Beartooth Pass

Jessica, on top of the world.

Beartooth pass is crossed by US highway 212 as it goes from Red Lodge, MT to one of the Yellowstone entrances. This part of the road is high in the rockies, and part of Custer national forest, I think. It zigzags back and forth across the WY/MT border a bit. The pass tops out at almost 11,000 feet- I think it's the highest public road in the US. This area first caught my attention in a snowboard video a few years ago, and I really wanted to drive across it and snowboard on the roadside slopes as part of my trip. Well, I got really lucky with the weather, the road was open and the sun was out! It was amazing. I parked near the top of the pass, where the snow was still deep, and hiked and rode down a smaller roadside slope. It was going well, and there were lots of people driving through also, so I hitched rides up around a couple of switchbacks, snowboarded down to where I started, and hitched another ride up and did it again.

Victory.

The lower-elevation switchbacks of US 212, as seen from a hike I took across the valley the next day.

Custer national forest, where I then camped. I found a great site next to a stream in a nice forest and stayed there for two nights after driving across beartooth. I took a few shorter hikes, read a lot, and relaxed.