Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains plus Bison and a Bear

July 07, 2017

Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains plus Bison and a Bear

Friday July 7, 2017 Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains plus Bison and Bear

Oh My Gosh!!!!! What beautiful scenery we saw today.

We started our trip by going up the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. It goes over Dead Indian Pass with views of the Absaroka Mountain Range. We also walked the bridge over the Clark’s Fork River. The bridge was over a narrow gorge that the river passed through.

At the end of the highway we turned around to view a beautiful waterfall coming out of the mountains. To get to it we had to park at a campground. The sign when we pulled in was foreboding and so was the carcass we passed to get to the falls. We did not dilly-dally and kept looking over our shoulders for bear.

The Byway ended at the Beartooth Highway. We turned on it and the road started climbing. We were soon on a high mountain plateau with turn after turn revealing beautiful views of the Beartooth Mountain Range. The Top of the World Store was indeed at the Top of the World. They have cabins that can we rented, sell fishing licenses and have tons of souvenirs about being at the Top of the World.

Top of the World Store

We stopped for lunch and were treated to some entertainment. A young couple hopped out of the vehicle next to us in bathing suits. They sprinted down to the icy lake, remember this water comes right off the snow melt and they hopped in and splashed around while their parents did a photo shoot. How Bizarre!

The road continued to climb and we were soon in snowfields everywhere. They lash tall sticks to the road stacks to mark where the road was at to make plowing it easier. The plowing equipment was still parked alongside the road. The snow along the side of the road was still 6-10’ deep.

Snow 10' deep

We finally arrived at Beartooth Pass, elevation 10,947 feet, a breathtaking (we mean that literally because it was hard to breath) view of the surrounding mountains and alpine lakes. We really were at the Top of the World. We will let the pictures speak for themselves.

Bo and Nan enjoying the snow

Top of the World

We turned around here and headed back down the way we came, continuing west towards Yellowstone NP. We passed through Cooke City known for a gold strike years ago. In Silver Gate there was a bison grazing right next to the road.

Once in Yellowstone we drove through the Lamar Valley and saw hundreds of Bison.

Driving along the park roads we came upon a huge traffic jam. We knew something big was near because people were standing on top of their vehicles. We were lucky enough to find a parking spot and walked down and asked what they were looking at. Sure enough it was a bear, not a grizzly, but a black bear. I could barely (no pun intended) see it above a rise, but did get a couple of pictures. I got a little nervous when they said it was coming towards the road so I headed back to the vehicle.

We continued to travel through the park and entered Hayden Valley, the home to more Bison. We estimated that we saw close to a thousand Bison in the two valleys.

Our last stop in the park was to view the Mud Volcanos. Depending on the precipitation sometimes they are thick and sometimes they are watery. We viewed the Dragon’s Tongue which made an eerie sound and several other large muddy pools of hot water. There was plenty of evidence of Bison in this thermal area.