Shoshone National Forest

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There are times on the road when the necessary things interfere with sight seeing and this morning was one of those times. We had traveled over 4000 miles and the car needed an oil change. Walmart is a good place to make this stop because we can also do other things there at the same time. Other things being….hair cut, shopping for necessities etc. We didn’t need a haircut so just did a little grocery shopping while the car was being cared for. We have a travel cooler that plugs into a power outlet in the car, so we carry lunch food, milk, yogurt and fruit. Today’s plan was to stop somewhere in the mountains to have lunch. We stocked up on yogurt, apples, bananas, and some cottage cheese and after the oil change, headed out for another day in the mountains.
Today it will be the Shoshone National forest. Our route will be through Dead Indian Pass and Bear Tooth pass.
We began with the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway to Dead Indian Pass. The history of this route is both interesting and sad because it was the place where the Nez Perce native americans lost many of their tribe and their battle for their land.
The Nez Perce are a tribe of Native Americans who live in the Pacific Northwest region of the US.
The Nez Perce splintered into two groups in the mid-19th century, with one side accepting coerced relocation to a reservation and the other refusing to give up their fertile land in Washington. On October 5, 1877, Chief Joseph of the Nez Perce Nation surrendered to units of the U.S. Cavalry near Chinook in the north of what is now Montana. Before this surrender, the Nez Perce fought a cunning strategic retreat toward refuge in Canada from about 2,000 soldiers. This surrender, after fighting 13 battles and going about 1,800 miles ) toward Canada, marked the last great battle between the U.S. government and an Indian nation. After surrendering, Chief Joseph stated his famous quote: "Hear me, my chiefs, I am tired. My heart is sick and sad. From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever." The flight path is reproduced by the Nez Perce National Historic Trail which is where we traveled today.
Reading the story and seeing the land gives one a deeper understanding of the plight of the early native Americans. Their native land was stolen from them. Nothing can ever repay what happened to them and it's incredibly sad.
The Shoshone National forest and the mountain passes are spectacular. Each day we think that we have seen the best that this area has to offer and each day we are wrong.
Today we stopped for lunch at Reef Creek picnic area in the forest. Signs at the area warn of the bears. It said that food odours attract the bears so we developed a plan. Instead of us becoming lunch for the bears, we decided that we would toss them our own lunch as an appetizer and run like crazy for the car. We ate in peace......no bears today.
Our route took us into Cooke City, a small town just across the state line into Montana. It's called a city but is actually a small mountain town only 3 miles from the beginning of Yellowstone National Park. It's very old, and consists of one main street with stores and hotels for the tourists who will visit the park.
From Cooke City we headed along the Bear Tooth Scenic Byway through Beartooth Pass. Now I thought that the scenery had been great before but this pass was even more spectacular.
According to some info on the internet "The Beartooth Highway is one of the most spectacular alpine highways in North America. It offers sweeping vistas of snow-covered mountains, unlimited outdoor recreation opportunities, unparalleled wildlife watching, and panoramic views of hundreds of high alpine lakes."
The road is the highest elevation highway in the Northern Rockies and at the peak today we reached almost 11,000 ft. The views were as they said "spectacular". There are no words to describe it's beauty and the photos do not do it justice. What an incredible drive. The road is winding with many switchbacks both ascending and descending.
Once down from the mountain, the scenery changed dramatically. On the way back to Cody, we passed mostly through the high plains desert area. The exception was one very fertile valley with farmlands, crops and cattle.
Another spectacular day. It just keeps getting better!! Tomorrow we are heading for West Yellowstone for a few nights stay. Yellowstone National Park is on the agenda. I've been there before and it's one of my favourite National Parks.

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Photos

Memorial at Dead Indian Pass
This is a lovely metal sculpture with amazing colours which are difficult to see in the photo