Wyoming - Beartooth Pass

Because I had to drop the Harley off at 9:00am for it's 16,000km service at the Billings dealership we would have a shorter run today. It was around lunchtime before we were 'on the road again'.

Maurie & Evan had decided the night before to put a big day in, and they left at 7:00am to ride through Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks to Jackson and then cross over into Idaho to spend the night at Idaho Falls. They will end up with a total of around 700kms for the day. Hopefully we will catch up with them again further down track on our way back to Long Beach.

After the bike was serviced, Tracee and I headed south-west down Highway 212 and stopped for some lunch at the picturesque town of Red Lodge. We then continued on and started the long climb up Beartooth Pass. This is one of the premier rides in the USA and the views were stunning. The road winds up some tight corners to an elevation of 11,000ft to the snowline. It was a hot day when we left Billings, so we both enjoyed the chill in the air as we ascended the Pass. We stopped at a lookout at about 9000ft to take some photos and were surrounded by Chipmunks wanting food - they were very tame and would come right up to you. At the summit of the Pass we crossed the state line back into Wyoming.

One sobering sight was a sign warning drivers (& riders) that this was 'Grizzly country'. At the Harley dealership yesterday we had learnt that recently some foolhardy campers had decided to camp in the Beartooth Pass area. Two were killed and another had an arm chewed off by a Grizzly. I decided that if I saw one in the distance, we would take a photo using the zoom function on the camera while staying on the bike with the engine running!

While traveling through the Pass we were stopped at a road works and met a great couple from Idaho Falls on a Harley who were heading home after Sturgis. As we were both staying in Cody that night we decided to meet up later for dinner.

We branched off 212 on to Highway 296 and then 120 and arrived in the town of Cody at around 5:00pm after about 300kms for the day. Because I knew we would be later getting off the road, I had booked accommodation in advance last night.

Cody was founded by lengendary Wild West icon 'Buffalo Bill Cody' in 1896. The town has maintained it's frontier look and has a museum with artifacts and historic buildings dating back to that era - including the log cabin that Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid used as a hideout.

We met up with our new friends Ron & Michelle at the local Pizza Hut for the 'all you can eat' buffet. They were both a great help in recommending what roads to take and sights to see on our journey. Ron has a degree in geology and was very interesting to listen to as he explained that Yellowstone Park is actually the largest volcano in the world. Most magma (lava beneath the surface) is around 75 miles below the earths surface. Yellowstone has magma only 2 miles below the surface and is very active (hence the geysers and hot pools). We exchanged email addresses and agreed to keep in touch after a very pleasant evening.