U.S. 212

I chose to leave Yellowstone through the northeast entrance.  I cannot tell you how happy I am that I did that.  This was, without a doubt, the most beautiful drive I've ever taken.  Other roads and scenic drives have their own beauty, but this was a step above those.

I don't normally take pictures like this, but I could resist.  I stopped here in Cooke City for gas and breakfast here and I couldn't get over how nice it would be to wake up to this every day.

There is a road to a fire tower.  I drove up there, hoping to go to it, but near the top, the road was closed.  I could have hiked up to it, but I wasn't sure how much further it was and I really didn't feel like it.  I wanted to get to Little Bighorn Battlefield this day so I decided to take a few pictures and continue.

Looking to the north from the fire tower road.

A waterfall.

Beartooth Lake.

An alpine meadow.

As the road climbs up through the mountains.

Looking back the way I came.

Above the treeline.

Looking south.

A couple of lakes.  One high above the treeline, the other in the lower right.

Some mountain goats resting.

Stark beauty.

As I came around a corner I saw a parking lot full of cars and what looked like a concession stand and what looked like a ski lift.  Apparently, this is a big training area for people wanting to snowboard and ski.  I just thought this was amazing.

The guy in the picture here had just jumped from the top of the snow pack out of sight at the top of the picture.  He had his arms raised in victory for making a successful decent.


 

The road ahead.

Looking back up the valley and the descending road.