Wandering Retirees

Cooke City, MT to Red Lodge, MT With a Dip into Wyoming 

Today was a brief but exciting day. Our night’s lodging at the Big Bear Lodge was a wonderful stop. It is a rustic in with log cabins for the guests. It’s a family run business that started only late last year. You could call the accommodations “simple” but the rooms seem to be maintained with care and the mountain setting is just beautiful. Some folks we met at breakfast shared our view. One couple, Michael and Michaela are from Augsburg, Germany and are on a three week holiday focused on the Rockies and the National Parks in southern Utah (Bryce, Zion and the Grand Canyons). This is the seventh or eighth visit they have made to the states. Their home is in southern Germany; Augsburg is near Munich in Bavaria. I find it remarkable that they have the Alps, the Pyrenees and all of Europe to enjoy and they decide to come here for the beauty. We tried to sell them on Jersey as a destination. You know, the shore, proximity to NYC, Philly and so forth. Even offered deluxe accommodations at Chez Schwedes. Maybe we’ll see them one day. They reciprocated with an offer to visit Bavaria. Sounds very tempting. 

We left our rustic cabin in Cooke City, MT on the way to Red Lodge, WY across the Gallatin Range of the Rockies on the Bear Tooth Scenic Byway (Rt. 212) through the Custer and Shoshone National Forests. We took a small detour along what I could swear is called the Crazy Creek and had a great time dodging cows (free range!) and taking in the sights of both rugged gorges and gentle meandering streams. We met several riders at a lovely scenic overlook and shared some experiences and tall tales while taking in the sights. All were from the area bounded by North Dakota, Montana and Wyoming, and they were very free with their suggestions of great rides. One guy in particular, Pete from Wyoming is a rancher of some indeterminate years who was just taking a day off to ride his home-custom Harley through countryside he knows so well. Originally from San Diego, he and his wife wound up owning a ranch close to the mountains. Full of kindness and great stories, he shared richly of his knowledge of the great rides in Wyoming and Montana, and generally of his experience as a small rancher (about 65 head of cattle). It was worth hearing and we enjoyed his presence so much. We learned that life as a rancher is quite different from what folks in our region imagine. So glad he shared freely and kindly. So glad, too, that we had the good sense to listen to his story. Turns out we were headed the same way and met him again on the Beartooth Highway where we picked up where we left off.

Back to the ride. We started up the Beartooth Highway/Byway and began ascending the gorgeous road toward the pass at nearly 11,000 feet. Twisties, waterfalls, and beautiful vistas on all sides. Of course we stopped often to take it in. The road is less than 100 miles long but took us over 3 hours passing from Montana into Wyoming. There are precisely two stops where stores may be found. At one, called Top of the World, we stopped for some lunch and ran into Pete who was basking in the sun sipping a Diet Coke. Another great conversation.  

Then back on the road east to the pass at the summit. More twisties and switchbacks, gorgeous canyons, and snow packs all around. Mind you, this is June 26th. In some places the snow piled along the side of the road was still over 6 feet high. Ice still filled several lakes and ponds at altitude. There was snow removal equipment parked and ready in a number of turnouts. And there’s the possibility of snow in the forecast for the next couple of days. And July is only a couple of days away. We are really fortunate that the weather today was perfect, so the ride was a dream. Oh, there’s a summer ski resort at the pass complete with running chairlift and snow mobiles parked and ready. Amazing.

We had a great ride down into Red Lodge and checked into the Yodeller Motel which is filled with bikers a lot like us. We did some shopping for our dinner and breakfast and have settled in for the night. This is a great little motel. Tomorrow it’s off to Buffalo, WY and what promises to be another good riding day.

Beautiful Wyoming 

One of the mountains in the Bear Tooth Chain

On the Bear Tooth Scenic Byway – in the snow.