Camping in Cody

We stayed at Cody's Ponderosa campground which had a sign that said "unlimited tent spots". This translated into the squeezing of all the bikers on the way to Sturgis along with us in the same small grassy area. This had its advantage because we got updates on road issues from people travelling from the west and the north. The news was not good. Beartooth Pass was virtually closed due to a fire near Red Lodge, Montana; a convoy was required to lead vehicles through the smoke from Cody to the eastern gate of Yellowstone. The Road to the Sun hwy was under construction with delays up to 3 hours, not allowing a view, and you couldn't admire the views because you had to concentrate while travelling over gravel and pot holes due to repair for rain washouts. If we went northwest to get to Yellowstone, the road apparently has 9 miles/15 km. of gravel......balancing a fully loaded bike on ballbearings has its moments. With no good options available to us we went to bed pondering our next day's route.
Sleep did not come easily due to the roar of straight piped Harleys getting back from the bars, riding within 5 feet of our little tent!! In addition the woman in the tent next door sang an opera of ectasy while she and her guy intertwined. In the morning, some of the bike guys were staring at Dave and I as it was not obvious from which tent the sounds were emanating.
With that night behind us, we opted for the smoke over the gravel roads and headed off for Yellowstone via the eastern gate (after blowing the ash off the bikes.....winds carried it from various fires.)