entrance to yellowstone (i'm not done yet)

After leaving Bear Lodge we headed across the endless nothingness of central Wyoming on the way to Yellowstone. While nowhere near as irritating as Kansas*, the middle of Wyoming is no picnic. But it passed quickly enough, and before long we were on what was labeled "a scenic bypass" on our way through Cody Wyoming. Cody is the Rodeo capital of the world, so we stopped in at a Taco John's for lunch before getting the hell out of there*.

After Cody things moved pretty quick, and the scenery was already pretty fantastic. After spending 6 or so hours in the car, when we finally reached the east entrance to Yellowstone, we were quite excited.

That excitement didn't last long, as the first thing we encountered was a 30 minute wait for road construction. Although the car in front of us was allowed to pass, we were stopped and ordered to wait. This lead to an onslaught of insults from the mouth of our driver toward the worker controlling the flow of traffic (though not directly to her face). Being that he works road construction, I'll assume he knew the ins and outs of traffic control and was in the right. In any case, our frustrations were quickly diffused with a combination of Vanilla Oreo cookies and Slayer. In no time we were moving again.

We traveled along a very rough road that appeared to be built into the side of a cliff, noticing first and foremost that most of the forest around us had been burnt. It's quite strange to encounter the largest forest you've ever seen and to realize that the whole thing is burnt.

In fact, the most surprising thing about our whole trip was the amount of burnt forests we saw. Almost everywhere we traveled, and on both of our hikes in areas of the park separated by at least 50 miles, we encountered large burn areas. It's not how you'd picture the park at all. But in all those burn areas new growth had started. As I learned from a National Geographic special last evening, the reason the forest is able to repopulate is just another example of the genius design and adaptation of nature.

Lodgepole pine and jack pine rely on the pulse of flame through their crowns to melt away the waxy bond that holds their cones closed; their seeds then fall to fresh ash below, where they can take root without much competition. (Nova Online wrote it better than I ever could.)

It wasn't long after we had entered the park that we encountered what was to be the first of many buffalo (including one that served as an anti-car weapon - details later). By the end of our trip in Yellowstone we had come to take the buffalo for granted, often speeding past while others stopped to take pictures.

We had hastily booked our first nights' stay at Canyon Lodge cabins, and really had no idea what to expect when we arrived; reports on the internet ranged from frightening (no amenities, bear attacks, naked gay dudes breaking down doors and blowing each other in front of children, I wonder if my Mom reads this) to just ok (A/C, a bed). After arriving and putting away our bags we immediately were introduced to an Elk who had stopped by the front door of our village cabin for an afternoon visit. I took it as a good omen. For the $60 per room we were quite happy with the accommodations, despite the fact that the heater didn't work in one of the rooms. I'd definitely stay in the Canyon Lodge cabins again.

Because we still had a decent amount of daylight left, we headed to the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone, where he hiked to both the lower (bigger) falls and the upper falls. I took the small hikes as a personal challenge to my incredible fitness, and did my best to put on an epic display of hiking/climbing speed and endurance. Although no one was impressed, I did manage to outhike a lady in a foot cast.

After all that I have no idea how we spent the rest of the day; perhaps someone else who was there can refresh my memory. My guess is that we drove around a bit and ate.

* * * * *

*Mike's Guide to Kansas: DON'T.

If Kansas is looking for a motto, I have one to suggest: A house. A telephone pole. A cop writing a speeding ticket. Nothing for 6 miles. Repeat for 7 hours. KANSAS!

*We may have not been at the Cody Taco John's. I don't remember this part very clearly now. It could have been any town along the way.