Beartooth Highway

On Saturday morning, we left Red Lodge and headed toward the Beartooth Highway. This drive was one of the things we had been looking forward to most when we planned our journey. The Beartooth Highway was called "the most beautiful drive in America," by late CBS news correspondent Charles Kuralt. Due to heavy snowfall at the top, the pass is usually only open each year between Memorial Day and Labor Day. In August 1872, the pass was crossed by Civil War General Phillip Sheridan and 120 men returning from an inspection tour of Yellowstone. Rather than take the long detour down the Clarks Fork River to return to Billings, Sheridan took the advice of an old hunter named Greer, who claimed intimate knowledge of the Beartooth Mountains. When the road was opened in 1936, it essentially followed Sheridan's route over the pass.
First, let me say that nothing we read prepared us for what driving along the Beartooth Highway in a 31 foot RV would be like. It took us 2.5 hours to travel the 60 miles of Beartooth Highway. The Highway traces a series of steep zigzags and switchbacks along the Montana-Wyoming border to the 10,947 ft high Beartooth Pass. Kudos to Steve for navigating the twisty turny road! It was a bit hairy, but the views were absolutely spectacular. When driving from the east to the west, as we did, the highest parts of the Beartooth Highway level off into a wide plateau near the top of the pass. The top was covered in snow and ice, much of which is pink in color when it melts due to a particular kind of algae that grows there. During the long descent we passed numerous icy blue lakes. Because of its altitude, even in the summer snowstorms can occur. It was in the 40s at the top of the peak and rain when we passed through. Lots of motorcyclists were out on the Beartooth with us this morning. We stopped at one spot near the end of the highway for a short hike and then headed off to Yellowstone for the rest of the day.