Letter 25 Beartooth Pass to the Tetons

Letter 25: BEARTOOTH PASS & TETONS

Monday, August 25, we packed up and moved to Pebble Creek Campground in Yellowstone Park. This is on the north east side of the park and not very busy. However it filled up by dark. It is a first come first serve campground and we love it.

This campground is so rustic the water access is an old fashioned hand pump. But it is in the location we need and only $6 a night. There was a herd of buffalo across the main road when we entered this campground. The host is from Pennsylvania and he has been coming here 10 summers.
Most people coming to this campground are more interested in nature. There are many here to fish in the Lamar River. After our supper we saw the family next to us looking into the meadow. Olivia asked what they were seeing and it was a deer. In talking with the mother, she told Olivia they were from New Zealand and living in Seattle now. They have six children and wanting more. The oldest was about 13 years old. They home school their children and were watching for wildlife. Maybe this is a field trip! One of the boys wanted to see bear. Years ago bear were always around looking for free food. They were a real danger to visitors. Park bear policies prohibit feeding. It is rigidly enforced. Today bears are the most coveted wildlife to spot and the rarest to see. After the family ate they took off to watch for wildlife.

While they were gone a coyote wandered through the campground and up the loop road. Others came out to watch and we struck up a conversation with them.
A young man and his step father across the small loop from us both grew up in Missoula MT. The young man now lives in NYC where he works as an independent journalist. He comes back each summer to fish and back pack in the park. Before they went fishing in Soda Butte creek, he invited us to share a campfire later in the evening and to go ahead and start it before he returned. We started it about 8:00 and a retired couple joined us after they returned from wild-life watching. They saw a wolf eating on an elk carcass. This couple is from Lander, WY and come to the park each summer for the wildlife. They like to hike, fish and hunt. They had lots of stories to tell about all. This is their favorite campground.

The last couple around the campfire were from Genoa, IT. This young couple had four weeks vacation and is here for three weeks. They also rode bikes out to see the wildlife. While we were visiting at the campfire two deer walked between us and our trailer, about forty feet away.
We visited until about 10:30. Fred enjoyed hearing the fishing stories and conversations between the back packers and the older man. Fred thought it was a good example of what we are experiencing – a casual conversation with people from around the world - two from Genoa, two from Wyoming, two from Waxahachie, Texas, one from Montana and one from NYC.

Back to the New Zealand couple, she told us they are working on becoming citizens, so they can vote. In New Zealand they did not bother to vote, because there was only one candidate, so why bother. Also the Prime Minister of New Zealand wasn’t very important to the world, but the President of the United States has lots of power and worth their vote.

Tuesday, August 26, started out with
A bison visiting our camp spot. He came within 15 feet of the trailer, just moseyed across to the campground. He was probably from the herd across the road.
When Fred went out he was surprised to see it back.

We left to drive a 200 mile circle drive covering Beartooth Pass, Red Lodge, Belfry and finally along the Chief Joseph Scenic Drive. Charles Kuralt calls the Beartooth Pass drive “the most beautiful roadway in America.” Others call it the “Highway to the Sky”
We have to tell a background story:
When John & Patti Clemmer and their three children came to Yellowstone about 1980 they stayed outside the park close to where we are camped. They drove over Beartooth Pass. John did not like edges or heights and when he saw what was happening he found a flyswatter and told the kids not to make a peep! We have heard Patti tell that many times. In our circle, Beartooth became “Flyswatter Pass”. Olivia just had to see Beartooth Pass.
We stopped on the way and looked over our shoulders at Pilot and Index Peaks, elevation 11,699’. Then started up the pass.

We drove about 8 miles above timberline.
The views were breathtaking.
At the summit we could see the bear tooth in the distance with a rain shower. This was the only place the bear tooth was visible. Named “Na Piet Say,” meaning “the bear’s tooth, by the Crow Indians, this narrow, pyramidal spire was carved by glaciation and is the namesake of the Beartooth Mountains.
We also noticed what looked like the top of a ski lift, but no where to get off! We also didn’t see any roads or buildings at the bottom. Later we found out it was for the Red Lodge International Summer ski and snowboard camp. The Twin Lakes headwall, which varies in pitch from 15 to 50 degrees, is the oldest summer training grounds for talented young skiers.

The road down the pass was longer and more on the edge. Fred held up beautifully and we really wondered if John hadn’t really been a wimp?
We did see signs telling to “Watch for Rocks”, but to “Be Advised and Stay on the Road”. We didn’t have a choice, it was either up or down if you didn’t stay on the road.
There were seven miles of switchbacks offering stunning views of the peaks and glaciers of the Beartooths, the sweeping tundra of Hellroaring and Silver Run plateaus and in the canyon below, the tumbling waters of upper Rock Creek.

If you would like to know more about the Beartooth Highway visit http://www.byways.org/

It was outstanding and we recommend it if you are in the area. We do not recommend taking the trailer, however we did meet several and the roads were good, with no steep grades or sharp curves. The elevation at the summit was 10,947.

The Chief Joseph scenic drive was also very pretty. It is on the southern side of Sawtooth Mountain, while Beartooth was on the north. It follows the Nez Perce route and was named for the last chief of the Nez Perce Indians. The Chief Joseph Highway intersects with the Beartooth Highway near Lake Creek Falls. There were interpretive signs telling the tragic tale of the legendary flight of Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce, this Scenic Byway also contains important archeological sites, evidence of the occupancy of the region by prehistoric Native Americans. The byway offers a remarkable diversity of views, from the rolling ranchland of the Clarks Fork valley
to the dramatic red rock mesas and deep gorges near Dead Indian Pass.


On the NW side we counted seven layers of road with switchbacks, but it wasn’t as steep or edgy as Beartooth. It followed the Clark Fork of the Yellowstone with a long gorge. The road did not go into the gorge.

Along this drive as in most of the places we have been on this trip we see lots of Vacancy signs in tourist areas. Today it was on ranches and cabins. Two we saw were the “2 Dot Ranch” and the “KbarZ ranch.” Most of the campgrounds we passed were forest campgrounds and they also had vacancies. So don’t let not having reservations be a cause to stay at home. Just stop early enough to get a spot or room, then rest and enjoy the area.

After supper we drove out to the main highway to see wildlife. Going away from the campground we had to wait and weave our way through the buffalo herd that lives in this valley. We drove about 8 miles down the valley and did not see any other wildlife. When we arrived back at the campground the buffalo had moved to the meadow in our campground. Again we had to go through the herd on the road. Everyone was out watching and the new campground host was a little rattled. Soon some rangers showed up and watched them too. After about 30 minutes and dark they whistled, and the buffalo moved back to the valley. How easy. Fred thinks the Indians didn’t need to herd buffalo off a cliff. All they needed to do was walk up to them and hit them in the head. They are so seemingly tame, but if they panicked they could tear up the whole campground.

Wednesday August 27
A few of the buffalo were back in the meadow, minding their own business and campers did too.
We headed out for the Teton’s via the east side of Yellowstone. We were surprised at the drive with a pass.

We stopped to see the brink of the Yellowstone Upper falls. It was really powerful!

More buffalo along the road north of Fishing Bridge!
Just after entering the Grand Teton National Park, we hit a tree on the highway. It had just fallen across about 9’ above the road. We were going about 30-35 mph. Thank goodness! The suburban missed it, but the trailer hit it. It got the 2 running light covers (but the light bulbs are still there) and a big scar on the upper right corner of the fiberglass. Then it must have bounced and landed on the right rear luggage rack. No damage there. Sure scared us. We are ok, and are very fortunate it didn’t do any more damage. Stroope’s we thought of you and your damage. If the worst is, we have to replace that part of fiberglass it will mean replacing the whole front of trailer. UGH!
.3 of a mile south was the first chance to stop, no shoulder, at a campground in the north part of the Teton National park. We told the camp host and he reluctantly call the rangers. Before we could assess damages a ranger showed up. He said someone was already clearing the road.
After a long conversation he asked where we were going and we told him Colter Bay Campground. He said he would meet us at the ranger station to have the correct form to be filled out. We missed the ranger station and proceeded to the campground. While we were dumping he found us and we spent maybe an hour filling out papers. He said if we filed a complaint with the government they would probably pay for damages. ?????
We don’t think there were any structural damage and probably not a leak, but we will see. Hopefully we can wait until we get home to have it repaired.
Fred said it was like missing a limbo bar!

(The next day we tried to find the tree, however the highway people were trimming the trees. We think this was our tree after we hit it and the highway people trimmed it.)

We found our campsite and managed to get situated. A couple from Idaho Falls, ID came in just as we were finished hooking up and we instantly made friends. We were exhausted, so we had supper and went to bed!



For comments please contact:
Olivia@bobheck.com or fredharrington@yahoo.com