Aug 19-22 (Dillon MT, Cody WY)

Uneventful ride to Dillon MT; just spent the night at a very nice Best Western before moving on to Cody WY. On the way to Cody we once again cut through the northeast entrance of Yellowstone NP. This time the traffic was much better even though it was Saturday. What we learned along the way was there is a problem with the water in the Yellowstone River so fishing activity was severely restricted in this part of the park. We believe this is why traffic was so light. We were not able to get any pictures but we did get stopped by a herd of buffalo that insisted on exercising their right-of-way. Since those bulls & cows are a bit bigger than us, exposed as we were on the bikes, we just sat quietly and waited for the crowd to pass.

Our lodging for the next couple of nights in Cody was perfect – an older motor court right next to the Buffalo Bill Museum – the Sunrise Motel.

 

 

Sunday we rode the Chief Joseph Highway (WY 296) and Beartooth Pass (WY 212) to Red Lodge for lunch.

 

 Later we walked the length of town to

walk off dinner and spotted this small herd of deer having dinner in the park.

Also observed to the west toward Yellowstone was the effect of the winds having picked up in the latter part of the afternoon.

This fire has been burning since Aug 12 and is likely to get worse again overnight. There is a Red Flag warning in effect for the area Monday - Wednesday. We were considering staying another night in Cody until we woke Monday morning to the strong smell of smoke and very poor air quality. Decision made we are moving on to Casper WY.