Friday, August 20, 2010

big horn time travel and the search for not-too-expensive lodgings

7/27 Devil's Tower to Cody, Wyoming

It's pretty fantastic, isn't it? Truth be told, we didn't get any closer. The view from our tent was pretty spectacular and we were well...fast approaching laziness. So fast in fact that we fell asleep before the sunset thus missing the campground's outdoor screening of Close Encounters of the Third Kind. I know, but we were very very tired.
mr. a-go-go woke up before i did (this is mrs. a-go-go writing here). Way, way before, and he managed to grab the camera and take that picture up there of sunrise on the tower. The color is unreal, I wish he woke me up for it. He also got a quick sound bite of the mad gang of nuthatches in the tree over our tent. They were chattering up a comical storm and yes, we tend to lean towards geeky bird watching and listening.

After a bite of breakfast and packing up we struck out west once more on I-90. A few stops were in order. First we had to slow down, creep to a halt, and get out of the car very slowly to watch three pronghorn, the first time either of us had seen them in person. We were far enough down the road that they made a few alarm grunts (or honks or whatever you want to call the funny sound they make) but didn't spook right away. They bounded away when we tried to slowly walk closer, so our pictures are not worth mentioning.Later, waves of wind in the grass prompted us to stop for some barb wire and another short film.

Leaving I-90 on highway 14 we climbed up into the Big Horn National Forest and back through time. At least according to the roadside signs that highlighted the name and age of each strata of geology the road cut exposed.I recognised some of the names from didactic displays about the geology of the Grand Canyon. It's remarkable how far some of the sedimentary geology of North America reaches. The layers of rock here have been turned up on a steep angle so in spite of the feeling that we were driving up through the layers the road cut was actually exposing ever older formations as we drove West. This must be a favorite place for geology students. On the far side of these mountains the landscape dried out and the plats thinned. The rest of the drive to Cody, Wyoming was right out of a serial western. We knew Yellowstone would be a very popular place this time of year and figured our best bet was another early morning. Onward to Cody it was where we were hopeful to find a not-too-expensive bed to rest our heads.

3 comments:

  1. The devil birds video sounds pretty close to my Sounds of the Rainforest cd. I'm off to goggle pronghorn and find a google map of Big Horn National Forest. Another great post! Be safe.

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  2. The more I learn the more I realize I know absolutely nothing... pronghorn, who knew? Also, did some research and am quite moved... maybe geology is in my future? Be safe.

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