Red Lodge, Beartooth Pass, Chief Joseph byway

This was to be a short day (330 miles), so I didn't rush out of the Quality Inn in the morning. I stopped 20 miles down the road in Laurel to see a statue of Chief Joseph, which turned out to be somewhat underwhelming. Laurel has a modest old downtown section that is nice enough, and a lot of small bungalows and trailers. There's a large oil refinery in town, which does little to add to its charms.

Chief Joseph statue in Laurel, Wyoming

After picking up US 212 in Laurel I followed it to Red Lodge, where  the first  thing I saw after I gassed up was a large statue of Chief Plenty Coups, who was a Crow leader at the time of Little Big Horn, and who lived on a nearby reservation until he died in 1931 - he was the last of the great Indian chiefs.

Chief Plenty Coups

When an Indian defeated or killed another warrior, he would coup him - touch him with a stick to signify that the enemy had been defeated. After the battle the warriors would sing and brag about their coups.

When I rode through Red Lodge last year Highway 212 east of town was under construction. That is now finished, and all the construction accomplished - two very nice roundabouts. Now there is more construction just east of the downtown area. On this day there was a cruise in and downtown streets were full of hot rods, custom cars, and vintage cars.

Cruise-In downtown Red Lodge, Wyoming

West of town the traffic thinned and the scenery became more interesting as the road began its climb into the mountains. When the actual twisty and steep climb began, so did the traffic. On this beautiful Saturday in the middle of  tourist season with BMW rally goers riding the Beartooth, Harley riders heading to Sturgis, and vacationers going to Yellowstone, I really couldn't expect anything else. I just took it easy, passed when I could, and enjoyed the day and the ride. It had been 80 degrees in Red Lodge, but the temperature soon dropped to 60 as the elevation increased.

View of the mountains heading up Beartooth Pass from the east

Soon enough I was at the top and stopped to take a picture. A nice lady on a Gold Wing offered  to take my picture in front of the Beartooth Pass sign - 10,947 feet. If anything the scenery is even more spectacular going down the west side of the pass - for one thing you can see the sharply pointed mountain that gives the pass its name.

A lake and the road below on the west side of Beartooth Pass

I stopped several times to take pictures and at one parking area saw a very nice BMW R60/2.

Beartooth mountain  with an old /2 in the foreground

When I first started reading motorcycle magazines there would be the occasional story about riding over Beartooth Pass. Back then the articles made it seem an accomplishment like riding the Haul Road to Deadhorse is today. 40 years ago the road may not have been paved, and even today I suppose it might be a challenge if the weather was bad - and it can get very windy I understand. However, today was mild, the pavement is in good shape, and motorhomes pulling trailers were climbing the pass - along with bicyclists, motorcycles, RVs, and even cars.

Soon enough the curves became less sharp, the descent less steep, and I turned left at State Road 296 - the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. Many people must have continued on US 212 to Cooke City and Yellowstone, because the number of vehicles dropped considerably. The Chief Joseph road is fairly new and in very good shape. There are plenty of curves and beautiful scenery and after about 30 miles I was at Dead Indian Summit at 8000 feet. In the parking area three signs tell the story of how Chief Joseph and his band of Nez Perce Indians eluded the 7th Cavalry in their attempt to reach sanctuary in Canada. The summit is named for a wounded warrior that that the Nez Perce left behind, who was discovered by Army scouts and killed. This concludes the story that began with the Battle of Little Big Horn: The US forced the Indians into reservations, thereby ending their nomadic way of life that had existed for thousands of years. In 1877 the flight of the Nez Perce was a big story in the press of the Eastern US, and widespread sympathy was aroused for the band of starving and exhausted Indians, who had trekked for 1300 miles while being chased by the 7th Cavalry.

Looking down at the road below from Dead Indian Summit

Lots of  bikes in the parking area at Dead Indian Summit

The scenery changed as I continued on 296, but it was still engaging and the road was still fun.

View of the valley on the southeast side of  Dead Indian Summit

Road 296 ends at State Road 120, which I followed to Cody, where I stopped for lunch and coffee. Cody has several blocks of old downtown area, but, like Red Lodge,  it is really a tourist town, although it isn't completely phony - there's enough of the old town to give it some charm.

An art bull in downtown Cody

Irma's Hotel and Restaurant in downtown Cody

At Peter's Cafe (how could I resist?) I had a buffalo burger and good  coffee, so I was glad that I'd stopped in town despite my usual aversion to tourist areas - perhaps I've finally accepted that I am after all a tourist.

Peter's Cafe - good  coffee, ice-cream, and mostly locals

Continuing on 120 east of Cody the land flattens out into sparsely settled range land  at about 4000 feet. In Thermopolis I stopped for gas and rode around the small downtown area before turning south on State Road 789/US 20 through Wind  River Canyon, which provided some nice curves and interesting scenery and even three tunnels.

I had a bit of difficulty getting to The Tomahawk Motor Lodge in Riverton, WY, where I'm spending the night, as Main Street was closed for the annual Fremont County Fair parade. After living it up at the Quality Inn in Billings, the Tomahawk is more my style and price - $65. The parade was what you might  expect - mounted officers on horses constituted the honor guard (one of the horses dumped a large load during the singing of the Star Spangled Banner in front of the reviewing stand), and then floats representing various civic organizations, the volunteer fire department, a few old tractors, and the ever-popular young ladies on horses marched, rode, or drove down Main Street.

The parade begins with the honor guard

Honor  guard in front  of  the reviewing stand

Four girls were identically dressed in jeans, mucking boots, headbands, and shirts that said "Swine Divas"

The Shriners don't miss many parades

Girls on horses

A 1925 Fordson tractor

After careful consideration I finally decided that trying to go west from  here into Idaho and Oregon would just be too frustrating and time-consuming, so I'll go south into Utah and ride on familiar roads into Nevada and California.
I