Over the Memorial Day weekend we braved the weather and ventured out of town. We should know better than to have any guests or to plan any sort of outdoor activity over Memorial Day. It has notoriously bad weather in our neck of the woods. Our initial plan was to drive over the Beartooth Highway on opening weekend. 20 inches+ of new snow delayed the opening, though, so we spent the day in Red Lodge boosting the local economy.
Sunday’s wanderings took us east from Red Lodge to the Pryor Mountains and the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. Here the Bighorn River cuts a dramatic gash between the Pryor and Bighorn Mountains. The construction of Yellowtail Dam (completed in 1967) resulted in the 71-mile long Bighorn Lake and the creation of the Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area. This turned out to be a hidden little gem with dramatic mountains hemming in a canyon that is up to 2500 feet deep.
But the primary reason we went off the beaten path was to view the Pryor Mountain Wild Mustang herd. The herd numbers up to 300 animals, descending from the Spanish Conquistadors. Their designated management range extends up the eastern side of the Pryor Mountains and into the Bighorn Canyon NRA. We were hoping to see some of these iconic animals, but they proved rather elusive. In the end we did see two mustangs, including “Blizzard”, below.
On the way out of the Big Horn National Recreation Area we did score a prime view of a group of juvenile bighorn sheep posing on a small butte above the road.
What we lacked in mustang viewing, we made up for with some wonderful desert blooms.
After a night in Cody, Wyoming, we returned to Bozeman via the Chief Joseph Highway, Cook City, and Yellowstone Park where we joined the Memorial Day masses in some fine wildlife viewing. Here as couple of the critters.
The traffic was hell!
