As I left off in Part 1 of this series we were traveling through the Lamar Valley and now entering into the Northeast corner of YNP. The scenic beauty of this part of the Park has it's own personality. It's really fun to venture out into different parts because there is just so much to see.
 |
| Lamar River looking South West |
 |
Lamar River looking North East
|
After getting tired of these ugly views we drove out for the NE Park entrance and entered into the Beartooth Scenic Byway (Gallatin National Forest) (aka Beartooth All-American Road)
and Silver Gate, Montana, population of 170. As the name implies this was a booming silver mining town once upon a time. Some of the old mining town buildings are still standing, some restored, some in shambles, others, like pictured below, look like they came off an old Hollywood movie lot.
It was still a nice place to visit and wander around the gift shops.
We were not in Montana very long, but we will visit this state once again by mistake. I will cover that later.
Our next side tour was to drive up a winding rock road to the Clay Butte Fire Tower. Unfortunately about 3/4 of the way up the Shoshone National Forest Rangers had the road closed off for reasons unknown to us. However, the view from where we turned around was spectacular and I could not resist the following photos of the wild flowers with Beartooth mountains (also looking into Montana) in the background; Cindy posing in a field of more wild flowers; and finally a shot of the Clay Butte Fire Tower that we never got too. :(
 |
| Wild Flowers captured by Cindy on a side trail that she wondered off on. She did that a lot on this trip! :) |
 |
| Cindy among the wild flowers in the Clay Butte area of Wyoming. Very stylish in her cool breeze glasses! |
 |
| Clay Butte Fire Tower. The road was closed off to the public. |
Just past the junction for the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway (we will return to this road) we came upon a very nice waterfall called Lake Creek Falls. The sunlight was perfect for a couple shots including one that I really like of Cindy.
 |
| Lake Creek looking south from the falls |
 |
| Lake Creek Falls, Wyoming along the Beartooth Highway |
 |
Cindy at Lake Creek Falls, Wyoming
As the Beartooth highway continues we find more and more side roads to pull off on. Now you can see why they call this a scenic byway. The next picture was taken from the Beartooth Lake Campground of the named lake and Beartooth Butte.
Now the road winds its way up towards Beartooth Pass.
This where a few interesting things start happening. A cold front from the Northwest is moving in along with a rain shower, which started at around the 10,000 feet level, which then turned to pea size hail at the top of the mountain. The top of the mountain is a 10,947 feet. This is the highest point we got too during the entire Wyoming adventure. It was really starting to get dicey (yet very cool) up here with the wind and clouds rolling over the top. One would think that the state of Wyoming would place a nice sign at the top to let visitors know that they had in fact made it to the top of Beartooth Pass. Since this was toted as the pinnacle of the scenic drive. But NOOOOOOO sign to be found. We kept driving and low and behold we find these signs.
This is typical of our adventures. If we don't have to make one or more U-turns it would not be worth writing about!
|
So back into Wyoming we go and back into the hail that we left behind at the "real" top of the mountain. The views in between rain showers was nice. Cindy braved most of the following shots. I admit I stayed in the warm car!
 |
| A captured shot of my GPS at the top of Beartooth Pass. Please note that the total trip was approximately 250 miles so we still have close to 78 miles to go. We are also 8 plus hours into the trip since leaving the Trail Shop Inn. |
Here is Cindy up on Beartooth Pass at over 10,900 feet. Notice the wind blow hair and fleece. It was cold and wet.
 |
| No that is not a smudge on the camera lens, that is hail! But still a nice photo to include wild flowers in the foreground. |
 |
| Wild Flowers at 10,900 feet on Beartooth Pass, Wyoming |
 |
| Yes that is Chris sitting in the warm car with fleece on and asking Cindy to take a picture of the pea size hail. WHAT A GUY! |
We are finally back off the mountain and returned to the Chief Joseph Scenic Highway. I will leave that to Part 3 of this journey. We hope you like it so far!
