Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Bear Tooth Parkway, Day 1
After boondocking last night just past the entrance of the Bear Tooth Parkway, we got up and went in to Red Lodge, MT for a few supplies. We then went to the Forest Ranger Station to get information of hiking along the Bear Tooth. Since we are still working on getting our altitude legs (as well as our physical legs) in shape, we opted for a relatively easy trek. We drove about 25 miles into the mountains to Cascade Trailhead. This was an easy trail, following the mountain stream. We hiked in about 2 miles and then returned. We figured a four mile hike would do for our first major hike. We are both glad we stopped when we did. The only unfortunate thing about this hike was the scenery. While it was majestic, it was not particularly pretty. Seems the entire area sustained a forest fire in 2008. Some of the undergrowth was returning, but the forest trees had not yet started to regrow. After the hike, we headed up the Bear Tooth Parkway. What an INCREDIBLE drive.
For over 30 miles one is driving across the top of the mountains. Meriam and I are having a hard time expressing our feelings about this drive. As we mentioned when we drove Hwy 14a, Meriam said she could not imagine how Bear Tooth could surpass it. Let me state unequivocally, Bear Tooth beats Hwy 14a hands down (and remember, Hwy 14a was awesome.) When you view the pictures, you will see 6-8 foot snow banks along the side of the road. This is wowie (this is a Meriam word) but the real wowie was just weeks ago. It seems caterpillar divers were on top of 43 ft. drifts, knocking off the snow over cliffs to achieve the 6-8 ft. snowdrifts along the road. And then there are the vistas, the frozen lakes, mountain streams, and the serenity of the area. Since the road to Yellowstone was closed, our drive along the Parkway was even more eventful since there was virtually no traffic on the road coming from Yellowstone.
Bear Tooth Parkway is an All American Road, connecting the town of Red Lodge, MT and the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park. This summer celebrates the 75th anniversary of the opening of Bear Tooth Parkway. It was the dream of J.C.F. “Doc” Siegfriedt back in the 1920s. The parkway is:
- 68.58 miles long,
- its highest elevation is 10,947 feet,
- ten miles of the Parkway are above the timberline,
- it is open for traffic an average of 135 days a year,
- it took 5 years to construct (from June 1931 to June 1936),
- there are 20 lakes visible from the Parkway,
- there are 19 switchbacks on the road,
- and there were 2 fatalities during its construction.
Tonight (Tuesday, June 28), we boondocked at Clark’s Fork Overlook (elevation 8,000 ft). The view from our camper was awesome, a soaring mountain range in the distance with a beautiful valley below.
As we returned from our hike, we encountered Mr. Moose. He was certainly not afraid of humans as we had to wait a few minutes while he finished grazing. After a bit, he gave us a look then rambled on his way.
We reserved this campsite several months ago while still in Jefferson. When we got to the ranger station, they give us our site number and a shovel. When we asked what the shovel was for, they response was “It will be obvious!”