Wagons Ho!

Ten Sleep, Wyoming

View Map

We saddled up and headed out of Yellowstone via the East Gate. This route took us through –aieeee! – the Sylvan Pass, which is a mountainous – watch out! – winding road, with the slimmest of guard rails – Laura Mercy!  - and hairpin turns and switchbacks – whoa! – and a canyon far, far – don’t look down! – below.

On this wild, black diamond slope of a road, a dag-blamed son-of-a-buck RV towing a trailer passed us on a blind curve. My fingerprints are still in the dash.

We passed into the Shoshone National Forest and foothills, and came out panting at Cody, Wyoming.

Everything in this town is named after Buffalo Bill Cody; the reservoir, the dam, the high school football team. But in Cody the best Buffalo Bill of all is the Historical Museum. A sprawling center, with five separate wings: The Buffalo Bill Museum, Plains Indians, Yellowstone, Firearms, and Western Art. Each wing boasts an extensive collection, unequaled to anything I’ve seen yet.

Bear Claw Necklace

Wild Bill Hickok’s pistols

Past Cody the landscape changes from lush valley to high desert, and then into a region where nothing at all grows.

We are resting for the night in Ten Sleep (population 260) before tackling the Big Horn Mountains tomorrow. We’ve chosen Route 16, because the billboards promised it’s the “Fast, Easy, and Safe” way to cross. We’ll see.