A Long Day's Drive to Yellowstone National Park, WY

Miles Driven: 485.0 - September 12th Sundance, WY to Yellowstone National Park, WY
Total Miles: 2847.3
Entrance Fees: $25 (covered by America the Beautiful Pass)
Camping Fees: $0

The nights are getting colder the further north west I travel and Sundance, WY was no exception with a low around 51 degrees.  Could not seem to get warm and kept waking up.  The sun was up early and so was I with it.  I spent some time repacking my car.  Another long day of driving was in store on route to Yellowstone National Park, WY.

Just off I90W Buffalo, WY

I traveled I90 for several hours until I was in Buffalo, WY where Penelope (GPS) instructed me to take US16.  Now that I was off the interstate I could easily stop and take some photographs.  The photograph below is of the snow capped mountains I was headed towards.

Ten Sleep Canyon, WY

I drove through Ten Sleep Canyon where there is a monument for an English nobleman by the name of Gilbert E. Leigh.  Leigh was a lifelong big game hunter and outdoor enthusiast.  He went missing in the fall of 1884 during a hunting expedition.  Unfortunately, after a week long search his body was found 100 feet below the canyon wall where he had fallen pursuing mountain sheep.  The monument is laid up of native stone in dry mortar and is approximately ten feet square at the base and contains a marble slab with an inscription memorializing Leigh who was buried in Stoneleigh, England.

Driving through Meeteetse, WY around 7:30pm as the sun was beginning to set I saw some amazing colors so I stopped and snapped some photographs.  The blue and pink are a great combination over the empty road I am traveling alone.

Greybull HWY, Meeteetse, WY

If you are traveling to Yellowstone from the east, as I was you must drive through the town of Cody, WY.  As I was rounding a corner the moon was rising over a lake and I stopped to snap a photograph.

Moon Over Lake in Cody, WY

By the time I entered Yellowstone National park it was dark, very dark.  I know I missed loads of scenery on my way to the Fishing Village Visitor Center, which was yet another 25 miles ahead of me from the entrance on very tight and windy roads.  Could not be helped due to the time I arrived.

Pulling up to the camp grounds in Fishing Village and reading the rules for camping I found there was no canvas tents allowed due to bears being sighted in the area.  Not given any choice I had to spent the night in the car in the parking lot across the road from the visitor center.  The temperature was dropping rapidly as I was setting up my car for sleeping.  By the time I had finished the temperature was 45 degrees and I had a feeling it was going to get colder.  Sleep could not come quick enough as I curled up like a cocoon in my sleeping bag ready to explore Yellowstone in the light of day.