Red Lodge/Beartooth Pass

After leaving Livingston we cruised to Red Lodge, MT, a cute little town in the foothills of the Beartooth/Absaroka mountain range northeast  of Yellowstone NP.  There is an amazing highway there that goes up and over the mountain range and drops down to Cooke City and Yellowstone.  It has many, many switchbacks and climbs from about 5,000 feet at Red Lodge to nearly 11,000 ft. at Beartooth Pass.  We started out to just drive up to the pass then retrace our steps to the nice campsite we had the night before. (Where, by the way, I saw a bear while out walking by myself!  The picture I took with my shaking hands is not convincing or worth posting! I also saw a moose the next day.)

As we drove up the mountains the scenery became more and more spectacular with towering peaks, glaciated valleys, hanging valleys, alpine meadows and bluebird blue skies.  Up at the top we hiked to several look outs and took lots of pictures.  We enjoyed a nice cup of tea and snuggled down in the rig.  By late afternoon the motorcycles and other vehicles had stopped coming into the parking lot so we decided to just stay and enjoy the sunset and spend the night.  It is so nice to have everything you need to just spend the night wherever the mood takes you!  After it got dark the stars were simple amazing! The Milky Way stretched across the enormous sky from horizon to horizon and there was not a single man made light to be seen. It was cold but we stayed toasty enough.  

How many pieces of the switchbacked road can you count in this picture? This is looking toward the SW and Yellowstone.

Early the next morning we started back down the mountain shortly after sunrise, rescued an overheated car on its way up with some water and good advice, and lucked into some yummy hot apple critters from the bakery in Red Lodge. 

Eastern Montana was not as bad as I expected, it was still quite green and pretty in its own way.  We followed my favorite river, the mighty Yellowstone past Miles City and I was surprised how much it changed as it went along, becoming very muddy and slow as it approaches the Missouri River. 

Tonight we are on a quiet road near the train tracks and tomorrow we will see some nearby historical sites. Then on to Theodore Roosevelt National Park!