75 miles via US 20, ID 87 and US 287. Cumulative tow miles: 189. Truck miles: 155. Cumulative truck miles: 289.
More than any other hop, this one felt like an emergency. It snowed 2″ last night, with the temperature dropping to 30 degrees. The forecast for tonight in West Yellowstone is for a low around 25 degrees – cold enough to freeze the water line. We felt some urgency to get to a lower elevation. By going 73 miles to Ennis MT we dropped from 6800 feet to 4900 feet. Just enough to get below the snow. Just enough to stay above freezing.
Oh, by the way, we had to cancel our plans to visit Glacier National Park because it is burning up. The rains yesterday might have made their situation less critical, but the idea of visiting a smoldering park covered with snow just didn’t appeal to us. Even if it has glaciers.
So we have had to rethink this segment of the STW. We still plan to hit Coeur d’Alene, but will get there via Ennis MT (1 night) and Missoula (2 nights). The day in Missoula will be spent replacing Jett’s laptop, which failed two days ago, and getting two new tires for the truck because the tread is wearing thin.
Just to make life more interesting, I popped the valve stem on one of the tires that I was planning on replacing in two days while setting up in Ennis, so I am now awaiting a visit from AAA to change it.
Did I mention that I put a little dent into the BigHorn a few days ago? This whole segment is becoming reminiscent of the “ding-a-day” period when we first went on the road in the fall of 2012.
Anyway, our time in West Yellowstone was spent at the Yellowstone Grizzly RV Park, a very nice park on the edge of “downtown” West Yellowstone. The town is interesting, with dozens of hotels, motels and inns, interspersed with restaurants and tourist attractions. Had the weather been better we probably would have spent a few interesting hours strolling around. But with the cold and snow, we spent our free time hunkered down in front of our electric fireplace. Survival.
Snow at Yellowstone Grizzly
STW3 Hop 2
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