STW3 Hop 1
134 miles via US 20 and US 191.
This was a short and simple (navigation-wise) hop that would have been even shorter and simpler had we not made a detour to see Old Faithful. Which, as it turned out, we didn’t see. Let me explain.
We originally planned to see Old Faithful on a day trip from West Yellowstone (it is only about 30 miles from there). But the weather forecast got in the way. While it was sunny and fairly warm (70ish) on Wednesday, when we made the hop, the forecast for Thursday was cloudy, high near 60 with thunderstorms. The forecast for Friday was even worse, with possible snow. So we decided to haul the rig to Old Faithful. Google Earth showed a large parking lot and I thought there were RV spaces.
Wrong. The only spaces large enough for our rig were “reserved for bus.” That wouldn’t have stopped me, but they were almost all occupied. I did try to fit into the one free space and regretted doing so because I made contact with the bumper of the bus and put our first dent in the RV. Very minor, but very annoying. My fault entirely as I was reluctant to skip Old Faithful after traveling some 30 miles out of my way to see it. We gave up and went on our way.
I am still amazed that the National Park Service had no designated RV sites at Old Faithful. There were a lot of RVs there, but they were all in the regular lot, all occupying multiple car spaces.
I am going to return today to see if I can get an Old Faithful photo. But the whole experience kind of ruined the hop for me.
The route from Wapiti – a repeat of the trip I made on Tuesday in the truck – is spectacularly beautiful. But it is also a tough haul for the rig, with one pass at 8530 feet and another (the continental divide) at about 8300 feet. The truck had no problem lugging the RV up the mountains, but the winding roads and high elevations made it a white-knuckle trip for Jett. She admired the scenery but has no interest in doing it again.
I actually felt lucky to see the sun. About 2 hours before we left Wapiti a front blew through with wind gusts over 40 mph. And some intense but brief downpours. I was prepared to endure a dreary, windy trip. I am grateful that the weather turned out to be better than expected.
Our home for two nights in Wapiti was the Yellowstone Valley Inn, an interesting motel/restaurant/bar/RV park facility. The RV park is nothing special in terms of facilities, but the views are spectacular and the restaurant was very good. We would stay here again if we ever return this way.
WY is a new state on our map – our 42nd.
Enjoying a local brew at dinner
The view north
The Shoshone River at sunset
The view south
#42 – Wyoming