Friday, July 10, 1992

10 July 1992: Bozeman, Montana to Helena, Montana

When we woke up, we noticed a difference in the air of Bozeman, Montana. The city is located in the Rocky Mountains at an elevation of 4,795 ft (1,461 m). The air seemed both purer and lighter. We had been too tired to notice when we arrived, but now we felt the difference.

We traveled 26 miles (42 km) east on Interstate 90 and 53 miles (85 km) south on U.S. Route 89 until we reached Gardiner, Montana.

We passed through the Roosevelt Arch and found ourselves in Yellowstone National Park. We continued to follow U.S. Route 89, and a few miles later we were in Wyoming, where the bulk of the park is located.

We spent at least four hours at Yellowstone, if not more. I remember one of the first things we saw as we climbed higher in elevation was a river beside the road. We stopped to take photos. There was a chipmunk that begged for food. I recall we gave it something to eat.

A river in Yellowstone National Park

Chipmunk

We saw Old Faithful. Our timing was perfect. As soon as we arrived and found a good vantage point, it erupted steam and water into the air. Yellowstone's most famous natural wonder didn't disappoint.

A crowd gathered to see Old Faithful

Old Faithful

Old Faithful

As we drove through another section of the park, we saw deer, elk, and even a bison bull at a great distance. I remember an elk in particular, because as we were driving up a hill it stood on the bank only a few feet away from the road. We stopped so I could take a photo out the car window. The elk looked up curiously and then returned to grazing.

The elk

A deer or elk

We also saw the famous paint pots of Yellowstone, large pools of bubbling mud and steam. We walked the wooden walkways above the paint pots, getting a better look at the pink colored mud. There were no guardrails, so we remained vigilant to not fall into the hot mud.

Yellowstone's Paint Pots

Yellowstone's Paint Pots

Yellowstone's Paint Pots

Yellowstone is a national treasure, but only spending several hours there, we had only seen a small bit of all it had to offer.

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park

We left Yellowstone via U.S. Route 287, which delivered us back into Montana and the small town of West Yellowstone. I remember we stopped there for a late lunch/early dinner.

Then we followed U.S. Route 287 and Montana Secondary Highway 359 99 miles (159 km) north and back to Interstate 90. I recall passing Earthquake Lake, formed during a massive earthquake in 1957 which also killed over two dozen people. The tops of dead trees still poked above the water, casting a macabre mood over the lake as a graveyard of trees.

Earthquake Lake, Montana


We also saw cattle walking along the side of the freeway toward us. A little further, we saw that a section of  fence had been knocked down. It was a bovine jailbreak.

Bovine jailbreak

We were only on Interstate 90 for a few miles before we exited onto Montana Highway 69, which we drove 32 miles (51 km) on before continuing on Interstate 15 29 miles (47 km) until we reached Helena, Montana.

We had been on the road about fourteen hours and were exhausted. We missed the exit for the motel, quickly finding ourselves out of town and on a lonely freeway in a rural area. Not knowing how far it was until the next exit, we took a shortcut on a turnout connecting both halves of the freeway, ignoring the sign saying it was illegal to do so.

We were now headed back toward Helena, but almost instantly we saw flashing lights behind us. We were pulled over by a Montana Highway Patrol officer. After hearing our story of being tourists driving for fourteen hours and missing our exit, he let us go with only a warning.

We finally arrived at the Econo Lodge in Helena. We went directly to our rooms. It had been the longest day of the trip in terms of hours on the road. We were exhausted.

We were also looking forward to the next day being the final day of the trip. We were now only 582 miles (937 km) from our home in the Seattle, Washington area. Just one more day.

Total Travel Distance: 380 miles (612 km)

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