September 4, 2004
Day 8: Beartooth Highway to Crazy Creek campground
In the morning the sky was clear and the temperature was 35F (1.5C) in Red Lodge. I biked unloaded to the downtown cafe for a big breakfast, then biked back to the room to get my stuff. I didn't get on the road until almost 9 AM. Somehow my pre-packing last night didn't help me get an early departure.
The climbing starts immediately when leaving Red Lodge. I shed the jacket after climbing only 500 feet. After 1000 feet (300m) of climbing the road is close to Rock Creek with some nice views. I still couldn't see where the road would cross the mountains.
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After 3 miles along Rock Creek I started to see the big famous switchbacks. Each switchback leg is about 2 miles (3.2 km) long. The road is built into a very steep ridge where no sensible person would choose to build a road. The steep ridge appears unstable where the road is blasted in. But there were remarkably few retaining walls. From the bottom I could see snow on the ground starting with the third switchback. Most of that snow was melted by the time I got there a couple hours later.
The grade wasn't extremely steep. Probably 6-7 percent. I had never seen such long switchbacks. The road climbs 2500 feet with only 5 segments of switchbacks. At the top of the 4th switchback is a parking area and a short trail to the Rock Creek overlook. From the overlook I could look east towards Red Lodge and west to a box canyon where the switchbacks begin at the headwaters of Rock Creek.
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From the Rock Creek overlook I could see that I was close to the top of the ridge. But my altimeter told me that the top of the ridge is still more than 1000 feet below the summit. I continued up the last switchback to the top of the ridge. This is not a narrow ridge. The top is a big treeless plateau and the road continues to climb steadily going southwest on the plateau.
On the plateau I was getting tired and hungry. There was no good place to stop, so I took a long break in a ditch on the side of the road where a small rock cut blocks most of the wind. I made tea and ate a lot of cookies. In retrospect I should have taken a long "meal" stop at the Rock Creek Overlook which had trees, less wind, and more flat space. But at that time I just wanted to finish climbing the giant switchbacks. Shortly after the food stop I passed a National Forest sign saying that I'm re-entering Wyoming. Very different from the usual welcome sign put up by the state government.
There were no trees on top of the plateau. Just tundra. Of course it's very windy on a high plateau with no trees. The temperature was about 48F (9C).
I could see deep chasms in the distance to the right and left, and lakes in smaller depressions nearby. Snow was highly visible on the shady side of rocks and tundra, but gone on the sunny side. I wonder how much snow was here in the morning. Now the snow is melting rapidly in the 48F (9C) sunshine and wind.
To my left in the distance are snow-covered mountains that are obviously higher than the 10,000 foot plateau.
Eventually I reached a crest at 10,800 feet elevation (3270m). Then the road descends 350 feet (106m) and climbs another 500 feet (150m) to the actual summit at 10,940 feet (3315m). I was disappointed that I couldn't find the summit sign. I had hoped to get to the summit by 3 PM but didn't get there until almost 5 PM. Fortunately that's not a problem because the 4000 foot descent to the campground will be very fast.
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The descent is gradual at first but it eventually gets steeper. In most places the road is able to meander down without having switchbacks. The mountain on this side isn't nearly as steep as the ridge with the 5 giant switchbacks. The long descent made me cold, so I was looking forward to the warmer temperatures of the lower elevations. I finally felt comfortable at 8000 feet elevation where the temperature was warmer and trees reduces the wind.
When planning this tour I read about a scenic 2 mile hike to several small lakes near the Beartooth Highway, but there was no time for that. There are two campgrounds on the plateau but I don't want to camp there because it would be too cold and windy at night. I also passed the "top of the world store" but didn't stop. It was getting late and I just wanted to press on to my campground.
The descent is about 30 miles. I was happy to get back into the forested zone where it wasn't so windy. Most of the descent isn't as steep as the climb up the 5 switchbacks. At the bottom of the descent I turned into the Crazy Creek campground (7000 feet elevation). I arrived at 7 PM when the temperature was 48F and dropping steadily. It's a beautiful forested campground with a spectacular view of Pilot Peak which looks like a misplaced Teton. The campground is a 5 minute walk from a 100 foot waterfall. Unfortunately the water system wasn't on - no water came out of the faucets. A fellow camper filled my 4 water bottles and filled 2 of the bottles again in the morning. No shower tonight because it's too cold and I don't have enough water. I didn't bother to pay for the campsite and felt no remorse about not paying for a campsite that has no water.
It knew this would be a challenging day but it turned out well despite getting started late and getting to the summit later than planned. I arrived at the campground an hour before dark feeling very tired, but not sore. Not too bad considering the 5950 feet of climbing. Most importantly, I had good weather while going over the highest road on the trip. But the evening is cooling rapidly. It will get cold tonight.
Distance: 56.3 miles (90.1 km)
Climbing: 5950 feet (1803m)
Average speed: 7.0 mph (11.2 km/h)
Maximum speed: 42 mph (67.2 km/h)
Hiking: 1 mile (1.6 km)
Today's ride: 56 miles (90 km)
Total: 367 miles (591 km)
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