Beartooth

Grrrrr!!! Beartooth sounds pretty fearsome right?

We didn't know what to expect when we exited Yellowstone to the North East and took the Beartooth Scenic Drive up between the Absaroka and Beartooth ranges and then over the Beartooth Pass itself.

We had read a comment that it was America's most beautiful drive but didn't want to raise our expectations too high.

What we found was a gloriously undeveloped section of road that rises to just shy of 11,000 feet and offers up multiple small and large alpine lakes amidst very beautiful mountain peaks.

We were so enamoured with the section over the Beartooth Pass that we contemplated driving back up it from the other side but Bessie deserved a break after the long steep haul she'd already completed.

It's hard to sum up expansive mountain scenery with words alone but suffice to say this particular mountain pass had us commenting that usually you have to hike really long trails to get to such beautiful and (relatively) untouched places.

We found a campsite in a National Forest campground not far from Red Lodge and awoke to find a deer grazing beside Bessie.