I got up early to figure out where to go today (weather, roads, etc) then caught up on e-mails, did some tech support stuff (not much, no vpn) and called in for our Tuesday Mgr Mtg to catch up there. Stopped for coffee and ran into a guy from Alberta coming back from Florida on a Gold Wing. Nice guy, 65 years old and he puts some serious days in, like over 1000 mile days. Wow, puts me to shame. Inspired, I decided to book it south to get to the west of Yellowstone Park and then cross to the east and go over Bear Tooth Pass, which we missed on the way out. Boy was it worth it. I had no idea it was this beautiful and not crowded. To go over the pass, you sign in at the gate like everyone else and then take a left turn instead of going straight into Old Faithful. Most of the traffic goes straight in and you are left with the north end of the park. When you get to the town of Tower, turn left again and head for the northeast entrance to the park.
Then keep going on Rt 212 and you go over Bear Tooth. This road is spectacular. It is something like Norway and maybe something like what I imagine Alaska would be like. And it was a clear, ok smokey, day with warm temperatures.
The smoke was with me all day and it is coming from all the fires further west. At first I thought it was really hazy this morning but when I asked the park ranger, she said it is all smoke. You can't smell the smoke, but you sure can see it. Instead of crisp shots of the mountains, you get what you would expect on a damp summer morning in the east.
When I came down off the pass, I stopped in Red Lodge to re-hydrate and figure out where to end the day. I wanted to get some more miles on so I decide to head to Billings.
What a perfect day. Again, the beemer is smoother running than ever, the temperature was 70-80 all day, until I got to Billings tonight, and the roads are in great shape with light traffic.
I added the following video clip of the Bear Tooth ride. Awesome!!
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