available to everyone free of charge. They had one pool that was half indoors and half outdoors where you could bathe for 20 minutes for free. There were also a couple other pools and a water park that you had to pay admission to enter.
Leaving the museum, we headed back to our room. A deer came out of the park across the street and crossed the 4-lane road - not running - just a slow walk! We had a lot of rabbits running around outside our room. We also met Leon and "his woman" (that's how he introduced her) who were staying a couple cabins away from us. He asked us if we got up early and when we told him we did, he asked us if we were quiet. I overheard him on his phone later (he talked really loud) and he was saying that people would get up around there at 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. and were so loud and wondered why they got up so early because there was nothing to do that early! I have to admit, I did kind of let the door slam when we loaded up to leave in the morning! Our room was a small (very small) cabin with a bed, table 2 chairs and tv. The bathroom was tiny too.
Scalding water flows out of the turquoise Big Spring (above) and into the cooling ponds. The mineral-laden spring issues 3.6 million gallons of water per day, and the terraced formations over with the water flows are comparable to those of Yellowstone.
Water on its way to the cooling pond
Big Horn River - the banks of the river are travertine, composed of
mostly lime and gypsum from water from the springs. The coloring
comes from the 25 species of algae that thrive in hot water.
Hot Springs State Park also home to the state's bison herd. The bison herd was originally established in 1916 with 15 cows from Kansas City and 1 bull from Yellowstone. In 1973 a family donated the Spearhead brand and 98 cow bison. In 1889, there were only 551 bison left nationwide. That was down from the estimated 250 million that once roamed the country. The park maintains a free-roaming herd of 24-27 adult and yearling bison on a year-round basis. This number increases by 10-15 animals during the spring as new calves are born.
There is a road that winds through the buffalo pastures and there were several more hot springs along the road.
Buffalo
It took about an hour and a half to get from here to Cody where we planned to stay before going to Yellowstone. Our room at the Buffalo Bill Village Cabins ($113.38) wasn't ready when we got there so we told them we'd go on to the museum and come back later.
We found the Buffalo Bill Center of the West Museum which was huge! It contains 5 separate museums - Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indians Museum, Whitney Western Art Museum, Draper Natural History Museum and the Cody Firearms Museum.
The Buffalo Bill Museum showcases the fame and success Cody attained through his "Buffalo Bill's Wild West show" and addresses his significant influence on the economic and cultural development of the American West. The exhibits also reveal an intimate portrait of this major American figure - his personal successes and failures, as well as his financial fortunes and misfortunes.
Buffalo Bill Museum
Linda with Buffalo Bill
Buffalo Bill's private tent looked like this when he was on the road.
The Plains Indians Museum features the stories and objects of Plains Indian people, their cultures, traditions, values and histories, as well as the contexts of their lives today. They had an extensive collection of art, artifacts, ceremonial items and beadwork as well as dress and weaponry of the Arapaho, Blackfeet, Cheyenne, Crow, Shoshone and Sioux tribes.
An Indian teepee
Indian artifacts
A type of shawl the Indians wore
The Whitney Western Art Museum features paintings and sculptures of the American West.
One of many paintings here
The Draper Natural History Museum features interactive exhibits highlighting geology, wildlife, and human presence in the Greater Yellowstone region.
So life-like
Loved the owl!
Interesting model of a volcano
Cody Firearms Museum houses the most comprehensive collection of American firearms ranging from a 16th-century hand cannon to guns of modern manufacture. It holds weapons from almost every significant gun manufacturer in the world and also the Winchester collection. I gave this one just a few minutes of my time and told Conrad to take his time. I'd be waiting for him in a chair!
Guns
A Pair of Gold Colt Single Action Army Revolvers
Our cabin
So, after 360 miles, 8,652 steps and 3 flights of stairs, it was time for some rest!
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