Today was our last day in Cody, and our last day to visit Yellowstone Park. Since we didn't get to go yesterday, we did or best to see everything we could before we left. This time we decided to use the Northeast Entrance, which allowed us to ride the famous Beartooth Highway. All the motorcycle riders we met along the way told us that we must ride the Beartooth from Red Lodge to the Northeast Entrance. So, today was the big day! Some Harley guys we met at Old Faithful told us that there were rumors of road construction on Beartooth, but not to worry, it was all near Red Lodge and would have no effect on the ride.
     We left Cody on WY-120E crossing into Montana where it became MT-72E . Judging by the scenery along these roads we knew we would be in for a special day. We turned west onto MT-308W and the scenery continued. I don't know how to explain the beauty of mountain after mountain, each different from the other, some rocky and craggy, and others grass or tree covered and smooth. They all look more like paintings than the real thing. MT-308W took us into Red Lodge, where we connected with US-212W, the Beartooth Highway!
      The Beartooth Highway far exceeded our expectations. The for the next 112 miles, the scenery was spectacular, the riding and switchbacks were tremendous. There was lots of close to the edge roads, some with and without guardrails. There were motorcycles everywhere! As we approached the summit, the last couple of thousand feet had large amounts of snow still accumulated, and it was a little cold at around 55 degrees. We stopped at the summit that had the top elevation sign of 10,947 to take a picture, and so did everyone else! Motorcycles kept stopping to take the same picture, and someone volunteered to take a picture of Jody and I together, and we ended up taking pictures of 2 or 3 other people who had stopped . If it wasn't so cold and windy, we could have stayed taking pictures for other people for hours!
     Just past the summit, we stopped at the Top of the World Store to use the bathroom and get the Beartooth Highway T-shirt. There were lots of other bikes there, and we met a guy from England named Andy who was 80 years old and part of a tour from the UK that provided Harleys so they could ride them around the mountains. The tourguide followed in a van that included a spare bike in the trailer in case anyone had mechanical troubles. I didn't ask how much a tour like that cost, but he said they gave him a free GoPro as part of the package so he could document his trip.
      The ride back down from Beartooth Pass came down to about 7500 ft by the time we entered Yellowstone at the Northeast Entrance. The road went in and out of Montana and Wyoming, and the mountain scenery was beautiful the entire way. Invigorated by the Beartooth Highway, we stopped at the Roosevelt Lodge in the northeast corner of Yellowstone to plan out the rest of the day . Since we didn't get to do the upper loop of Yellowstone yesterday, we tried to pick out the more important areas we missed. So we went directly south to North Rim Drive, just below Canyon Village, and stopped to see the Brink of the Lower Falls. It looked like it would be a really good hike down to the base of the falls, but we just didn't have the time, so we settled for some good pictures from the overlook. We also stopped for some pictures of the Grand Canyon of Yellowstone from the Grand View Overlook, and it was really grand!
     From there, we followed the same road back to the Roosevelt Lodge, stopping at some of the scenic overlooks along the way, and also at Tower Falls where it was just a short hike down to a spectacular view. When we stop at these overlooks, we find that the bike draws a lot of attention. Of course other motorcyclists are quick to strike up a conversation,most wish they had the time to take a trip like ours, but foreigners especially like to marvel at the size and luxury of the Goldwing . We've met some really nice people along the way.
     From the Roosevelt Lodge, we headed west towards Mammoth Hot Springs at the North Entrance. This northernmost route is not used much by the tourists, so there tends to be more wildlife along this road. Sure enough, we had another buffalo encounter, this time it was very peculiar. As we approached a bunch of slow moving cars, we noticed that the oncoming lane was led by a buffalo, just walking along in the eastbound lane. As we slowly rode past, behind the buffalo was a Honda SUV, who was being followed by another buffalo! Behind the second buffalo was a string of about a half dozen cars, who were all moving along slowly as if this was just the most natural thing to do. Later on down the road, we spotted a couple of cars parked haphazardly again and looked to see what was either a coyote or wolf on the side of a hill. There wasn't really a good area to pull off, so the rangers made us all move along before I could get a good picture.
     Once we got to Mammoth Hot Springs at the North Entrance, it was getting close to 5:00 and we were getting tired . Besides, there were a few shower sprinkles around, and the sky was beginning to darken. So we stopped at the North Entrance Visitors Center just as the rain was beginning and went inside to put on our rainsuits. The trip out the North Entrance was just as beautiful as each of the other entrances we visited. They are all different, and they are all spectacular. Ironically of the five park entrances, the only one we didn't visit was the West Entrance which is by far the most popular. Most of the traffic we saw was people coming in the West Entrance and heading south to Old Faithful and the geysers, There was some traffic north to the Hot Mammoth Springs, but the east side of the park had much less people.
     The North Entrance put us on US-89N and back into Montana. It was raining on and off, but mostly just drizzle. the temperature had dropped back down to 63 degrees. US-89N is also a scenic route with mountains on both sides. About 50 miles north, we ran into I-90W for the remaining 25 miles to Bozeman. We are staying at a Comfort Inn, which just happens to be next door to an Applebee's. Applebee's seem to be really popular out west, and it has become our go-to chain restaurant when we just aren't in the mood to try and figure out what local restaurant is good.
     Tomorrow we are heading to Lewis and Clark Caverns in the morning, and then heading over for a Saturday night in Great Falls, MT as we make our way even further north to Glacier National Park. The weather looks promising for the next few days, and hopefully the rain and cold weather is behind us.

314.0 miles today
6108.0 miles total

4.532 gallons today
146.174 gallons total