Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 14

Roadtrip 2017 – Exploring The West – Day 14 – July 23rd – Part 2:

After heading east on US 87, and then south on US 191 (and passing all the nuclear missile sites – see Part 1), we finally came to IS-90. This is an area where we had no other option but to take IS-90 East to get to SR 78. We turned south on to SR 78, and then east on SR 421. We used SR 421 to cut over to US 212, and then headed southwest. Traveling southwest on US 212, It was nice to see the Beartooth Mountains come in to view.

Following US 212 will bring you to the town of Red Lodge Montana. Red Lodge is the gateway to the Beartooth Highway, and seems like it should be a lesser know tourist destination. It’s not far from Yellowstone National Park. About 60-70 miles.

When you head south on US 212 out of Red Lodge, it becomes the Beartooth Highway. Traveling south on Beartooth, I saw a spot to stop and walk Marley along the Rock Creek.

The Beartooth Highway offers beautiful views as it works its way up the mountain.

Along the way we came to Rock Creek Vista Point. There is a parking area there with rest rooms and an overlook of the canyon.

There’s also a bunch of bold chipmunks that will walk right up to you for food. Make sure to bring some sunflower seeds if you plan to stop.

Rock Creek Vista Point has an elevation of 9,190 feet above sea level. At this point I figured that we were at the top, but the road kept climbing higher.

See the poles along the roadway? Those are so the snowplows know where the edge of the road is. Yes, they really get that much snow here.

This area is called the Beartooth Basin Summer Ski Area. It was open this year from May 27th – July 2nd. I guess I was 3-weeks to late. We were now in Wyoming as well. We had crossed the state line a few miles back.

But there is definitely some snow on the ground here. I let Marley get out and run around on it, but I kept him on his leash. There were other people here as well, and some of them were throwing snowballs at each other.

You find a lot of lakes at these high elevations. When the snow does finally melt, the water needs a place to go, and seems to pool in the low lying areas.

Remember the poles I showed you earlier so the snowplows can find the edge of the road? The ones here had to be 10-12 feet tall.

Marley and I eventually came to Long Lake. The view here was amazing. Some of my favorite photos of the trip would be taken here.

Marley and I spent some time here walking around for a while. There was a parking area across the road with a large open field. There wasn’t anyone else there, so I was able to let Marley run without a leash for a while.

After getting some exercise, we continued west on the Beartooth Highway, and finally came to SR 296. This is the last road that you can turn south on to avoid the Yellowstone National Park. If you continue beyond here, you’ll end up in Cooke City, and the North East Entrance to Yellowstone. SR 296 is also named the ‘Dead Indian Hill Road’ and takes you across the Dead Indian Pass.

After turning on Dead Indian Hill Road, my F-350 Super Duty developed a problem. Suddenly, the truck didn’t want to accelerate. It would run fine, but if you tried to give it very much fuel, it bogged down and didn’t want to go anywhere. I had the oil changed in the 6.4 diesel before my trip, and hadn’t had any problems with the truck before now. I knew I needed to get it to a Ford dealer, and the closest dealer was an hour and 45 minutes (1:45) away in Cody Wyoming.

It’s not a good feeling when you’re in the middle of nowhere, you’re truck has all but died on a road called the Dead Indian Hill Road, and you still have to climb a 8,071 foot pass.

At least it was still a beautiful ride. I could get the truck to ease up to highway speed, but it wasn’t going anywhere quickly.

I had managed to get the truck up to a decent speed, and then came across this van stopped for cattle in the road.

This area is an open range, which means the cattle can graze anywhere they want. I know it’s not that easy to see, but the cow is actually nursing her calf in the middle of the highway.

We managed to press on. At this point, the trip had become a little stressful. At times I couldn’t get the truck over 35-45 miles an hour on some of the hills.

I finally made it over Dead Indian Pass and came to the intersection of SR 120. I headed south on SR 120 it to Cody Wyoming.

Cody Wyoming was founded by Colonel William F. “Buffalo Bill” Cody, who passed through the region in the 1870’s. He was so impressed by the many development possibilities that he returned in the mid-1890’s to start a town. As you would expect, there is a Buffalo Bill museum here, and they have Buffalo Bill and western themed events here in the summer.

I made my way over to Fremont Motors, which is the local Ford dealer. It was late on a Sunday, and they were obviously closed. I pulled up to the service area, and shut off my truck. If there was a chance it wasn’t going to restart, I’d rather it happen here so it wouldn’t need towed.

I let the truck sit for a minute, and then restarted it. Thankfully, it started back up. I got back out on the road, gave it some fuel, and it took off like there was nothing wrong with it. I wasn’t sure what had been wrong with it. I suspected that there may have been crap clogging a fuel filter, and when I shut the truck of, the fuel pressure was released, and unblocked the flow. I wasn’t about to take any chances. It’s 1,200 miles from here back to Texas, so I decided to spend the night and see if the Ford dealer could change my filters in the morning.

I went to the Cody KOA Holiday Campground to see if they had a site available. I felt like I paid way to much for their last tent site. This place had small campsites and was obviously set up to cram as many people in as they can. I manged to get my tent up before it got dark. This wasn’t like any other campground I had been to. People camping here were not friendly. There was a younger couple (mid 20’s) camping next to me. I said hello to them, but they ignored me as though they couldn’t believe I had actually tried to speak to them. I saw that their Chevy Camaro had California plates on it, and realized why the couple seemed so unsociable.

After setting up camp, Marley and I hit the local McDonald’s for a quick meal. Afterwards, I stopped on the way back to the campground and walked him for a while. We eventually got back to the tent and got some sleep. I would have to get up early to get to the Ford dealership when they opened. Hopefully I can get the issue resolved and get on my way.