Day 31- Cody Wyoming, Devil’s Tower, and Mount Rushmore

597 Miles

I realize that winter is significantly different from the July days we spent along these roads (in fact, many of them are closed for most of the year), but the beauty we saw on our way to Cody was remarkable. If you want to learn how many shades of green there are in this world, drive through Wyoming in the summer. 

Without realizing that Highway 212 through the Beartooth Pass has been called “the most beautiful drive in America”, we selected it as a less-direct route to Cody because of our longer, northeast exit from Yellowstone. We were awestruck at almost every turn through the switchbacks and steep climbs to over 10,000 feet. We made our way through hills like glowing emeralds, which gave way to rugged mountains in the Shoshone and Custer National Forests. Near the peak, we even found snow. 

We arrived at the Buffalo Bill Village Cabins in the late evening on Independence Day. We were hoping to make it there in time for a big rodeo event called the “Cody Stampede” (what a great way to celebrate the Fourth of July!), but the pull of Yellowstone was strong, and our path out of there very winding, so we ended up arriving after the rodeo had started in Cody.

The pictures below are mostly from July 5, which is today’s entry — our thirty-first day on the road. I included the Beartooth Pass photos from yesterday (and show it on the map, above) because I had too many Yellowstone photos yesterday!

Cody is a quaint Old West town, with most of the tourism revolving around the fact that Buffalo Bill Cody settled and operated several businesses here, including the Irma Hotel, named for his youngest daughter. In fact, Buffalo Bill was so famous from his traveling shows that the original cherry wood bar in the hotel — still there — was a gift sent from Queen Victoria in 1902.

After breakfast, we got on the road for Keystone, South Dakota, to see Mount Rushmore. However, along the way, we realized how close our route was taking us to Devil’s Tower. We took the detour and are glad we did. Once again, our America the Beautiful Pass from the National Parks Service saved us a $25 entrance and parking fee. There was a bit of a wait at the bottom of the mountain, where a single stoplight controlled traffic going up, presumably to insure enough parking for everyone. The views were magnificent, the air incredibly fresh, and the colors vivid.

Energized by our experience there, we made it to Keystone a few hours later. We skipped dinner and our hotel check-in to go directly to Mount Rushmore.

The whole art of sculpting is a mystery to me. Two of Michelangelo’s immortal quotes come closest to making me understand: 

“The marble not yet carved can hold the form of every thought the greatest artist has.”

and…

“I saw the angel in the marble and carved until I set him free.”

Still, the scale of Mount Rushmore is difficult to comprehend. How did Gutzon Borglum (the artist) oversee the carving of four detailed, clearly recognizable faces using something as seemingly imprecise as dynamite to clear away roughly ninety percent of his work surface? 

Being a major tourist destination, there is a large, multi-level parking garage. Exiting the garage brings you to an impressive, long entrance that frames the faces and is flanked by the usual facilities like a gift shop, bathrooms, food, etc. Because we arrived close to sundown, we were right in front of the observation deck for the lighting ceremony: giant flood lights illuminate the faces once the sky turns dark, then the park closes.

Only here’s what happened to us: We waited. And waited. Then everyone started wondering out loud why, since it was dark and well after the announced time of the lighting ceremony, they hadn’t yet turned on the lights. Then we saw ropes of increasingly thick fog rising up the mountain from our right. Rolling in quickly, it soon began covering the faces of the presidents. Eventually, we were all looking at a giant gray cloud where the mountain had once been. And that’s when the dramatic music played through loudspeakers and the lights were turned on to reveal the beautiful shroud of water vapor that blocked everything. It was funny enough that we had waited all that time only to see fog, but it was the music that had us laughing out loud.

We made our way back to the car, checked in at the hotel, found everything closed, and made a meal of microwavable Hot Pockets in the lobby. 

Hey, at least our room had a view of the mountain after the fog went away!

The next morning, we got to walk through the town of Keystone, which is even more “Old West” than Cody. It has a small stream running through it, some gold panning tours, tons of nature around it, and is close to both the Crazy Horse and Mount Rushmore memorials.

Unfortunately, we didn’t have time to see Crazy Horse, so it’s on the list for next time.