Beartooth Highway

In 2009, we stayed in Cody, Wyoming, and during our stay, we drove the Chief Joseph Highway to the Beartooth Highway to Red Lodge, Montana.  That's how we found this cute little town and planned to stay here during this trip.

When we last drove the Beartooth, it was cloudy and drizzly, so the views weren't that good.  This morning, the skies were crystal clear.  We drove from Red Lodge to the Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone, which is about 68 miles.  By entering the park at the Northeast Entrance, we have now entered the park at every entrance and driven every part of the roads in the park, with the exception of about 8-10 miles.  Not too shabby....

Without clouds to block the view, today's ride was amazing.  The road snakes up one of the mountains with multiple switchbacks, and each part of the switchback provides a new view of the other mountains and the valleys below.  Close to the top, we saw some white mountain goats grazing near a patch of snow.  It was a pleasant surprise.

We stopped in Cooke City, Montana, a small village near the Northeast Entrance to Yellowstone and browsed through a shop of local fossils, geodes, petrified wood and other rocks.  Ruth mailed one of her postcards and picked up some ice cream.

We drove a short part of the road through the Soda Buttes in Yellowstone, and Jeff and Henry spotted some bighorn sheep hanging out high up on one of the mountains.  As we drove back, the formerly clear blue skies were now populated with white and a few gray clouds.  That's the way it works in the mountains - it starts off nice, but then gets cloudier and windier as the day goes on.

After our scenic drive, we hung out at the campground and relaxed.  It was nice to just hang out for awhile.