There was mention in my last blog that we were hopeful cold mornings would be behind us after South Dakota……that did not happen. Our next destination would be Yellowstone National Park (SPECTACULAR), with a stop on the way to see Devil’s Tower and Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. We camped for one night on our way at a beautiful mountain spot, South Fork Campground just outside Buffalo, Wyoming. Our site was located right next to a river surrounded by forest, very peaceful, serene…….and scattered with SNOW. After another freezing cold night we decided it was time to purchase a Little Buddy indoor propane heater to take the early morning chills off before setting up at our next campground.
South Fork Campground, WY
We spent just a short amount of time at Devil’s Tower and Little Bighorn since our travel schedule did not allow for extensive exploration. Devil’s Tower was quite impressive and designated the nation’s first national monument by President Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. The tower is estimated to be greater than fifty million years old!
Devils Tower, WY
Little Bighorn Battlefield Monument presented the story of a dark and somber moment in American history. This expansive area, with monuments and paths throughout, memorializes the US Army’s 7th Cavalry conflict with the Lakota and Cheyennes in one of the last efforts to preserve the tribes’ way of life. I found it difficult to comprehend the horrors of this conflict and unable to justify any purpose for battle. We learned the loss of life included more than US infantry, civilians, Lakota and Cheyenne. Since only a handful of the US military were prepared with shovels to dig trenches for cover the soldiers were commanded to shoot their horses to use as protective walls to hide behind. It was hard to imagine such tragedy looking over the pristine landscape of this battlefield today.
Little Bighorn Battlefield
Our next destination was Yellowstone National Park at a campground located in Gardiner, Montana. We were fortunate to have spent seven amazing days traveling in and out of the park via the North Entrance. Due to issues with the Scamp’s tires we cut our stay one day short and just missed the devastating flooding that shut down Yellowstone. It broke my heart to see such destruction to the park and roads that we became so familiar with. The North Entrance roads are barely recognizable now. I am beyond grateful that we were able to spend the time we did at Yellowstone and thankful that those still remaining stayed safe.
Eagle Creek Campground, Gardiner, Montana - This beautiful site was located two steep bumpy dirt road miles above Gardiner. We had deer and elk walk through but no bears!
Yellowstone, an active super volcano, has a multitude of landscape variations from geysers, hot springs, mountains, and rivers to more grassy terrain. We were very fortunate to have caught a glimpse of many magnificent animals within the park although our phones were not able to capture great photos since we were very careful to stay in our car and keep our distance. I will let the pictures we took in Yellowstone speak for themselves, truly a breathtaking experience.
Yellowstone National Park - North Entrance from Gardiner, Montana
Yellowstone Grand Canyon
The hot springs were abundant and picturesque! We visited a few including Mammoth Hot Springs located just inside the North Entrance to Yellowstone.
Geysers geysers everywhere and Old Faithful still does not disappoint, erupting on average every 90 minutes(ish).
Yellowstone Lake and drive to the Grand Tetons.
The Grand Tetons - Grand Teton National Park was just 27 miles south of Yellowstone so we made a trip down to see these magnificent mountains.
I spied with my little eye a bison and other park animals! Photos not the best due to keeping our distance and not having a camera with a lens as long as a football field however Steve did an awesome job capturing the animal photos below: squirrel, female elk, male elk, bison, black bears, female big horn sheep, cinnamon black bears, male mule deer, moose, and a grizzly!
After leaving the Yellowstone area we had an unexpected detour to Livingston, Montana. While camping in Gardiner our next door camp neighbor noticed an issue with our trailer tires. It was pretty serious and right away we replaced the tires while still in Gardiner. Thank you so very much to Aaron and his daughter Grace for all of their help and leftover s’more fixings! We then headed to Livingston for new wheel bearings and stayed for a couple days checking out the local thrift shops and enjoyed a hotel room with bathroom and shower before moving on to Idaho! Sending love to our friends and family.
Livingston, Montana
Coddiwompling “To Travel in a Purposeful Manner Towards a Vague Destination”
“My wish is to stay always like this, living quietly in a corner of nature.” - Claude Monet
“And I think to myself…..what a wonderful world. “ - Louis Armstrong
https://www.nps.gov/deto/index.htm. (Devils tower)
https://www.nps.gov/yell/index.htm (Yellowstone National Park)