Over the Beartooth Pass

We left Sturgis, headed for the Bear Tooth Pass. The road leads northwest through the town of Spearfish and Belle Fourche, which I am told is pronounced "Bell Foush." It seems that Midwesterners don't go for no high falutin' foreign pronunciation. The Capitol City of South Dakota is Pierre, pronounced "Pier."

This is Indian Country and goes through the Southern Cheyenne and Crow Indian Reservations. Off to the southwest there was a huge storm raging.

We saw constant bolts of lightning and the sky was black, but we had good luck. Every time we were about to enter the storm, the road turned and we avoided rain for the most part until we reached Red Lodge, Montana.

After a good nights sleep, we had coffee and visited Bone Daddy Custom Cycles. I don't know about any custom cycles, but they have a cool logo. Marie bought a t-shirt.

The Beartooth Pass is often called the most beautiful drive in America. The highway goes through the Beartooth and Absaroka mountains. While I love Hwy 395 along the Eastern High Sierra Mountains, there is no arguing that this highway is beautiful. The Beartooth is truly magnificent, the views are amazing, the valley is huge and the clouds, which were threatening rain, added drama.

At the overlook there was a dog that seemed fascinated by the view. He put his front feet on the wall and just seemed to take in the view. Even his owner was surprised how captivated he was by the view.

After we left the overlook for the pass, it started to rain then sleet. The sleet started to build up on the road but stayed slushy. It was cold and I was glad when we got to Cooke City where we had lunch and watched he rain come down from a cozy log cabin restaurant. I had blown a fuse by trying to plug an inverter to my cigarette lighter plug and the instruments weren't working. I replaced the fuse and all was good.

It rained all the way through Yellowstone National Park and all the way to Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where we spent the night.