July 13th

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Crazy Creek Campground - Joliet

July 13th
odometer start: 3328.9
now ?

I managed to climb Colter Pass without any trouble so continued to the bottom of the hill and camped at the Crazy Creek campground. A person about my age invited me over to his parent's camp for dinner and invited me back for a big breakfast this morning. They come from Billings, making Montana the friendliest state I've been to!

Of the 3 or 4 I've passed, this Crazy Creek best deserves its name. By the campground it is more a cascade than a creek. Even though the "spring" melt peaked a week ago there is still enough water to cover the boulders and raise enough spray to make a rainbow.

Since our hike along it was after breakfast, I got off to a fairly late start around 1000 - 1100. The ride up to Beartooth Pass is in two parts. The first 2000 feet up got me to a "ledge" that was nearly flat for 5 - 10 miles. I stopped at a lonely house and store in the middle of nowhere for a Coke and found a book from the University of Montana describing a lot of the geology visible from highways in the northwest. Wish I had seen it earlier - probably would have bought it. The final 2000 feet are a series of switchbacks with larger snowbanks with each turn. Tiring work, but everytime I paused I was impressed with how much higher I was. When I finally got to the top and turned into the parking area someone rolled down his window and congratulated me. At least he didn't honk!

Clouds had been piling up all day but right after I borrowed a closeup lens from someone who nearly left it on the ground where he dropped it, they broke so I quickly shot pictures of all the flower species I could find. I returned it just as the clouds covered the sun again. He didn't even realize what he lost out on!

There was more snow on the east side and I thought that the snowbank the Red Lodge Racing camp uses might be nearby and soon after passing a 15 foot high wall of snow I saw a portable ski left on what looked more like a cliff than a ski hill. No one was there, but the waitress at Cooke City said they only ski in the morning to save the snow. She also said the camp was based in Cooke City now since the hills are easier for their bus.

Once past the pass the road heads downward. There are only 5 or 6 switchbacks but each leg is a mile or so long. The grade is only 6% according to a sign and is about what I expected since that's the maximum semis can handle. The pass is about 11,000 feet and Red Lodge is only 5 or 6,000. That means 24 miles, all downhill. If it was a little steeper it would have been even more fun.

There isn't much to say about Red Lodge so I think I'll just move on and mail this if I see a mailbox.

One of the things the people at last night's campground said I fully agree with now. They think Yellowstone should also encompass the entire area I rode through today. The only real problem is what would happen to Silver Gate and Cooke City since they could not exist within the park.

Photo notes

1, 2: Crazy Creek, the first has a 1/15th second exposure to capture the flow a bit.

3- 5, 12: Pilot and Index Mountains
This pair of peaks was a landmark for early settlers working their way west. It was interesting to look back at them, I imagine they were both a good metric and a concern to travelers back in those days.

6: This looks back on the first half of the day's climb. This day, more than any other, really drove home how well "The Big Sky State" serves as Montana's nickname. Caveat - this was in Wyoming, five miles south of the Montana line. Montana isn't in this view, but it is in part of the previous photo (Pilot and Index are in Wyoming).

7: Beartooth Lake and Butte
This Streetview link is just a few feet from where I took this photo.

8: West summit of Beartooth Pass
Ditto, but someone's panoramic view.

9 - 11: Alpine flowers. I haven't tried to identify them, but the pass is essentially tundra. The plants lay low to avoid the wind and not waste time growing stems. A lot like crocuses. This is some 2,000 feet higher that Dunraven Pass in Yellowstone, so it appears I didn't miss much not stopping there the evening I couldn't camp in Canyon.

13: Summer ski racing area
I didn't mention this in the letters home, I think I wanted to let my brother be surprised. A few years befre this trip Doug went to a summer ski camp based in Red Lodge with skiing limited to the morning to preserve the snow. It occurred to me that this must be the area the skiied at so on the descent from the pass I was looking out for a good match and found it here. Since then, it appears to have gone commercial, but recent poor winters have forced the owners into selling. I expect this page won't last ling, but see the story here.