Fall 2018, Day 9 - Day 3/3 of The Beartooth Mountains, Beartooth Hwy, Art Museum

Sunday, Sept. 2, 2018 - Day 3/3 of The Beartooth Mountains, driving the Beartooth Highway, Buffalo Bill Center of the West - 8.9 miles hiking, then 175 miles driving:


It looks Pretty Cool in Google Earth, looking southwest up the valley from East Rosebud Lake:

And then the Drive:


All packed up and ready to go at 7:20 AM. By 7:40, once again the morning light on the peaks is Awesome:

Rimrock Lake in the morning, with the waterfall at its head:

Heading down the canyon/valley:

The Roaring Water, coupled with the Majestic Mountians, is certainly a Wonderful Combination:

It is good to rest once in a while:

I reached the bottom of Elk Lake by 9:45, which was 3.5 miles from the car!

For the 5+ miles before getting to Elk Lake, I had only said hi to a couple of people heading up. Near the Lake, and for the rest of the way down, there were families with young kids, youth groups, young couples, older guys - and almost all had their dog companions. It made for a very social experience on this Sunday morning in the Church of God's Creation.

The sun was rising and lighting up the valley:

Say "Goodbye" to the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness in the Custer National Forest:

Looking back up the valley:

And a final look across East Rosebud Lake:


Given the immense space of this area, and the sense that I really didn't see many people or tents, I was a little surprised at the number of cars in the parking areas:

(when I pulled out, another guy pulled in.)

And yes, I like Montana's license plate too:

What - Montana has "Wild Yellowstone" - meaning that Wyoming has "Tame Yellowstone"? I'm just saying ...

Back out on the lonesome road:



I drove down to Red Lodge (elevation "down", not direction "down"), grabbed some lunch, and headed south to the Beartooth Highway. I was thinking about this trip late last fall, so it was REALLY COOL that the new Warren Miller ski movie we saw in January 2018 had a segment on The Beartooth Highway: "The Beartooth Highway is a nearly 70-mile route that winds its way through Wyoming, Montana, and into Yellowstone. In Volkswagen presents Warren Miller’s Line of Descent, two adventurous spirits, Michael “Bird” Shaffer (Bird Early) and Kalen Thorien, hit the pass in search of spring skiing."





I even saw the chairlift that they use for spring skiing!

It takes all sizes to have fun out here:


Beautiful High Alpine Lakes:

I think I see the next area I want to explore, way down there:

Down into Wyoming - one of the prettiest drives I have ever been on:



A little after 4 PM I crossed a canyon/crevasse:



By 5:20 I was at the Buffalo Bill Center of the West in Cody, Wyoming (I knew they were open until 6):

I had not called ahead, but I just wanted to take my chances. The man at the desk asked me what I was interested in, and I said "Art, paintings." He said that the regular museum pieces were over there, but that the special Bierstadt exhibit was down those stairs. OH WOW OH WOW OH WOW!!

There was a "no photos" policy, but I snuck a quick one anyway:

The Exhibition was wonderful, and very full, with pieces I had seen before/elsewhere (Detroit, Colby College), pieces from their own collection, and pieces that I had never seen, and never even knew about (Tacoma Art Museum). Thank you God for this "wonderful coincidence"!

Beautiful pieces in their Regular Collection include:

Alfred Jacob Miller - "Our Camp", ca. 1846-1880:


Alfred Jacob Miller - "Trappers Saluting the Rocky Mountains", 1864


Thomas Moran - "Zoroaster Peak (Grand Canyon, Arizona)", 1918:


Thomas Moran - "Pueblo at Sunset (Laguna)", 1901:


Albert Bierstadt - "Untitled (Estes Park, Colorado, Bierstadt Lake)", ca. 1877:


And there were three beautiful Thomas Moran 1875 chromolithographs (Louis Prang, publisher):


"Mammoth Hot Springs":

"The Castle Geyser, Upper Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park":

"Yellowstone Lake":


I left there just before 6, and checked into Super 8 Powell, Wyoming at 6:38 PM:



Thank you God for these Beautiful Places, and for giving me the body that allows me to get out and explore! (and see Museums, too)

driving Music - back to basic rock 'n roll:

Bob Dylan - Highway 61 Revisited, 1965


Then I remembered The Mountain, 99.3, out of Red Lodge, Montana:

Since I was going through Red Lodge, it was perfect!

Bob Dylan - Blonde on Blonde, 1966 double album


Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks, 1975


lyrics: "Lily, Rosemary and the Jack of Hearts":

aw heck, I just LOVE the WHOLE SONG!