Heat’s Up, Headed North

Heat’s Up, Headed North

June 18-21, 2020

I love these spurs of the moment trips. The weekend before we didn’t go anywhere, well only a local trip to Kolob Reservoir near Zion National Park which is spectacular. The news came on and forecast the weather for the next weekend; 100 to 108 degrees Thursday through Sunday. Ugh. I said to the wife lets go north to the Tetons and Yellowstone next weekend, okay was her reply, what a great wife. So, I jumped online and got us some rooms. 

I posted my route online, which seemed the thing to do. Everyone was freaked out about riding the interstate through Utah. I get a four-day weekend every week; I know life is tuff. So, having ridden almost everywhere in Utah over the last nine years, blasting up the freeway to the chosen location is worth it.

The first day was St. George, Ut to Jackson, Wy, about 550 miles. Oh, the worst part, I had a dentist appointment Thursday morning before we could get away, which meant a late start of 11:00 am. We traveled with two other couples, who we do most of our touring with. The Super 8 in Jackson was okay and one of the cheapest places to stay there $89. The next day was an easy, relaxed day of sightseeing. Up to Grand Teton National Park, stopping at Moose, the park headquarters. I have decided to try the Iron Butt Association’s National Park Tour, which gives you a year to accomplish. It’s a long tour having to visit twenty-five states minimum and obtain 50 passport stamps. It’s not just national parks, but anywhere they have the passport stamps and there is a website that has all of the places listed. Check it out here.

The ride through the Tetons is spectacular, to say the least. The speed limit is 45 mph which makes sightseeing easy. There is a one-way loop by Jenny Lake that is a fun little road, which could be a floorboard scrapper if the speed limit was more than the 25-mph posted limit. The visitor centers were open but, limited, most of the displays were closed off. The Jenny Lake Lodge and the Jackson Lake Lodge were closed. We stopped at Colter Bay which was mostly open. Back in my late teens and early twenties I was a rock climber and ascended the Grand Teton about 10 times along with other routes within the park, and my wife and her sisters all worked in the park during the same time frame.

Next up on the agenda was Yellowstone National Park.  We stopped for lunch at Old Faithful and found that it was a little more closed down compared to Grand Teton. Most of the vendor outlets were operating, such as food locations and souvenir shops. I went to the Visitor Center to get a passport stamp and it was closed. A ranger was talking to some other people when I walked up. One of them was asking why the visitor center wasn’t open as were Teton’s visitor centers were? The ranger stated, “We have not determined it is safe yet.” This seemed a little funny given all of the other buildings were open. Anyway, he was nice and went inside and returned with a passport stamp for me, thanks, Mr. Ranger. 

There were limited wildlife sightings, which surprised me, given the early season. It was a nice ride through the park and we made it to West Yellowstone by midafternoon. I had booked a cabin at a small mom-and-pop place called Whispering Pines. It’s a nice place, clean and comfortable, reasonably priced at $80 a night, and the two-bed cabin is $100. Since the wife and I are on speaking terms, we settled for the single bed option.

Being Saturday, there was more traffic in the park, it was not bad though. We headed straight through the park and out the east entrance to Cody, Wy. In Cody, we had lunch and then headed north on Highway 120. The pavement was better than the last two times over this road. The time before last, there were so many tar snakes you could hardly ride it. Then, last time, they had just chipped it, the chips were not better than the tar snakes. Highway 120 is called the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, from the linked website reads; “The Chief Joseph Scenic Byway is named after the Native American chief of the Nez Perce Tribe. Following the Battle of the Big Hole in Idaho in 1877, Chief Joseph fled east through Yellowstone. He and 1,000 members of his tribe ran from the US Cavalry, who were trying to force the tribe onto a reservation so that white ranchers could have their lands. While crossing Yellowstone, the Nez Perce briefly captured several tourists before going north up the Clarks Fork River. The Nez Perce were trying to flee to Canada (a 1,800-mile trek) but surrendered after the six-day Battle of the Bear Paw in northeastern Montana. The tribe was stopped only 30 miles from their destination, the Canadian border.”

So, Highway 120 connects to Highway 212, the Beartooth Highway.  From this link the website says; “Heralded as one of the most scenic drives in the United States, the Beartooth Highway, a National Scenic Byways All-American Road, features breathtaking views of the Absaroka and Beartooth Mountains, and open high alpine plateaus dotted with countless glacial lakes, forested valleys, waterfalls and wildlife.

The Beartooth All-American Road passes through what is known today as the Beartooth Corridor. Surrounded by the Custer, Gallatin, and Shoshone National Forests, traveling parallel to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness, and abutting Yellowstone National Park, the Highway sits in a million-plus acre wilderness. Visitors have the rare opportunity to experience and explore pristine, untouched alpine and montane landscapes, lush forests, and alpine tundra in the space of a few miles. It is one of the highest and most rugged areas in the lower 48 states, with 20 peaks reaching over 12,000 feet in elevation. In the surrounding mountains, glaciers are found on the north flank of nearly every mountain peak over 11,500 feet high. The Road itself is the highest elevation highway in Wyoming (10,947 feet) and Montana (10,350 feet) and is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies.”

We stopped in Redlodge, Mt., for fuel and rest. A large black cloud had been following us and giving some light rain, so, the stop and let the storm pass by us. By the way, the Harley-Davidson store in Redlodge closed in February. So, we stopped at Bone Daddy’s and picked up a tee shirt. After, getting fuel, we headed back up over Beartooth Pass and into Cooke City, Mt for some dinner. Cooke City is a fun little town that tries hard to stay open all year round, which is a challenge. The Beartooth Pass was cold and rainy, 40 degrees, and enough rain to slow you way down in the curves. The Pass never seems to be warm no matter what time of year you cross it.

From Cooke City, the northeast entrance into Yellowstone is only a couple of miles down the road. Every time I have come through this entrance, I have faced a buffalo running down the road toward me, this time he must have been tired. We came around a curve at his normal location and he was standing right next to the pavement. No time to really react; me or him! Those things are huge! I love the meme on Facebook, “No Petting the Fluffy Cows.”

Today was a longer day than planned. It was 10:30 pm when we got back to the cabin, having ridden over 500 miles with an average of around 45 mph most of the ride. We did get to see a lot of animals today, buffalos (hundreds), mountain goats (20+), a bighorn ram, deer, and elk (20+).

Sunday, the last day, was just a straight ride home. Highway 20 to Idaho Falls where it turns into I-15. Rain most of the morning, then clear the rest of the way home. Just after Cedar City, Ut you drop in elevation and the temperature increased. The last hour home was 100 degrees, quite a change over the last four days. That’s life in southern Utah. You can always, head north when the temps go up!

Video of the ride, enjoy.