DAY 12 - PLENTY OF BUFFALO BUT ALAS NO BEARS

After our free breakfast at the motel we head out to the Little Bighorn Battlefield again.  We purchase an $80 annual State Park pass as we are going to be visiting quite a lot of State Parks in the next week.  We only have an hour or so here so visit the Museum to read up on the history of the battle between Custer and his 7th Cavalry and Sitting Bull and the two tribes resisting the forced move to reservations.  Then we go out the the battlefield itself where headstones mark where each soldier was slain.  Over 200 soldiers were killed  because they were totally outnumbered by the Indians.  Custer made a monumental mistake by underestimating their force.  There are signs in the grass warning us not to wander off the paths due to rattle snakes in the grass.

We leave Little Bighorn just before  for our onward journey to Yellowstone.  We drive to Red Lodge, Montana to drive the awesome "Bear Tooth Highway".  This road winds up through the mountains to the top of the world.  There is hardly any traffic so we have a great time negotiating the hairpin bends.  

The temperature drops steadily as we reach the summit.  We park up and get out to take photos and admire the breathtaking views.  We are at 11000 feet. 

Along the roads are the snow markers because in winter the snow up here can be many feet deep.  There is still some snow up here even now.  We then descend the mountains and enter Yellowstone by the North East entrance.  It is not long before we see wild buffalo at the side of the road and at one stage (while Jess is driving) a loan huge buffalo walking in the road which she has to slowly maneuver around being careful not to startle it  as they have been known to headbutt cars doing quite a lot of damage.  

We also see plenty of deer and steaming hydro-thermal springs at the side of the road.  There are many beautiful lakes and rivers.  We were hoping to see a bear (well at least I was, Jess was not so keen!), but unfortunately all we saw were signs telling us to "be bear aware".

We stop for lunch eating our left-over boxed up pizza from yesterdays dinner.  There is a buffalo in the clearing to the side of our car.  Some guy has set up his tripod and camera about 7 meters from the buffalo.  This is way to close in our opinion - the park rules say you should not get closer than 23 meters.  However, the buffalo just keeps munching grass oblivious of the photographer.

We carry on driving around the Grand Loop to the West Exit which will take us on to our stop off for the night - St Anthony, Idaho.  The accommodation in the park is far too expensive so we are staying in a motel just outside and will come back into the park tomorrow for more sightseeing.  St Anthony is a pretty small town with a few gas stations, restaurants that shut at 9 pm and our motel.  After checking in we use the Wi-Fi to book accommodation for the next three nights and then get a Chinese takeaway for dinner.