July 1, 2009 Cavalrymen's Breakfast

Buffalo Bill Museum; Chief Joseph Trail; Bear Tooth Trail; Yellowstone; Grand Tetons

The alarm went off at 5;30 this morning and I quickly decided that I did not want to get up early and take the Bear Tooth Scenic Byway to Red Lodge and end the day as yesterday ended, racing to get in before sunset. I called Billy and he agreed, then Griff and he agreed. So back to bed I went for an hour or so. After breakfast, we all went to the Buffalo Bill Museum, which really is an art museum of Western art (including Remington, Russell and N.C. Wyeth), a gun museum of thousands of guns (including Palladin’s gun from the show Have Gun, Will Travel, Hoss’s gun from Bonanza, James Arness’s gun from Gunsmoke and many, many more), and a museum on Native Americans, and what a wonderful gift shop. I bought a framed print on canvas of Cavalrymen’s Breakfast by Frederic Remington in honor of my grandfather and our trip - check it out on the Internet. Maybe Charles Fenton is one of the cavalrymen in the picture.
Having been told again that we must ride the Bear Tooth Trail, we took Route 120 out of Cody to Route 296 known as Chief Joseph’s Trail because his tribe of Nez Perce Indians, who were pursued by the Army, escaped by climbing to the 8000 foot high pass and then down to the valley on the north side. An injured Indian was left at the top of the pass - according to the plaque at the pass, he was “killed” by the soldiers when he was found. I would have written “murdered.” Now this pass is called Dead Indian Pass. It’s a spectacular ride on the motorcycle up to the pass, and even more thrilling coming down with all the switchbacks requiring strict attention by the rider.
Route 296 intersected with Route 212, the Bear Tooth Scenic Byway, but we took a left toward Cookeville, and not a right to Red Lodge. We passed into Montana briefly, and watched as the storm clouds gathered once again. We received a short dose of rain but it soon passed and we soon arrived at Cookeville where we had a tardy lunch. It was almost 3 PM and we still hadn’t reached Yellowstone and we had Grand Teton National Park after that. Yellowstone is amazing with its huge mountains, its roaring whitewater streams everywhere, its lush valleys, its hot springs scaring me into thinking we were approaching a forest fire, its huge lake, and its people everywhere. At one time, we had a long delay because two bears had fallen asleep down in the ravine next to the road, so 3 rangers were there, and each motorist had to ask what was going on. Our goal was Old Faithful, and we finally arrived about 6, learning that it would not spout again until about 7:10, give or take ten minutes. Since we were still 100 miles from Jackson, we gassed up and left, having decided that we would come back this way tomorrow and see it then.
The trip to Jackson was arduous, with lots of construction slowing us down, including dirt roads, one lane roads where we had to wait for the oncoming traffic to clear, and slow traffic when we were in the clear. Of course, the maximum speed limit is 45 in the parks so we couldn’t just let her loose. But what sights we saw. Yellowstone Lake with snow-capped mountains in the east in the distance, highlighted by the setting sun in the west, followed by a beautiful lake (Lake Jackson) framed by even higher snow-capped mountains, the Tetons, on the western side, and then the elk out grazing at dusk and me hoping that one wouldn’t cut across the road in front of me. Once again, we arrived late at our destination, 9 PM at Alpine Village followed by a very late dinner and an even later blog.
Peter has asked whether I am still the Drill Sargeant and how the troop is doing. We have our ups and downs as one might expect in such a trip and with 3 brothers who are all highly competitive, but we seem to let things go, and the tension soon dissipates. We all realize that we are participating in something very special, and don’t want to mar the experience with petty complaints, especially when we realize that much of what tension there is is caused by our fatigue. Sugar and Sandy have also added a new dimension, and this trip to Jackson from Sturgis has certainly been an ordeal for them, but I believe they are glad to participate in this experience with us. We all laugh a lot, kid each other a lot, and are growing in our love for each other. So, Peter, in summary, we wouldn’t have it any other way.
Bon soir. Gnat
PS I still have my insect dark glasses if you’re wondering.