8-26-15 to 9-9-15

We left Billings, Montana and drove south on I 90 to Wyoming.

We entered Wyoming and decided to pass the town of Sheridan and head for the smaller community of Buffalo. This town of only 4,500 people had a lot to offer in an historic downtown area, some great restaurants, and several nice motorhome parks.

Downtown is the famous Occidental Hotel that was built in 1879. The hotel has been restored and has a wonderful restaurant and the original bar where the locals hang out. The hotel had been visited by Buffalo Bill, Calamity Jane and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid.

There were numerous battles between the Indians and federal troops in this area, mainly from 1866-77. Treaties with the Indians were frequently violated, resulting in these clashes. We visited Fort Kearney which recounted the history of this area.

There are many scenic drives through the Big Horn Mts, which are located to the west of this area. We used our tow car to explore the forested mountain roads. There were lakes and steep rocky canyons cut by the rivers. We were happy to be in the tow car because of all the hair pin turns and switch backs and steep grades. One big rig driver did not heed the signs about going slowly and ran off the road and stopped just short of going down a thousand foot drop off. It got our attention and we also slowed down.

That's not the only hazard of mountain driving, as a deer jumped right out in front of us and then a moose trotted right next to us on the road.

After spending several days exploring this area we headed southwest on Highway 11 and then west on 26 to reach Teton National Park. The magnificent jagged peaks of the Tetons rise sharply from the valley floor. The valley is situated between the mountains, hence the name Jackson Hole, with the town of Jackson located here. Jackson is a very upscale town with great shopping and wonderful restaurants.

We camped at a national forest campground, Gros Ventre, located north of the town of Jackson. It's a large park with plenty of spaces between the campers, and the big draw here are the numerous moose that wander through the campground. We saw moose every day and the bull moose had enormous racks. We did keep our distance.

We met our friend Steve here and he took us off roading and touring of the area. We also did a float trip down the Snake River and took numerous hikes along lakes and streams. Of course we dug out the bear spray since there are Grizzles in the area.

We've seen antelope, buffalo, fox and moose. In addition, Steve and I went to a raptor rehabilitation site outside of Jackson. People from all over bring them injured raptors and they had received over 90 so far this year. The number one cause of bird injuries is collisions with cars.