The Northeast entrance to Yellowstone has one giant advantage over the other entrances for me which is that it requires all who enter to travel over the Beartooth Pass. And the Beartooth pass is one of the scariest and dangerous but also one of the top 5 most beautiful motorcycle rides in America! But I get ahead of myself (that ride is tomorrow) ..... I woke up back in Montana (hooray!!!) and the whole trip to Washington DC seemed like a distant memory. It will take a day or 2 to get back in vacation mode but flying back for a meeting somewhere is a small price to pay for being able to make these longer trips. We took off at 9:30 am after a good breakfast of eggs and jalapeños and rode for 317 miles to Red Lodge at the foothills of the Beartooth mountains. The ride from Great Falls to Big Timber was over rolling hills that decended from the Rocky Mountains. The modulating rhythm of the hills gave my body a second sense mitiin - first miles per hour and second rolling hills per hour. As we approached Big Timber the road took us into ravines that were very reminiscent of the black Hills of South Dakota. Lovely.
My good and long time friend Dave Noll was waiting for us in the restaurant of the Grand Hotel in Big Timber. A giant bear-hug was in order followed by an introduction of Dave to Bob. We sat down and the three of us had great conversation for 3 hours. After that we tool a walking tour of downtown Big Timber (all six blocks). It is always great to spend time with Dave and this time was no different. We said our goodbyes and the headed South to Red Lodge Montana. Red Lodge is a beautiful old city full of flags and old hippies. A great place to regain energy. We arrived, had a quick dinner and then to bed. I am excited about the ride tomorrow!!
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