Two primary stops on the way: 1. Three Forks State Park, to see the three rivers that form the headwaters of the Missouri River, and 2. Bozeman, to have lunch with and visit with an Oklahoma State U. classmate of mine, Ken Tiahrt, and his wife, Nancy.
Ken spent his statistical career at Montana State University, many of those years as head of the department of statistics and other things, I believe, like math education. We've seen each other briefly at statistical meetings over the mere 42 years since we graduated, but this was a great opportunity to spend a relaxed couple of hours chatting about families and interests. Turns out we both have interests in old cars and the highways they ran on. We both have families, also.
The reason for going to Red Lodge is the nearby Beartooth All American Highway. The Beartooth All-American Road is on most lists of scenic drives in America and was christened America’s Most Beautiful Highway by Charles Kuralt, the man for all roads. It’s everything it’s cracked up to be. Even with all the hype, for us it exceeded expectations.
A series of long switch-backs (starting on the North side from Red Lodge, MT) gets you to the top and then you drive along on top for a quite a few miles, crossing into Wyoming in the process. Gorgeous scenery all around. Lots of good pull-outs. You feel like you’re soaring at eye-level with the surrounding mountains.
Some pictures:
As you can see, we had a beautiful day for the drive.
Up in the area of the preceding picture we saw vehicles and a lift line for the Red Lodge Summer Ski and Snowboard Camp. Also saw some skiers returning from a workout.
I show the waiting snow plow for a reason. I read some Red Lodge history in the library today. Way back in 1893 local residents and businessmen started lobbying Congress for funds to build this road. They confidently claimed that it would be possible to find a 'natural' route up and over (to Yellowstone NP) that could be kept free of snow year-round. There were still such claims when the road was approved in 1931, started in '32, and completed in '36. Well, the road has never been open more than about three months of the year. This spring it opened on May 23.
At the top (10, 947 ft.) we discussed our options: Turn around and return to Red Lodge. Go part way down the Wyoming side, then turn around and return to Red Lodge. Go on down the Wyoming side to where the Beartooth Highway connects with the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, take that highway down and then on to Cody, WY, then return to Red Lodge via the low-altitude highway – thereby completing roughly a 150 mile loop. We chose the last option and were glad we did. The Wyoming side had different scenery and Chief Joseph has a pretty nice highway himself. And we really enjoyed the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody (hat tip to friend, Dick Reinert). We had thought we'd go to Cody directly the next day.
At the top (10, 947 ft.) we discussed our options: Turn around and return to Red Lodge. Go part way down the Wyoming side, then turn around and return to Red Lodge. Go on down the Wyoming side to where the Beartooth Highway connects with the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, take that highway down and then on to Cody, WY, then return to Red Lodge via the low-altitude highway – thereby completing roughly a 150 mile loop. We chose the last option and were glad we did. The Wyoming side had different scenery and Chief Joseph has a pretty nice highway himself. And we really enjoyed the Buffalo Bill Historical Center in Cody (hat tip to friend, Dick Reinert). We had thought we'd go to Cody directly the next day.
The terrain coming down the Wyoming side of the Beartooth Highway featured lots of alpine lakes. For some reason I didn't stop and get a picture. Here's one from the internet.
If I put any more in this posting, Blogger might gag, so I'll cover the remainder of our outing in a separate posting.
Cheers,
Susie and Rob
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