Chief Joseph/Beartooth Pass Loop

August 28, 2025

It was a perfect day for a ride.  It was my day off from going to the gym so I did the grocery shopping early and since I'd got the bike ready yesterday I was on the road by 8:10.  The goal is the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, Cooke City, and then the Beartooth Highway.  The weather looked pretty good with a chance of rain on the afternoon.  Rain gear was packed in one of my side cases.

I did the traditional ride out of town, heading west on Grand to its end and then working my way to Buffalo Trail and on to Laurel.  From there I hopped on Hwy 212 to Rockvale, passed through Fromberg, Bridger, and Belfry, and then south to Wyoming.

Here is looking west toward the mountains from that state line.

The turnoff to the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, Hwy 296, is easier to see now with additional signage up which must have been done as part of the road improvement they did recently.  That construction was taking place when I did this ride last August, which I wrote up here.  Previously it was easy to miss the turn and end up in Cody wondering where it was.

As I was turning, two Harleys came from the south and I let them go ahead of me.  I ended up following them to the top, Dead Indian Pass.

I stopped at the lookout, took a few photos, and talked to those Harley folks along with some other riders who pulled in.  They were from all over: North Dakota, Wisconsin, and Michigan and had a variety of bikes.

It was time to head on down into Sunlight Basin.  See the road down below.

Here's an edited video of the ride down.

I stopped at the Sunlight Bridge that goes over the big gorge and chatted with another rider.  He was riding a KTM and his partner was on a Ducati.  They were from Colorado.  I grabbed a photo of my bike with some nice background and a photo of the gorge and the bridge.

I have some photos taken from the bridge on a previous ride here.

I continued on and up a head I could see the weather changing.  A wet front was coming in.  I pulled over to grab a couple photos while it was still dry.

I continued on, the ride being GREAT, and saw that there was some construction ahead.

I had to stop and wait for the pilot car.  The guy with the stop sign told me that it would be 10-15 minutes.  With the heavy clouds up ahead and now feeling a few drops, it seemed like a good time to don the rain gear.

After a bit the pilot car showed up and off I went.  The road was milled asphalt and not too bad.  We did get to switch to the newly paved section and that was nice since it was about then that the rain came.

The new road went all the way to the end of the Scenic Byway at the intersection with Hwy 212.  I turned left and headed for Cooke City.

Every time I've done this ride I've been tempted to skip this side trip to Cooke City and head over the pass as I am pretty sure that I have enough gas to make it Red Lodge but I don't want to have any range anxiety so a stop for gas isn't really that out of the way.  It was definitely raining.  When I arrived at the gas station some people on Harleys were taking refuge under the canopy.  I'm so accustomed to riding in the rain I hardly notice it.

I headed back the way I came and up toward Beartooth Pass.  Near Beartooth Lake I pulled over at an Interpretive Site to grab a few photos.  While things were wet, I had pretty much left the rain behind.

Here's an edited video of my ride from Cooke City to the Beartooth Pass.

As always, I took a photo of my bike and the elevation sign, which is in the background. 

These guys there were on newer BMWs, GS types.  One of them was from Utah and the other from the southwest and they was on a multi-week adventure.

A couple photos before heading down.

The ride down was mostly uneventful until a guy wanted some of my lane.

I decided to take a break and eat my sandwich at Vista Point.

While there I got out my 70-year old Bolsey 35mm rangefinder camera and took a couple shots.  They aren't posted here because I have to finish the roll and then develop the film.  Just like the old days.

The ride home was pleasant.  No issues and no rain.  I arrived at 3:30.

It was a 290 mile day.

A milestone ride

August 17, 2025

With only 10 miles left, I had to get out for a ride to see the bike turn to 50,000 miles on the odometer.

I rode at to the Heights on Skyline Drive and once past Governors on Wicks it made the change.

That's lots of miles for 4 years and 4 months.  And fun miles they have been.  And, most importantly, fun, trouble-free, and safe.

After turning that milestone, I continued on and rode past Dover Park and took the bridge over the Yellowstone Rive, the Billings Northeast Bypass.  The bridge has been there for a while but only recently opened to vehicle traffic.  On the other side I rode to Coulson Road and did a big loop out to Johnson Lane and back to the bridge as I was scouting a course for a car club drive for next month.

On my way back up Wicks I saw what was almost a t-bone accident.  Check out the video and see where the oncoming car turns left across the path of the car to my right.

It was a shot mileage day.  The bike got a good bath when I got home and is ready for the next adventure.

A quick ride for coffee cake

August 14, 2025

I was between a few projects and felt in need of a short ride.  The weather has been pretty warm in the afternoons so a morning excursion is the way.  But where to ride?  Last weeks ride farther into eastern Montana was great but I wanted something shorter today.  Okay, instead of east or south, how about a familiar standby by going northwest to Harlowton?

It was a perfect morning for it with a comfortable temperature (it was 102 last evening), clear skies, and no wind.  I did the usual morning outing with the dog and got away a little later that I had planned but was rolling by 9am.

I rode the usual rout, up Zimmerman Trail, out Hwy 3, and then west of Hwy 12.  

There really isn't much to write about as the ride was just pleasant, familiar, and uneventful.

I pulled into Harlowton right about 10:30 and parked next to the train, across the street from my destination, Klo's Bakery.

Here's a look down to main street.

The bakery is run by a (very) young lady and after a brief look at the offerings in the display case I selected a piece of raspberry coffee cake.  It was really tasty.

Here's a quick video of my ride in and out of town.

There were a few other customers there, finishing their breakfasts, and as they were leaving one of them, a guy a few years younger than me came over to talk motorcycles.  He's had quite a few and showed me a photo of his current one, a BMW scrambler built out of parts.  It was pretty exotic looking.

The ride back was fine although I hit a bunch of slow moving traffic and had to use my horsepower to pass them.

I arrive back home without incident although I almost missed a mileage milestone.  I am just a few miles short of turning 50,000 miles on the bike.  I'll take it out for a ride this weekend to document that event.

It was about a 192 mile day.

Eastern Montana Outing

August 7, 2025

I have a couple weeks where I have to dog sit our pet while my wife is dog sitting elsewhere so lung or overnight rides are out for a few weeks.  That's don't mean no riding, I just have to limit myself to 5-6 hours away.  Keith and I talked about a day ride a couple weeks ago and once our busy schedules had a coinciding free day, we marked it for a day ride.

To start the day off, I did go on a hike with Bart the Dog nice and early.  It was beautiful, though windy, out.  We did a mile and 3/4 at Zimmerman Park.

After that I got the bike out, got it ready to go, and then met Keith a bit before 9am at the MSU-Billings parking lot.  I'd sent him the proposed route and we chatted a bit and then got on our way.

We took Hwy 312 east and stopped at Pompey's Pillar for a break and a photo.

From there we rode the frontage road which parallels I-94 off and on.  It's a fine ride through ranch and farmland.

At the turnoff for Custer we headed west to pick up Pease Bottom Road.

I've ridden this many times and while it is paved, it can be rough in spots.  Within the first couple miles we encountered cattle on the road.

The condition of the road deteriorated after that.  What used to be a game of dodging pot holes is now one of just hanging on.  It looks like the country milled the road, ran a grader over it, and then followed with oil.  The rough marks from the tracks on the grader are still felt.

After a bit, we pulled over for a break.

After a few more rough miles, the road became smooth again.

We rode this to Hysham, the next stopping point on this excursion.

We parked at the Yucca Theater for a bit and to take some photos.

Hysham is a very small town.

Next, we headed east out of town, looking for the Sarpy Creek Road.  I'd seen this road on a map and checked Streetview that it was paved and, since I had not ridden it before, it would be something new to check out.  While the map represents it as mostly a straight ride, it is actually hilly with lots of sweeping curves.  The scenery is pure Eastern Montana with a Big Sky and land as far as the horizon.

We arrive in Hardin and Keith wanted to stop for gas.

When I moved to Montana 33 years ago I lived in Hardin for a few months before I got sort of settled in Billings.  The place I stayed was with my sister-in-law and my now-late brother-in-law.  He was the area veterinarian and had a nice place on a road that is now named for him.  When I lived there the road was gravel but a look online showed that it is now paved so we rode along it so I could take a photo of the house.

From there, it was a ride on Old 87 back to Billings.  It was uneventful and we were rewarded with the twisty roads are we entered into Lockwood.  

It was great ride and I covered 211 miles. 

To Beartooth Pass

July 31, 2025

With morning chores out of the way and nothing scheduled for the rest of the day I thought it might be a good day for a ride.  With all my travels I hadn't been up to the Beartooth Pass this season so it made a good destination.

I did a few fiddly things to the bike before getting sorted.  I had to adjust the front camera a little bit, check the air in the tires, and pack a lunch.  I headed out about 11am, stopping first at an ATM to replenish my dwindled supply of cash, and then out the standard route to Buffalo Trail to Laurel to Hwy 212.

The weather was great, cool, no wind, and clear skies.

After an uneventful ride to Red Lodge I stopped to have lunch in their city park.

The ride to Vista Point was pleasant.

I stopped to put on a sweatshirt under my mesh jacket as I knew it would chilly going to the top.

I was surprised how many motorcycles I saw on the road.  I'd expect it this time of year on the weekends but here in the middle of the week there were plenty.  Except for one BMW, all I saw were Harleys.  

At the top I stopped for the usual photo.

Those clouds to the west look a bit threatening so I didn't waste much time before heading back toward Red Lodge.

I stopped at Vista Point again to get a drink of water and as I was putting my water bottle away I felt the first drop.  Within a few minutes the rain fully arrived and it was heavy enough.  On the way down I saw other motorcycle pulled over and donning their rain gear.  I knew that I would eventually outrun and and that with the ride from Red Lodge to Billings I would get dried.

Not too far from Red Lodge traffic slowed to allow for a "goat drive."

In Joliet I stopped to get my sweatshirt off as it was plenty warm again.  That's the thing about the rides here, several clothing options are necessary to bring along.

I took the old Hwy 212 from Rockvale back to Laurel and then River Road back toward Billings where I rode the Shilo roundabouts to Rimrock Road and then back home.

It was a 192 mile day.