So, we hopped on the bikes and headed north to Beartooth Pass, Montana, just over the border from Wyoming. The goal for the day was to enjoy the scenery and be tourists. God just gets a good laugh when you make a plan.
Our first stop was Red Lodge Montana., a small town with some nice restaurants about 50 miles away from Cody. Gorgeous ride on the way up there. From there we drove across 212 in Montana to Beartooth Pass. If you listen carefully, this is where you can hear God laughing.
Beartooth Pass ride
For those of you that don’t know, Beartooth Pass is a series of mountains that are over 68 miles of insane switchbacks. So much so that the speed limit is mostly 20-25 mph. If you look back, you can see yourself coming around the last turn! At over 11,000′ with almost no guardrails. They just opened the road a week or two ago. There are 20′ poles so the snowplows don’t go over the edge. We drove past a 15′ snow drift the plows had cut through to clear the road. Fifteen feet! High! Snow! (What am I doing here?)
This would have been a great ride… if it were about 40° warmer !!! The wind was blowing between 50-60 mph AGAINST US and the temperatures were so cold, I quit feeling my lips about half way up. At one point, the wind was blowing against us so hard, my bike would only go up the mountain at 38mph… TOPS! It was so cold, Melinda didn’t even want a selfie. Mistake #1: believing the forecast and not checking wind speeds. Mistake #2: not bring a full-face helmet (or any helmet!)
We finally got through Beartooth and stopped at the Top o’ the World gas station. From there we made our way across on 212 through Lamar Valley (wild animal central). There, the wind settled down a bit and the temperature went up slightly, but when we got back into Yellowstone Park, the elevation and wind speed went up and the temperate went down. We drove down Grand Loop Rd through Yellowstone, Mount Washburn (very windy and cold), back through the Fishing Village (closed by the time we got there) and home to Cody. 11 hours total and about 275 miles.
We did see some amazing animals: bison galore, a rare mountain goat, antelope, a moose, and several elk. The buffalo would walk right up to the road and cross with ZERO fear. I guess if you weighed 2000 lbs and had fur and horns, you would be fearless too.
RVonTheRoadYet.com is a blog to keep our friends and family informed of our latest adventures or misadventures. We are NOT RV professionals, doctors, lawyers, or travel guides. We are a couple of people who have decided to embrace the full-time RV lifestyle of idiots and gypsies.