Day 11
Day 11 was a ride over to the Bighorns, over Beartooth Pass.
I packed up quick as is my custom and hit the road as early as I could. I stopped at Grant Village for breakfast, damn the expense. The hostess walked me to my table, one of those deals with a white tablecloth and lots of glasses and lots of extra silverware. Pretty fancy, in short. I sat looking out over Yellowstone Lake through the huge windows. I got the seven grain buttermilk cakes (made with Montana grains) and a couple eggs and terrific bacon and coffee. Served by a sweet young lady from Washington DC spending her summer in Yellowstone. All a wonderful reminder that I was in a park, not the wilderness. And the whole thing cost me $14. Now, for a cheapskate like me that is just glorious. The services at Yellowstone are all outsourced and privatized. The campsite is run by some company, the dining room is run by some company. But clearly there is oversight, and price control. Thanks government.
So, that was a nice way to start the day. I worked my way to the northeast gate. Lots of stops, lots of taking the side roads. I probably should have taken a swim at one point, there was a swimming-allowed hot spring in the river at one point. But I didn't have that kind of time.
This part of Yellowstone is about the long views. Big expansive valleys with herds of buffalo and elk dispersed. At one point I watched a huge bull elk lead his harem across the Yellowstone River through my binoculars. If I was the kind of guy that used the word "majestic" I would.
I chatted with a guy traveling solo in his Jeep Wrangler. We were thinking hard about each other's vehicles for travel. He was really interested in my thoughts about traveling by HD Sportster. He was starting a new life, he thinks, now that he was done working. He was figuring out if he could afford it. He was young for retirement, I got the impression we was laid off and not eager to search for a new job. Maybe recently single as well. He had choices to make, an exciting and nerve-wracking time-of-life for him.
There was a crowd of folks pulled off at an outlook, some setup for the long-haul with chairs and high-powered spotting scopes. A wolf (a black one) had been sighted in recent days, and there were people hell-bent on seeing it. Some of them had t-shirts from some Yellowstone wolf club. The wolf had a name it was referred to by, but forget what it was. People really to get worked up over there wildlife. But I have to admit, I spent more time there scanning for the animal with my binoculars than made sense.
Out of Yellowstone I started gaining some altitude. When I figured I was close the pass I came across a dirt road up to Clay Butte Lookout Tower. I have a hard time turning up dirt side roads, and I wanted a good view. So I picked my way up there, only to find a closed gate halfway up. But still, an OK view and a good time.
Well, it turns out, I was no where near the top. I climbed and climbed and climbed. I hit the treeline. There was pockets of snow. The land was all exposed rock and lichens and tough plants. Quite the climb. My AF meter was reading about 10 and the bike wasn't running that well. It was gasping for air.
Coming down starts with crossing the state line back into Montana. Now Montana has pretty liberal speed limit policies. In general two-lane roads are 70 mph in the daytime, 65 at night. Mind you, these are not for divided highways, this is every rural county two lane road. So, up there at the top of Beartooth Pass there is a speed limit sign saying 70. Looking at the conditions and the switchbacks it made me laugh. It might have just as well said "do what you want, we don't care", no one is going to be doing 70 up there.
Dropping back down was a bit of a bummer. I got caught behind the group of four Harleys, and they'd just about stop for the switchbacks. Not really their fault, if they leaned too deep they'd grind their floorboards on the pavement. I just had more clearance to play with. But, when we came out of the corner they'd screw on the throttles like they were heroes, giving me no opportunity to pass safely. I guess they needed to justify their Stage 2 Screaming Eagle kits or whatever somehow, but it sure would have been nice if they noticed they were holding me up in the corners and let me go. My taillight would be out of their view before they knew it.
In Red Lodge I stopped at a roadside stand for a burger and fries, and a short nap. I was tired. I was running long days and wasn't sleeping enough. My eyes would roll on the road sometimes, and I'd pull over for these short power naps. Often with my helmet on, just leaning back on my drybad sitting on the bike.
Now I had to grind over to the Bighorns, and it was brutal. There had been talk about a heat dome setting up over the US since up I was up in Canada, and now it had setup. It was flat and viscously hot, well into the upper 90s. I'd stop occasionally when I saw some shade and drink from my water bottle, which was warm enough to make tea with.
When I got to the mountains there was a storm cell brewing to the south. As I started climbing these pockets of cool air spinning off that cell would hit me. I've never felt such a heat differential. When I was in that brutal heat and this bubble of cool air hit me, I felt like I should be able to see the edge of the bubble. There was a almost hard, physical border between the hot and cold air. There had to be a 20 degree differential. More? And would move off and I'd be back in the heat.
The climb brought me up into comfortable air. It was quite a relief, and the view was pretty cool.
I passed Medicine Wheel by. I've been there before. Actually, my wife's engagement ring stone is up there, an unintentional offering. I got to my campground and setup quick and headed back out, backtracking to a sign for food and beer I had spotted coming up.
The sign turned out to be for the Wyoming High Country Lodge, which I highly recommend. I believe they used to run a ranch and take folks out on horse trail rides, but as the times have changed they have switched to group ATV rides. It's what the people want, and cheaper to maintain. When I walked in the gentleman running it said "you look hungry", and brought me in for dinner. The ranch guests were already seated and eating, and I helped myself to the buffet. Chicken dumplings and wild rice and rolls, all homemade by his really sweet and cute wife. I sat down with a beer from the cooler and a big plate and enjoyed. It was a touch uncomfortable, all the other guests were sitting together family-style at these big tables. No one really greeted me, and they were really busy in getting to know each other. So I grabbed a side table alone. If I were more gregarious I would have invited myself to the group, but it's not the way it was.
After dinner I paid for it and another couple beers for camp and a bundle of firewood. When I left there was a moose right at the near edge of the field. The owner and I and a couple of the guests stood outside a while watching them and chatting. There was this cow and calf, and when this big bull moose came buy they all kind of just ignored each other, which apparently isn't typical. The cows like to keep the calfs from the bulls. And a younger bull came along, and there was still peace and harmony among them. Learned a bit about free range cattle, and how the owner of the place works with the ranchers to do his part to keep the various herds of cows split out. It was interesting and relaxing standing there in the cool air.
Back at camp I built a fire and sipped my beers and relaxed.
