The Beartooth
It is a beautiful spring day, and we head out to Red Lodge, Montana. Spring runoff is still occurring and the local streams, while improving, are still high and muddy. Give it a few more days and the fishing might be on. Our goal is the Beartooth Highway, which winds its way up the valley to a high mountain plateau, one of the highest in the country. The highway has just opened as crews have spent the last couple of weeks plowing snow on the highway. With the clear weather, the views on top of the plateau should be spectacular.
We make our way east on I-90, get off at Columbus and go south to Red Lodge. It is an interesting town. As with many mountain towns in the west, it came to be due to mining, specifically silver. Mining's cyclical nature of boom and bust is gone, replaced by those who ply the local rivers fishing and hiking, skiing and mountain biking. Supporting these pursuits is a main street with hotels, restaurants and a grocery store. While only an hour or so away from Billings, the town is unique. It doesn’t pretend to be a Bozeman or Livingston and strives to maintain an identity as a small mountain hamlet with people who enjoy the ruggedness, they have around them. A few eateries are available, and we stop at the Cafe Regis, an old grocery store, now a restaurant. We sit out back underneath a large cottonwood and soak in the sunshine.
Leaving town and going south you begin your climb. Rock, switchbacks and sheer overlooks mesmerize the mind and make you understand why people come here to drive the highway. Some come the first day it opens to honor long traditions. Familiar views, admiration for what the crews have done to carve out the road from 20 feet of snow, and the openness at the top of the plateau provides the backdrop to reacquaint with an old friend. On the way stops are frequent to pull out at overlooks as they beg you not to miss anything. June is still cold at these elevations and a jacket and sometimes a hat bring comfort to walk the overlook trails. Western gophers scurry along with you, making sense of the warmer temperatures to begin their annual cycle of eating and storing body fat for next winter. They like us are relishing the beginning of summer coming to the mountains.
And then you reach the top of the highway. Expectations from other mountain drives tell you the road will follow the top of the ridge winding your way through the scenic vistas. This is different. Climbing out of the valley you exit onto a high mountain plateau. Above the tree line your world flattens and the horizon in front of you is rock and small shrubs that survive the alpine environment. The highway culminates through Beartooth Pass, just under 11,000 feet in elevation. You are on the highest highway in Montana and Wyoming, with claims you are on the most beautiful road in the American West. Yet it is the detail that surrounds you. Rivulets of water coming off 20-foot snowbanks as the sun melts its way through winter. The tinges of green coming to life of the shrubs. Billowing summer clouds above you turning the sky blue. They combine to create a vision that stays with you along the route.
Crossing the Wyoming border, we come around a corner to see others alpine skiing down the mountain. A couple of ski lifts aid them back up the slope. Beartooth Basin doesn’t have a lodge where you can warm and rest. It is just a skier's mountain, catering to those who want the season to never end. Vans and trucks park along the roadway serving as places to eat lunch and talk with others. We estimate 175 to 200 skiers are on the slopes, busy enjoying the snow before it becomes unusable. While the snow has no fresh powder it works for those who still live in the season ending before they must wait for the snow to return next season.
Reaching the pass, the road winds down the elevation, giving you views to the south and west. The vista is spectacular, and the distances are long. Yellowstone is visible as it serenely sits on the horizon. At your observation distance you can’t see the hum of activity below as the Park gets ready for its summer season and crush of visitors. Clouds darken and then lighten the mountain slopes as they move east. It is still barren here, yet beautiful with a mix of multicolored rock spread out before you above the tree line.
As you drop, green re-enters your surroundings and soon trees re-appear. The warmth of the valley becomes a welcome companion as you view the waterfalls and mountains before you. Streams abound joining to increase their flow as you make your way down. Traffic is light this early in June, so you have moments to pull over and enjoy. At moments, no cars are visible on Highway 212 and the silence allows you to enjoy other sounds around you as the wind moves though the valley and water rustles its way down stream beds.
Montana is not done yet, as you make your way west crossing over the state line and entering Cooke City. Civilization comes roaring back as restaurants, souvenir shops and motels begin to crowd the roadsides. Downtown Cooke City is rather calm, giving us the opportunity to park in front of the Soda Butte Lodge and find a place to grab a snack. The townspeople are prepping for the busy season as food wholesale trucks and UPS drivers unload their boxes. Summer is their season and the ability to make a profit during this time will determine if they survive for next summer's season. Rewarded for living here during the summer is the tranquility of the fall and winter that is at your doorstep. The Park entrance is five minutes away, offering you the capability to wander the north side of Yellowstone and enjoy it during the winter.
We make our way to the entrance and pull up to the gatehouse with no wait. The rangers are relaxed and jovial, another indicator of the early season. The north road of Yellowstone is kept open year-round. It connects Gardiner to Cooke City allowing people to escape to Livingston and Bozeman when the Beartooth closes from the winter snow. Less crowded than other arteries of the park we easily make our way, joined now by the occasional small herds of elk. Buffalo appear as we enter the Lamar Valley, defined by its large sweeping expanses that stretch to the horizon. The valley is exploding in green, and both the buffalo and elk are gorging after the meager existence of winter grasses.
Fortunately, the north road is a frequent area of wolf sightings. Three packs roam the north end. Identified by name they include the Junction Butte, Rescue Creek and 8 Mile packs. Periodically a fourth pack will form and dissipate later into the others. Such is their social hierarchy of wolves which increases their efficiency in hunting for food. However, efficiency translates into a success rate in the single digits, meaning over 90% of the time the hunt is unsuccessful. Success varies by prey with elk kills higher than buffalo kills. Studies at Yellowstone show kill success optimizes at 5-6 wolves and stays the same as pack size increases. Observations have been made of mated pairs having a higher success rate than packs. Since re-introduction into the park, they have served their purpose by re-balancing the elk and deer populations.
Mammoth Hot Springs comes into view and elk density increases. The large green lawns that compose the promenade areas of Mammoth are easy areas for grazing. Both elk and people mingle in this area. Park service tells you to keep 25 yards between you and elk. Respect for distance sometimes deteriorates and they charge. Typically, it is a false charge, sometimes not.
It is getting late and we begin our descent to Roosevelt Arch and Gardiner, Montana which hugs the park. Most national park employees live here within the park boundary. Children attend school in Gardiner and the small IGA and gas stations serve the townspeople and park employees. Population swells in the summer to support the operations of the park's hotels and guest services. Again, Gardiner is bustling to prepare for the summer season.
Driving up Paradise Valley, we feel welcomed. The Yellowstone River is beside us with the Absaroka mountains to the east. The openness of the valley allows us to pass through Emigrant and the ranches to the north. It prepares us for I-90 which will lead us back to Bozeman. It is almost dark now and while tired, we relish the full day we have enjoyed and talk often of the highlights seen.