Beartooth Pass in a Snow Squall

On Friday, Sept. 10, after leaving Yellowstone, we headed for Red Lodge, Montana, where we had a room reservation. When we made the reservation, the plan was to drive over the beautiful Absaroka-Beartooth mountain passes on the Beartooth Scenic Highway in Wyoming and Montana. All day long, we had seen snow squalls up in the high mountains--and the roadbed at the highest point in this pass was at nearly 11,000 feet. (The snow line tended to be about 9,000 feet.)

As we exited Yellowstone at the northeast exit, we saw a sign saying the Beartooth Scenic Highway was open. So, we decided to go for it. A dark rain cloud blanketed the northeast Yellowstone area in darkness. And the rain was falling as snow up ahead, where we were headed.

We still hadn't stopped sightseeing, though, capturing these mule deer crossing the road. (Taken through the rainy windshield.)

The roadway continued to be wet (not icy) as snow began to accumulate on the ground.

As we climbed higher in elevation, we were enveloped by the snow squall. (That's the guard rail and post in the lower part of the photo. We didn't stop to too often to take photos! For the first time in the trip, on this leg of the journey, my husband Ray took up the camera and shot this and many of the other photos taken as we crossed the Beartooth Mountains pass.)

The the road was still clear.

We captured this beautiful vista from a side window.

Here's a shot showing the switchback roads lying ahead of us. Looks like a little slush accumulating at the roadside.

And the snow, snow, snow, came down, down, down.

Near the Bear's Tooth marker turnout we saw a couple pulled over to take a photo. As you can see by the snow drifting across the road, the winds were really high. We were nearing the West Summit, where the winds seemed to be strongest. Ray snapped this photo.

I was driving, so I asked for the camera and pulled up alongside them to snap this photo. The man asked if we wanted him to move out of the way. I laughed and said, we can't see the Bear's Tooth--these two people WERE the photo I wanted.

The sun tried to break through the heavy clouds, without much success.

Ray snapped this shot of the snow blowing across the pass. I was getting a little nervous about driving through the drifting snow! But was more afraid of pulling over and getting stuck up there.

The actual pass was rather harrowing and the camera was put aside so we both could focus on the driving. (Ray was my moral support.) Then, shortly after crossing over the West Summit, we looked out and the snow was no longer falling and blowing. Look at those canyons!

Then, like night and day, not long after we crossed the pass, we reached the eastern side of the mountains, where the skies were blue, the roads dry, and you'd think it was a different day altogether. In the upper-left side of the photo, notice the little stretch of road. Then the longer stretch below. We did lots of winding our way around mountainsides.

We stopped at the Rock Creek Vista Point (elevation 9,190 feet) to switch drivers. Unlike similar elevations in Yellowstone and west of the Beartooth Mountains, there was no snow here either.

But it was very cold and blustery! Looking back to the west, we could see what we'd just been through.

From here, we drove on to Red Lodge, Montana. While I didn't take any photos, it was a neat little town, with lots of artsy types. Much bigger than I thought, too. I expected it to be a small tourist town. For dinner, we went to the Carbon County Steakhouse for a real treat--Ray had some of the best salmon he's ever had and I had a rack of ribs. Possibly the best meal we had on the trip (and we had a lot of good meals!).

Next up, a return over the Beartooth Pass in sunshine and on to the Bighorn Mountains of Wyoming.