As we made our way south and east from Yellowstone, we spent 2 nights in the small western town of Cody, Wyoming, named after William F. Cody, better known as Buffalo Bill. We stayed at the Wyoming Trout Ranch RV a few miles out of town. It was attractive, quiet and mostly empty. And it really is a trout ranch. They have a fish hatchery where they raise several types of trout. They also have tipis, "Glamping" tents, for people who don't have an RV.

We had visited Cody before and explored the Buffalo Bill museum complex. This time we checked out the Old Trail Town Museum which contains the largest collection of local  historic buildings and historic artifacts in Wyoming. They have cabins once used by members of the Hole in the Wall Gang, Kid Curry, and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. They also have lots of old wagons and a carpenter shop.

There is an old General Store and a Funeral Coach.

We were most interested in the cemetery at the Old Trail Town. Several historic persons have been reburied there, including a buffalo hunter, frontiersman, trapper, two murdered men and one famous murdered woman. In addition, Jeremiah Johnson is buried there. He is of special interest to us because he and John's great great grandfather were both involved in an Indian battle in Montana in 1868. He was made famous in the movie Jeremiah Johnson starring Robert Redford. Redford was a pallbearer in 1974 when Johnson's body was reburied in Cody.

Downtown Cody has a number of attractive old signs. One store has made a bench from a bed headboard and tractor seats.

There are also a number of interesting buffalo statues in town.

          

Alaska -- Day 83

What are all of these gulls waiting for?



Something to eat! In case you can't tell, the dark areas in this water are virtual rivers of pink salmon, moving toward Solomon Gulch to spawn.







Here you see them crowded up against the wire of a fish weir. It diverts many of the returning salmon to the Solomon Gulch Fish Hatchery, from where they were released a year or so ago.



Part of the wier is stretched across the river. Only the strongest-jumping fish make it on up the river.





The rest are diverted into the fish runs to the hatchery.





We were there before the hatchery opens at 8 am, but a walkway is open so we could see the raceways and read about the fish. The salmon eggs that are deposited in the hatchery are artificially fertilized. The fish had returned to Solomon Gulch because they had been released here. However, the stream itself can't accomodate all the fry (little fish) that will hatch next year. That is where the hatchery comes into play each year.



We found the morning absolutely fascinating, even if it wasn't what we had planned. These signs show why were out there.





We didn't see any bear, but we can certainly understand why they are in this area some time each day.

After returning to the RV for breakfast, we went for a walk. We found this bus in our RV park. We have seen another of these buses somewhere in the past. Click to learn about the Green Tortoisee.

Here you can see the travelers' gear and water supply in the bus basement. Look carefully and you can see two tables on the other side of the buss, one with their breakfast dishes dripping dry and the other where breakfast was prepared.



These are the travelers' tents.



Our walk took us out of town north, where we saw these peaceful wetlands. Look at the reflection in the water.



On the other side of the road, there was fog on the bay. And it was clearing from the mountain tops.





One more great sight.



I have seen bald eagles somewhere every day since we arrived in Valdez.