Cody: Gateway to Yellowstone. Or Not.

Oct 11-12, 2021

Our entire trip has been timed around today’s date. Oct 11 is the date we anticipated arriving in Yellowstone. 

Ever since I spent two summers in Yellowstone (1978, 1980), I have wanted to visit in the cold weather. The steam from the thermal activity entices the bison into the geyser basins. I’ve pored over pictures and imagined it in my head.

When we decided to retire we thought: Why not now?

Since my church contract ended on Sept 30, the earliest we could possibly leave was Oct 1. How long would it take to cross the country? To give ourselves as much time as possible, I reserved a campsite as late as possible. It turns out that the last week the park is open is Oct 11-17. That’s how Oct 11 — today — became our target date. 

(The last campground to close is Madison, about 25 miles from the west entrance. I understand that the park closes to regular traffic after Oct 17 so snow pack can form. YNP reopens in mid-December as accessible only by snowmobile and snow coach.)

We left our home in Northern Virginia on Oct 1, heading west in carefully-planned chunks so that today, Monday, we could enter Yellowstone. 

Today’s plan was to drive from Lovell to Cody, then through the scenic Shoshone Valley and into YNP through the east entrance.

Unfortunately, an impending snowstorm has shut down all the roads in Yellowstone, including the east entrance.

And so my carefully laid plans dissolve. Laugh, ye gods! 

REVISING THE PLAN

Oh well. We’re in Lovell and the next stop heading west is Cody — the so-called gateway to YNP’s east entrance.

We break camp in Lovell, dump the black water and gray water tanks, fill the water tank, and drive toward Cody. 

Another reason to head that way is to meet up with a younger friend of Doug’s. Doug met Haley, who’s from West Virginia, the summer of 2014 when they were both river guides on the Shenandoah River, near Harper’s Ferry. 

Doug and Haley text and make a plan to connect around noon. She chooses a local restaurant called The Station, which serves crepes. 

We arrive in Cody around 10:30 and have time to do some grocery shopping at an Albertson’s. It’s a big store with a great selection, similar to what we would see at home. The store is busy. Maybe that’s because it’s snowing. Apparently snow makes people rush out to buy groceries no matter what state you happen to live in.

Also, it’s snowing. On Oct 11. Hello!

CONNECTING WITH HALEY & RAY

As planned, we meet Haley and Ray, her fiancé, at the restaurant. Haley almost doesn’t recognize Doug — it’s been seven years since they saw each other and he’s grown some facial hair. (Apparently growing facial hair in retirement is a thing.)

Haley and Ray have already eaten, but Doug and I order two crepes to share, one savory and one sweet. What a treat.

We settle down to hear about their new life in Cody. Both Haley and Ray work “in fire,” as they put it. Haley is a forestry technician and Ray is a smokejumper. They chart out their career paths, describe the kind of things they actually do all day, and tell us why they enjoy it. It’s such a privilege to get a window into some one else’s life!

Then they play host and Haley suggests a place where we could boondock on the outskirts of town. Ray adds, “If you end up hanging out waiting for the snow to pass, you could visit the Buffalo Bill Center.” 

We part with hugs and well-wishes.

BUFFALO BILL CENTER OF THE WEST

Since the road into Yellowstone is closed today, and probably tomorrow, we take Ray’s suggestion. I expected the Buffalo Bill Center to be a ramshackle building, but instead it’s five museums in one, and quite impressive. 

We tour an Art Exhibit with many bronze sculptures and paintings, and then a Firearms Exhibit where we do target practice.

After a couple of hours we leave, intending to return the next morning to see the Plains Indian Exhibit and the Natural History Exhibit. 

(The fifth exhibit is the one on Buffalo Bill, but I suggest to Doug we leave that for last. I read “Prairie Fires: The American Dreams of Laura Ingalls Wilder” by Caroline Fraser, which has a section on Buffalo Bill. Can’t say I’m a fan.)

We head to the boondocking site that Haley suggested. It’s on a hilly dirt road which has gone to mud in the snow. It already slick. With more snow predicted, we worry that we’ll get stuck the next morning.

So we drive to a campground called the Ponderosa and are able to get a site with electricity. Say it: Boomers.

In the evening we do some laundry and add some insulation to the camper. Doug brought along a roll of Reflectix insulation, which is a material you cut with scissors. We measure out rectangular pieces to fit snugly inside the window valances and pull the shades down. Hopefully the shades will hold the insulation in place without using tape, so we can remove it when we’re in a warmer place.

TUESDAY, Oct 12

Overnight low was 29 degrees. Insulation or not, that’s chilly.

We check out of the Ponderosa campground and return to the Buffalo Bill Center of the West. We enjoy two more exhibits — Plains Indians and Natural History — and leave close to noon. 

Bighorn sheep.

An exhibit on Cowboys of Color. I love this photo.

Sobering to see the above exhibit about the uninvestigated disappearances of indigenous women amid the media coverage of Gabby Petito’s disappearance from the Tetons in this same state.

I figure out how to sign up for text updates about the YNP roads, and immediately hear that the west entrance is the only one open. To get there means driving a big box around the park — north, then west, and then south — in order to approach from the west. It’s at least a 5 hour trip.

So we figuratively “gird up our loins” and head out on the long drive. Only to discover that the roads are indeed treacherous. Visibility all around is nil. We creep along at 30 miles an hour. Which means this 5 hour trip will take 10 hours.

Or maybe not.

We turn around and head back to the Ponderosa. Heck. We fix ourselves a cocktail in the camper and enjoy a good meal. 

Then, since there are still a few hours of light, Doug colors Ruth’s hair, because why not? We began playing hair salon during the pandemic when other options disappeared. Imagine me sitting on a 5 gallon bucket (which doubles as our porta-potty) in a very tight space while my husband paints dye on my roots. Here’s the result.

When the timer chimes, I bolt through snow to the nearby restroom (wearing only a nightgown and slippers) and jump in the shower to finish the process. Voila.

Next up: Yellowstone at last!