Today we drove the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway up into the Absaroka Mountains to the intersection with the Beartooth Scenic Highway. The weather was perfect, but there was a fair amount of haze from smoke drifting down from fires in Canada. The Chief Joseph Highway follows the path of the Nez Peirce as they ran from the US Army. The road goes up through Dead Indian Pass before dropping into the Shoshone National Forest. The views of the mountains from the top of Dead Indian Pass are amazing. When we intersected Beartooth Highway, we headed west to Cooke City, just outside the Northeast entrance to Yellowstone NP for lunch. Then we headed east through the Beartooth Mountains to Red Lodge. Absolutely gorgeous!! The top of Beartooth Pass is 10970 feet, well above the tree line. The drive reminded us of the Going To The Sun Road in Glacier NP. Simply beautiful! We even stumbled along a large herd of mountain goats not too far off the road. Near the top of the pass, we pulled off and just sat there soaking up the incredible views of mountains, alpine lakes, glaciers, and rugged mountain peaks as far as we could see.
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| Absaroka Mountains from Dead Indian Pass |
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| Absaroka Mountains |
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| Looking for a snack at Dead Indian Pass |
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| Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River canyon Looking East |
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| Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River canyon Looking West |
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| Lunch in Cooke City |
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| The greeter |
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| Snow blower on the roof!! |
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| Water Fall along Beartooth Highway |
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| Absaroka Mountains from Beartooth Highway |
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| Beartooth Lake |
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| View North from Beartooth Pass |
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| Mountain Goats in Beartooth Pass |
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| Mountain Goats in Beartooth Pass |
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| This is actually a ski resort that is open most summers but closed in the winter |
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| Marmot |
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