Wednesday August 19, Cody WY

Mammoth Hot Springs was tremendous. As we wandered around the terraces, I kept thinking of what it would have been like at Tarawera if the eruption hadn’t wiped out the Pink and White Terraces. It was such an amazing site, the textures of the terraces were unreal.

The drive east out of Yellowstone was great, it really is the better part of the park. I had my eyes peeled for bears but no luck. We passed through big areas of river flats with large herds of buffalo, but that was about all we saw in the way of wildlife.

Meant to say that we were woken last night by a pack of coyote’s howling. Have often read about it, but couldn’t believe the noise that they made. There was a lot of barking as well as howling and it didn’t seem too far away.

Passed lots of fishermen on the rivers, obviously good trout fishing. We went for a walk down to a river and Ian spotted 2 young chaps fly fishing, or trying to… so he had a chat with them, and before long he had a rod in his hand giving them a few tips. Could see that he just wanted to keep going!

We passed briefly into Montana as we left the park, but back down into Wyoming and through some of the most magnificent scenery. Huge ranches with no fences, the stock just roaming.

Arrived in Cody late in the afternoon, and immediately liked the feel of the town. Spotted an expo outside a hunting store, we were drawn to it by a stuffed bear on the back of a truck…boy they are big. Had a look through the store, which is the biggest in the north west of Wyoming. Could not believe the racks of guns on display around the walls, as well as hand guns in cabinets. This area is the true west, with hunting a huge sport.

Booked Ruakiwi in for a service at 9 in the morning, so found a camping ground in town…after 10 days without power and primitive camping in parks, it seems strange to have neighbours so close!