August 16, 2018

I think the whole west is smoky right now.  We may have moments in the morning where it doesn’t seem so bad, but as the day progresses the smoke and haze increase.

After we left Glacier National Park area, we headed toward Red Lodge so we could drive the Beartooth and Chief Joseph Highways.  Once we got off interstate 90 to head south, about a mile off the interstate, we saw our first bear.  The bear was running full speed across a field.  When it saw us, it did a U-turn and headed full speed the way it came.  This is a picture of a bear butt.  I’m sure it was a brown Black Bear.

We waited until the next day after setting up camp in the Red Lodge area and then headed out for a drive on the Beartooth and Chief Joseph Highways.  I recently met a woman (Robyn) who said the mountain views from these highways may be the best.  I understand now why she said that.  It was one of the most amazing drives through mountains that we have ever taken.  The haze greatly diminished the view, but it was still awesome.  I can’t imagine how much better it would be with a clear view.

Our most amazing animal encounter was with a fox.  I got out of the car to take pictures and the fox eventually came right past me as if I wasn’t there.  I stood still so as not to do anything to spook the fox, but the fox seemed oblivious to me.  It was very skinny and very intent on hunting.

This is a great drive for people who cannot hike to get great views.  All the views are accessible by car.  There are lots of public land locations with bathrooms, so it is a great way to spend the day and be comfortable.  For those who want to get off the beaten path, the public lands are highly accessible and there are numerous hikes and water access points along the route.  It’s amazing.

I apologize ahead of time for all the pictures, but we took so many I had a hard time selecting them down.  At this point, I’ll just show the pictures and caption them. (Note:  We drove the Beartooth Highway earlier in the day with the most haze, so the pictures are not very good.  The better pictures are later in the day by the time we went on the Chief Joseph Highway.  Nevertheless, the views from the Beartooth Highway were amazing.  It is essential you put both on your bucket list if you have never been to either.)