Left Cody around 9 am. We headed west, and realized again how wide the streets are. For a city with a population less than 10,000, there were good roads, nice schools, always a visitors center, and many businesses.
This is the street we took to head east. It has 4 lanes, plus a turning lane in the middle, and parking lanes on each side, 7 lanes! They have the room out here, unlike back east. Easy to get around, too.
Again, it just isn't true to life, but a good shot of the different layers in the hills.
Looking across to the Big Horn mountains. Irrigation pipes are seen everywhere, going great distances to bring water to the fields. Some are permanent structures in the ground. Water is a valued commodity out here.
Driving by, I thought it looked like big potatoes, but further up the road, we saw a sugar beet processing plant. Similar machinery, but not sure why they were piled outside.
I liked the city logo on this one. They view the mountains all day every day, and I am sure, take them for granted. Similar, I suppose, to the views and scenery we have back home.
A few oil rigs around this area. Mining and drilling are prevalent. As we drove through, the smell of oil, almost diesel like, was in the air.
Another view, this one had 5 distinct layers, and then the green at the bottom.
Headed into the mountains. We didn't realize just how big they were. Not sure I want to do it again, but it was an amazing drive.
The path ahead is hard to see, but this is where we were headed,
Yup, we are driving through those mountains! (Well, Ken did all the driving while I leaned towards him to keep the car from going over the edge- at times, I really wasn't comfortable with "the view
Great shot of the different layers of rock, shooting almost straight up!
Looking across the Bighorn valley.
And these are grasslands on the mountains. Amazing that nothing grows but the scrub grass. Cattle gaze free range, but we didn't see any this high on the hillsides.
Winding our way through the mountains. So many different rock formations. Some smooth, some jagged, some rolling on forever.
On the east side of the mountains, it becomes Bighorn National Forest. There were trees, tall firs, but not like the big firs and pines we have back home.
This depicts the view that we could see as we looked back where we had traveled. It amazes me how far you can see. Miles and miles, and it was a smoky sky today. I guess we will have to return so we can see it on a clear day.
Looking back ......
I think this was the highest we went. Almost 2 miles up,in a car! Felt the effects of it a bit, but overall, not bad.
Free range cattle. We saw 3 ranchers on horses getting ready to round them up. Would have been fun to see that!
These sort of looked like someone placed them there. Different than most of the others in the area.
We came upon a man leaning against his horse on the side of the road. Just ahead on the other side of the road was this flock of sheep grazing on the mountain.
And just ahead of the sheep, was the watch dog, or sheep dog. He did not move, either. We slowed to a stop, and then went out around him.
Notice the fence. It went on along the road for miles and miles. (This was taken outside of the national forest.) Not sure if it was private land or not, but there was lots of time and money in fencing around the area.
These rocks seemed to shoot up out of the earth.
Rolling grasslands, with a bit of color at the base, probably a stream or creek.
There were rock formations dated 250-300 million years ago. They were posted all along the road. Very much layered and soft stone.
This was "Fallen City" and as the sign stated, the face of the mountain fell off, and rolled below. You can't really see the depth of the picture, but it reminded me of what the Man in the Mountain must have experienced.
The next two are on the east side of the mountains, looking towards Sheridan, and eventually, Gillette. We stopped for lunch in Sheridan, then back on Route 90 to Gillette.
More evidence of fires, not sure if burned on purpose or not.
Heading into Hulett, and this is what we find looming in front of us. Tomorrow we will visit this rock, and get a close up picture.
Looking into the valley of Hulett. Looking forward to a good sleep. Drove over 300 miles today (well, Ken drove, I navigated). Still finding it hard to believe we are here, seeing all the things we are seeing.
These are shots from the ride down over the other side of the mountains. So many different rock formations, such vast scenery, couldn't take it all in.
We stopped in Gillette for gas, and also at the visitors center. Great place to get information about the area. The woman there was so helpful, giving us maps, pointing out different routes for better scenery. That's what you need when you are exploring new territory.
A small group of prong horned deer grazing along a major route near Gillette.
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