157 replies to this topic

[stanbiker]

I like your plan. Awesome photos too. Thanks for sharing with us.

[my_wild_dreams_]

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CAMPING N.E. of YELLOWSTONE

Near Cooke City

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After driving through Yellowstone, I camped just outside the Northeast entrance - pretty close to Cooke City.

 

 

Driving up:

 

 

 

 

Here’s where I camped. Not a big fancy campsite, but I don’t need one. There wasn’t much traffic on this road, so it wasn’t so bad being right next to it. 

 

There sure are a lot of flowers here!

 

 

 

I got up around 4:30am to walk up a hill near where I camped to set up the GoPro on a tripod to take a time lapse of the sunrise. I don’t know why I keep doing this around here - there’s never any clouds in this region in the morning so there’s not really any sunrise to capture. 

 

Later that morning I went for a hike:

 

Edited by my_wild_dreams_, 29 July 2016 - 08:55 PM.

[my_wild_dreams_]

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BEARTOOT SCENIC BYWAY
Cooke City to Red Lodge
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I drove the rest of the way from my campsite near Cooke City to Red Lodge. It’s only 64 miles, but I stopped so many times (and hiked around and took pictures) that it took me all day.

Thank you to those who told me to drive this road. It really is incredible. The drive from Cooke City to the pass is nice on it’s own. There are a lot of lakes pretty close to the pass.

I would pass a whole lot of lakes. Over the whole day, I probably saw more than 100 (many far off in the big views on top of the pass)





Once the pass starts, there are a lot of switchbacks and elevation gain. This isn’t a pass that goes over a low, easy route. It goes to seemingly the highest point in 50+ miles. The views are incredible. This is why I spent so much time stopped. Up at the top, I spent a couple hours walking around. There are views to be seen in all directions - it does take a bit of walking to get to them. I spent a lot of time walking around north of the road. There is a high point with big views, but there is a moderate hill down from there - that goes down a couple hundred feet before dropping nearly straight down. I hiked all along that lower edge. It took a lot of hiking because it goes in and out, it’s steep, and it’s almost entirely covered in big rocks.
















I’m fairly disappointed with the pictures I got there. They really don’t do it justice. Part is just that taking pictures of some of these views flattens out the view and you can’t see the distances properly. Part is, I think, I haven’t captured and processed them nearly as well as is possible. When I’m back next summer, I’ll probably be better.

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Thanks.We had some of the same sights and thoughts of the Beartooth Pass area.

I think that road you camped on will lead you to a small lake campground,which was awesome.

When we were there in 09 the area was closed to camping due to bear activity.

Your photos are great and yes it's hard to capture all the beauty.

Waiting for the next area of the trip.

Frank

[longhorn1]

Keep those reports coming. Really enjoy your TR's. jd

Sent from my SM-G900V using Wander The West mobile app

[my_wild_dreams_]

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RED LODGE

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I like Red Lodge and found it fairly similar to West Yellowstone, except that here there are many more regular residents. The Beartooth pass closes during winter, and I assume they get very few tourists and the town becomes just a normal rural small town. 

 

 

There sure were a lot of old white dudes passing through on their motorcycles. 

 

 

 

I spent one day researching and buying health insurance. I’ll have no gap between then my previous employer-provided coverage ends this month, and my new coverage starts August 1. My income for this year is too high to get any subsidy. The cheapest plan on the healthcare.gov exchange was $235/month. I bought one that is $277/month because it has better coverage out of network and after deductible is passed. There as only ONE plan with a nationwide network. It was a gold plan from Samford, whom I read has a practice of canceling the policies of people using mail forwarding addresses. I’m looking forward to January of next year when I will get a big subsidy - since my income will only be my investment returns (mostly dividends), the amount I convert from one type of IRA to the other, and maybe some income from a hobby or two. My health insurance cost should drop to below $100/month. 

 

 

So… where next? The factors impacting route decisions are: 

 - To get to Seattle around August 10

 - Need to pick up some mail in West Yellowstone

 - Don’t spend a lot more on gas than I really need to (I’m already buying gas much more quickly than would - in order to get from Denver to the PNW pretty quickly)

 

 

oh, fancy seeing you here

Edited by my_wild_dreams_, 31 July 2016 - 01:23 AM.

[Lighthawk]

Looks like some fine country. Your photos are wide angle, so the landscape will diminish on the distance in favor of closer objects being larger. If you plan to return and want better photos, look for a full frame sensor and DSLR kit.

[Casa Escarlata Robles Too]

Interesting about your search for health insurance.It's a confusing job.

Keep us posted on your next route.

Thought we might cross paths in Seattle but we will be ahead of you by a few days.

Thanks.

Frank

[GroovyDad]

Boy, that's beautiful country you're in.  Keep the TRs coming--I really enjoy reading them.

[mitch h]

I wonder how many people have a view out their van window like that? We did not get a subsidy either and my wife's  insurance is $800/month. What a rip.