"Pipex News" <apae61.TakeThisOut@dsl.pipex.com> wrote in message
news:OoidnYTqGouKijranZ2dnUVZ8q2dnZ2d@pipex.net...
> Hi All
> Travelling to Denver on the 5th June until the 18th. We wish to travel
> through the surrounding areas. Definite places to visit so far are
> Yellowstone and the Battle of the Little Bighorn site. I appreciate that
> in the period we have lots of places cannot be visited. I have been using
> Streets and Trips but when I have put in all the places I wanted to go, it
> ran to 2700 miles, which is perhaps a little much. I see also that
> Yellowstone accommodation is already booked up. Intend staying in Denver
> first night and perhaps 2 more prior to return flight. Mostly want to
> spend time on scenic routes. We are in our 60's so lots of walking at that
> altitude is not needed.
>
> Regards
>
> Pat
>
I left the Denver Tech Centre (south of the city) on a Friday night, spent
the night in Cheyenne. Next morning moved west with stops in Laramie,
Medicine Bow, Rawlins and some lesser places to Green River for the night.
Sunday we visited Kemmerer and Fossil Butte and made our way up to Alpine.
Monday we moved on through Jackson and Grand Teton, past Old Faithful to
West Yellowstone. Even though this was late September I'd had poblems
getting rooms in the park itself (but I'd only tried to book about 10 days
ahead). Three nights in West Yellowstone gave us time to drive most of the
park but I'd have done better with more time. We only managed a couple of
short hikes, mainly simply to some of the hot springs etc just off the road.
Progress through the park can be very slow with people (including me)
stopping to look at the wildlife. It's tempting to become blase about cars
parked on the side of the road "it's another moose/elk/bison/dog/human" but
keep alert - late one afternoon coming back out to WY I nearly drove past
parked cars only to realise they were watching an Eagle in its' nest.
Thursday saw us going up over Bear Tooth Pass into Montana - wonderful
drive. I can't reccomend it enough. Saw a wolf (or what I believe was a
wolf). That night we were in Billings. Next day we visited Bighorn and
then went on to Greybull (I had an aviation related reason to go there -
it's not a "normal" stop for tourists). The Bighorn site has an
interesting visitor centre but the surrounding grassland is, well,
grassland. I'm sure it means more to people who have studied Custer etc.
Saturday we went on to Thermpolis which entertained us for longer than I
might have otherwise expected; the free hot pools maintained by the state
and the Dinosaur Museum. That night we made Douglas (I'm interested in
trains as well as planes). A little way before Douglas and about 2/3 miles
off the interstate there's a natural bridge. Sunday we drove back down to
Denver.
We were in our mid 50s when we did the trip and we live at sea level. I've
been to Denver on more than one occasion and I don't find it too
debilitating. Just take it easy for a day or two. If you want
debilitating then try La Paz, Bolivia but even then it's a case of taking it
easy and allowing your body to catch up.
Had I not been to the Rocky Mountain National Park on a previous trip I
might have been tempted to go that way out of Denver and then up to Rawlins
rather than through Cheyene. That summit is somehere like 11k ft (can't
remember the details) so I might be tempted to try and include that on my
way back to Denver having acclimatised during the previous week. I had
been in Denver for the previous week on business so it wasn't an issue.
>> Stay informed about: Denver and Surrounding Area 
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