Thursday, September 10
Start: Mammoth Hot Springs Campground, Yellowstone NP
End: Horseshoe Bend Campground (NPS), Bighorn Canyon NRA, Lovell, WY

Woke up late, enjoyed breakfast in camp and headed east from Mammoth Hot Springs by 10
AM. A female elk wandered through the campground before we left. We stopped at the Tower
Ranger Station for some bonus stamps. Along the way we mainly saw Bison and Pronghorn.
Again the traffic was tolerable. For the most part people pulled off the road or moved through an
animal sighting at an appropriate rate. Slough Creek and Pebble Creek campgrounds were both
Full by the time we drove by. We stopped for lunch in Cooke City at a small restaurant we had
eaten at a few years ago, not as good this time.

Today we drove the Beartooth Highway for the first time, it was spectacular. It was a perfect day,
clear and temperate. Hopefully some of the pictures will do it justice. We had hoped to see
some Mountain Goats, but all we saw was a Yellow-bellied Marmot run back into the rocks.

Beartooth Highway




We stopped in Red Lodge at the Forest Service Office, they have some nice displays, lots of
free travel information and a couple of bonus stamps. We also found Montana's Whispering
Giant sculpture by Peter Toth in town next to the Carnegie Library. A lot of street construction
made it difficult to get a good picture, plus the sun was directly behind the face, so the picture
isn't the best.

Whispering Giant # 32 - Red Lodge, MT


Art Gallery - Old Train Depot


We wanted to head back into Wyoming to visit Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area, so we
headed east on MT 308, then north on MT 72, and then south on US 310, back into Wyoming.
We drove past the visitor center in Lovell, which had closed at 4:30 and went out to Horseshoe
Bend, along the reservoir within the NRA. The camp had electric and non-electric sites, with the
Golden Age Pass it was $10 for an electric site. The wind was quite strong so we used the
microwave to cook some fresh corn on the cob and had sandwiches. The light and the colors
surrounding the area were very pretty.

Horseshoe Bend at Bighorn Canyon NRA


Bonus Stamps
Tower Falls - Yellowstone (pictorial - small & large)
Custer Gallatin NF - date -Beartooth RD MT
Beartooth Hwy - date - Red Lodge, MT

Wildlife Sightings
Elk
Bison
Pronghorn
Least Chipmunk
Yellow-bellied Marmot
Deer

Clark's Nutcracker
Red-tailed Hawk
American Robin
Common Raven
Black-billed Magpie
Brown-headed Cowbird
Brewer's Blackbird
Song Sparrow