We had planned to rendezvous-vous with our friends in West Yellowstone and discovered two very important caveats. Mileage is not just a number. We took the scenic route to West Yellowstone via the Bear Tooth Highway that winds from Cody,WY to Cooke City, MT to the Northeast entrance to the park. It is the highest paved road in the US rising to over 10000 feet; it traverses the Gallatin, Custer, and Shoshone National Forests.
Mileage is all relative, especially when driving on a road that’s one hair pin curve after a switchback all the way up, around, and down one mountain only to do it again on the next, it can result in white knuckles and a bad hair day! One mile takes a little longer as well.
Also don’t depend on your Google maps or Waze to help you navigate when traveling in these remote places, because there is no cell phone service. You have to go back to basics and use a map. Do they still teach kids how to read maps I wonder?
When we first arrived at the northeast entrance of Yellowstone, the ranger advised us that it would take roughly three hours to get to the west entrance, depending the bison. Less than 5 minutes later, we came to a dead stop.
My friends told me they once had to wait 2 hours while a huge herd of bison cross-crossed the road. I told Bernard we couldn’t be impatient….this is their land!
That being said, it was one of the scariest and most beautiful drives we have ever done. I’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Thanks for tuning in.
Margaret
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