Cody WY: Deja Vu All Over Again, Again!

It rained all night at Devils Tower and was raining when we left camp. The coach looked pretty good after we cleaned it before leaving home, but now the coach and the car are two big mud balls. We continued westward on I-90 before cutting off on US 14 to cross the Bighorn Mountains. The road across the Bighorns had only been open a few days, and there was still a significant snow pack on the mountain. It was a beautiful drive across the mountain, and then we dropped down into the Bighorn basin.

We entered Cody late in the afternoon. We drove through town and went a short distance up the Yellowstone highway towards Yellowstone's East Entrance when disaster struck. There was a sign saying the road to Yellowstone was closed! Deja Vu all over again! The only other time I was ever in Cody was in September 1988. That summer was the period of the most devastating fires in Yellowstone's history. In the spring of '88 we made plans to drive to Yellowstone and spend about a week there, then go to Arizona for a raft trip through the Grand Canyon. The fires started in Yellowstone early in the summer. I figured: no problem, they'll be out by September. Each week the fires spread and became more intense. We left home with all the optimism we could muster, but it was not to be. When we arrived in Cody, intending to use the east entrance, the fires were at their peak. The Yellowstone east entrance was closed. In fact every entrance and every road in the park was closed except a short section from the north entrance to Tower Junction. Bummer! That summer, after a day in Cody and no prospect of the park reopening soon, we regrouped and headed to Utah. Dang.

This time the road was closed because of an avalanche that had occurred the day before. The road at Sylvan Pass was under 30 feet of snow. It had been opened for the season for several days, but recent high temperatures had softened the snow and caused the fall. Park officials were non-committal about when the road would open. They hinted for several days that it "might open tomorrow", but apparently the work was more difficult than expected, and the opening date stretched on. We were told they could only work for a few hours each morning before the temperatures warmed to the extent that it was unsafe to work in the area. When we left Cody on Saturday AM, they were looking at Wednesday or later.

So, we spent a little time in Cody seeing the sights. By far the best thing to do in Cody is visit the Buffalo Bill Historical Center. We spent a whole day and part of another exploring the five museums of the BBHC. The museums include Yellowstone Natural History, Western Art, Plains Indians, Firearms, and, of course Buffalo Bill Cody. It is a wonderful place that everyone should visit if they are in the area. We also visited the Buffalo Bill Dam on the Shoshone River. When completed in 1910, it was the largest concrete arch dam in the world. We also drove up the South Fork Road into the mountains along the South Fork Shoshone River. We saw hundreds of mule deer and pronghorn and dozens of elk. While waiting for Sylvan Pass and the East Entrance to open, the road to the Northeast Entrance and Cooke City, the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, opened. We had lingered long enough in Cody and departed Saturday morning for Yellowstone National Park via the Northeast Entrance.