Map credit: William Tipton
Beartooth Highway Scenery - View at Red Creek Vista Overlook
Wildflowers on Chief Joseph Highway
the bikers' views were unobstructed in every direction. The world was fully awake now and the pullouts were getting busy. At each stop we found ourselves surrounded by grinning tourists wielding cell phones and taking selfies. As we rounded one bend, a ski chair lift suddenly came into view. With our truck windows rolled down, we could hear the voices of happy skiers ahead of us. Then we saw a hillside that was absolutely covered with skiers. Many were in shirt sleeves, warmed by the sun and relishing the spring When we chatted about this incredible drive over dinner in our fifth-wheel that night, we decided we had to check out the Chief Joseph Highway, too. The next morning we moved our home base to Cody, Wyoming, towing our fifth-wheel trailer on the much less suspenseful Wyoming Highway 120. Cody is bigger than Red Lodge, but it is still a small town at just under 10,000 residents. Founded in 1896 by "Buffalo Bill" Cody and some partners, most of the town's original land lots were purchased by the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad with an eye toward building a spur line to bring passengers to Cody and Yellowstone National Park from Toluca, Montana, 140 miles away to the northeast. In 1912, oil was discovered near Cody and the combination of oil drilling and tourism have been the mainstays of the town's economy ever since. This is a town that skiing we had heard about in town. CODY, WYOMING - THE WILD WEST
celebrates its history and the local newspaper, the Cody Enterprise , which started in 1899, is still in print today. Cody has many tantalizing things for visitors to do in town, from firing a real Civil War-era Gatling gun at the Cody Firearms Experience to exploring every aspect of the area's human and natural history at the Buffalo Bill Center for the West. For rodeo fans, the town proudly calls itself the Rodeo Capital of the World, and there are boutique shops and eateries galore. However, our eyes were locked onto the sights to be seen outside the town limits and we couldn't wait to take in the views and hikes along the Chief Joseph Highway. CHIEF JOSEPH HIGHWAY - RED ROCKS AND WILDFLOWERS The Chief Joseph Highway begins about 17 miles north of Cody and it follows the route that Chief Joseph took in 1877 as he led the Nez Perce tribe out of the recently established Yellowstone National Park and into Montana as they attempted to evade the United States Cavalry and escape to Canada. We drove through rolling hills that were lush with greenery after recent heavy rains. We were shocked when we turned a corner and saw a huge red rock formation bursting out of the verdant earth, framed by dark storm clouds and shafts of late afternoon sunlight. This was nothing like the snowy peaks we had seen on the Beartooth Highway. Farther
PRECIOUS JEWELS OUTSIDE YELLOWSTONE
COAST TO COAST MAGAZINE SUMMER 2022 | 16
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