Big Horn National Forest to Yellowstone

Our next destination would be Yellowstone National Park. Since we had to cross over all of Wyoming to get there, I decided it would be best to take a scenic route. Following route 14, we were able to drive through Big Horn National Forest to Hot Springs and then arrive close to the East entrance of Yellowstone.

Big Horn National Forest was a nice change of scenery. The drive there was the same, prairie lands and ranches, except for the mountain skyline. Filled with winding roads up a dry mountain to forested lands covered with Evergreens and cattle, we ended up driving next to a set of waterfalls that streamed through the mountain gorge.

The trip from Big Horn to Hot Springs was a few hours of more ranches and rolling hills. But once we arrived in Thermopolis, we were able to tell right where the Hot Springs Park was. Right next to the main highway, is a mountain with an arrow pointing down and a sign that reads “Worlds Largest  Mineral Hot Springs.” Once we arrived at Hot Springs we were ready to soak in the warm 104 degree natural spring water, but first we decided to walk around.

The Hot Spring starts right were the noted mountain points. Following the aroma of Sulfur water, we were able to find the spring with no problem. Algae green to a clear gray, the spring streams down the hill into a large man-made cooling pool. (The steam from the cooling pool can be seen from the road.) The cooling pool eventually trickles down to a cliff where the water falls off into a small river.

We were able to see these waterfalls a little closer by walking over a swinging bridge. The walk over was fun, with the wind and a little help from Jason we know the full explanation for the name “Swinging bridge”.  Once on the other side, we relaxed on a bench and looked out at the park, cooling pool, and river.

Ready to jump in, we walked back across the bridge, followed a walking path over the cooling pool, and arrived at the Bath House. After signing in we were able to change into our bathing suits and soak in the free natural mineral hot spring pool. It was so relaxing!

After showering, we made dinner and continued on our journey north, to Cody, not to far from the East entrance to Yellowstone. 

Mt. Rushmore to Wyoming

That night was the first thunderstorm that we spent in the little guy. We didn’t get much sleep to say the least, I wanted to get to Mt. Rushmore to watch the sun rise. It worked out perfectly because Jason’s phone forgot what time zone we were in and woke us up a hour earlier than we planned.

That extra hour allowed us to get gas and make it to Mt. Rushmore just in time.

Although the monument wasn’t open, the gates were and we were able to drive right in. Since we were there the night before, I thought we would spend an hour at most walking around. Well, that quickly changed. We decided to stick around for a while, checking out all the exhibits of the museum and hitting up the gift shop.

We ended up spending about four hours there, leaving around 11.

 

Instead of walking up to Washington’s head (which you are not allowed to do anymore) we walked up the Presidents Trail. The trail brought us right under the monument (at the base of the crumbled rocks).

 

It was incredible to see the faces change with the lighting and shadows. We later found out that the artist, Gutzon Borglum, who created the monument, sculpted the faces so hat throughout the day, when the light hit it from different angles, each president would continuously show different emotions. 

After our walk to the monument we went to museum. I never thought about how much time was put into the creating of the monument. Planning for every conceivable problem, Borglum spent four years preparing and designing before he began chiseling. It was incredible to read and see the documentation of everything that went on behind the scenes. I would absolutely recommend visiting the monument. It was spectacular!

From the monument we went to see the Crazy Horse Memorial. The memorial is a tribute to Crazy Horse, a leader and hero to the Sioux Indians in the mid 1800’s. Once completed, the memorial will be the largest carving in the world (563 ft tall and 641 ft long). For now, only the head is complete and the arm is currently being carved. It was neat to see at a distance, however, I decided that paying the 10 dollar admission fee to see it closer wasn’t worth it. (It will be when the monument is done). From there we continued on through the Black Hills to Wyoming.

The drive was fascinating. Most of the wilderness had just begun it’s recovery from the largest forest fire the Black Hills had ever seen. The fire took place for 16 days between August and September of 2000.

After passing over a dozen ranches we were finally in Wyoming. We stopped in the city of Gillette to get some maps and visitor info. It really sounded boring but we decided to take a break and visit the local Rock museum. The museum is free and surprisingly really fun. It had a bunch of antiques, guns, rocks, fossils, and a ton of old saddles.

We then got back on the road and drove to the closest Wal-Mart in Sheridan.