Riding Day 21 - The Beartooth Highway

From Cooke City to Red Lodge, Montana, is a 66 mile ride. Not too bad, right? Wrong. The route goes over the Beartooth Highway, which Charles Kuralt called the most scenic road in America. The Highway climbs to just a few pennies shy of 11,000 feet, which makes it by far the highest elevation on our trip. It was a very tough climb, with repeated switchbacks. Before we reached the top we were flanked by snowbanks, some of which were several feet tall. The pass is above treeline, in open tundra. For much of the last several miles of the climb we were treated to absolutely stunning views of snow-capped mountains stretching all the way to distant horizons. Of course, the vistas were of the type that is impossible to capture in a photograph, but the accompanying picture is an attempt. We were all very proud to make the summit.

The ride down the north side into Red Lodge is equally spectacular, in a completely different way. It descends 5,500 feet in 30 miles, most of that in the first 15 miles, in countless switchbacks that hug the side of a deep, open canyon. It's surely the most spectacular downhill I've ever done.

Tonight we are camped in Red Lodge. The peaks of the Rockies are still visible in the distance, but we have made our transition to the Great Plains.