Red Lodges, Bear Teeth, and Bygone Bypasses

When my sister and I decided it was time for me to head south, I set out for Laurel. Laurel is a refinery town just west of Billings, but more importantly to me, it is where a highway heads south to Red Lodge and the Beartooth Pass that drops over into Yellowstone National Park. More importantly than that, this highway, which winds it's way through the mountains and through Cooke City, is the same road my Mom remembers riding over in an old car in the 1930s or 40s, so I wanted to go over this road for the first time in my life and relive a bit of Mom's past.

On the way into Red Lodge, I saw a teepee painted red. I'm guessing that it has something to do with the origin of the town name. I sped on looking forward to the Beartooth Pass road. Of course, when I reached Red Lodge...a rather touristy/upscale town these days..., I learned that Beartooth Pass is closed for construction. Now, it's always closed in the winter, but apparently this summer there was work to be done on the road. I pointed my car up the pass anyhow. Traffic is allowed up to a certain point but the view was worth it. Besides, who can resist the winding roads and relatively traffic-free run the entire way? At least I got to see some of what Mom marveled at as a little girl.

Back down in Red Lodge, I took a bypass route eastward and stopped to take a wide pair of shots of Red Lodge and the mountains beyond, then south and then west back around the mountains and linked in with the highway just before Cooke City. Along the way were some very bright orange cliffs to my right, so I pulled over and had a bite to eat. Lots of construction on this road...dust, flag people stopping traffic, hot day even as high up as we were. And lots of Harley Davidson motorcycle troupes. I've never seen so many motorcycle groups in one trip before, but I think they may have been generally headed to the big Harley rally in Sturgis, South Dakota. I have several relatives in Sturgis and Spearfish and Rapid City, but none of them are named Harley or Davidson, as far as I know.

When I reached the Northeast Entrance Station to Yellowstone National Park, I got the privilege of sitting behind several idling Harleys. It's a rumble that shakes the earth. Now Yellowstone, as many folks know, sits on top of a great caldera which means that geothermal forces create geysers and eventually the whole park is going to erupt in one massive volcano. I thought this was actually happening right then and there, but it turned out to be only the motorcycle engines waiting impatiently to roar again. Then I saw a bear! Now, don't get too excited, I told myself. After all, it is only a small stuffed teddy bear strapped to the cargo carrier on one of the motorcycles. For some reason, Harley enthusiasts like to strap little leatherclad bears to their bikes. Maybe it's to say "I'm a tough biker but I have a soft gentle side, too." I really don't know. Then I remembered that sitting beside me in the passenger seat was a monkey. A monkey with velcros hands and feet and a mean howl when you press its chest just right. More and that later, but it made me realize that perhaps I have a soft gentle side, as well. More like a wacky and irreverent side. Either way, I smiled and said "more power to ya, Harley dude!" (to myself, of course). Each biker rolled his bike up to the station window, which took a good deal of time, and finally the crew was through the gate and I got to show my pass and follow onward into Yellowstone. I thought about going to Old Faithful but my last venture there in 2003 was less than spectacular and I chose instead to push through the park and spend some time in Grand Teton National Park just to the south of Yellowstone.

I took the inner road, closer to the Teton Mountains than I had when I came through here in 1994. I shot some photos in my characteristic way of flying into a pull-out, jumping out of the car (I wear my vest while driving), shooting quickly, then back into the car and back on the road. The Tetons are truly magnificent mountains with soaring craggy peaks piercing the clouds.

Next town of note would be Jackson Hole.