Chief Joseph Highway & Bear Tooth Pass

Our journey today was planned to take us from Sheridan, Wyoming to Red Lodge, Montana via the Chief Joseph Highway and Bear Tooth Pass. Both of these are scenic highways that go through some fantastic National Forrest. The temperature was in the upper 60s when we started out at 8:30AM. We had 264 miles to travel today over mountains that were over 10,000 feet in some locations.

First we entered the Bighorn Mountains on Route 14. The ride today proceeded at a moderate pace so that we could observe the scenery and ride safe. As we rounded each curve we were presented with mountain rock formations that seemed different at each turn. It required concentration while riding since there were no guard rails in some locations. I saw a sign which said private ranch property next eight miles! (I don’t remember the name of the ranch but that’s some ranch spread.)

We stopped for lunch in Cody, Wyoming at Granny’s Restaurant. Again, our random selection process produced excellent results. After lunch we than began our trek toward Chief Joseph Highway and Bear Tooth Pass. Taking 120 and 296 out of Cody was an accent into a 9,000 foot mountain range. We could see and smell the smoke from the forest fires burning in western Wyoming. The smoke shielded some of the beauty of these majestic mountains and the photo gallery doesn’t show how awesome the sights were.

We continued on to Bear Tooth Pass. Once we rode above the tree line on the mountains we could see snow and ice below. Remember, its just August. We were still at the top of the mountain when we crossed over into Montana. I could not believe it when I saw there was a sign which had a posted speed limit of 70 at 8,000 feet! It must have been a joke. We did see 20 MPH postings for curves which was more to my liking.

We arrived in Red Lodge, MN at 5:30PM. Now we are getting ready for Yellowstone tomorrow.