Beartooth and Chief Joseph Scenic Byways

Thursday, August 29, 2013
After yesterday's late start we were on the trike and heading back to the Beartooth by 9:00 am!  We brought more clothes and decided to try to hold off on pictures a little so we could get both the Beartooth and the Chief Joseph Scenic Byways in before dusk.  We're trying real hard not to ride at dusk or later.  There are so many deer around!  We've talked to two people who've hit deer on their current travels and both times the deer ran into the side of them with lots of car damage.
Anyway.... these byways are two of the most beautiful roads we have ever seen.  I don't really know how to describe them in words and even the pictures don't do them justice. There was a gorge on the Chief Joseph (see picture) that was just unreal.  Overall, it was a quiet ride because you just want to look and be part of it all.  We just kept saying ...wow. 
On the way back to Red Lodge we successfully dodged the rain clouds but ran into wind that was every bit as bad as Iowa.  It actually hurt the inside of our noses! 
We decided to stop for a little break in a tiny town called Belfry about 18 miles east of Red Lodge.  It really looked like it was going to rain so... why not? Well, the only place to eat in Belfry was at a restaurant/bar/casino  called the Silvertip.  It didn't look like a great place, but Rick and I are pretty flexible.  We walked in and there were only two people there. Not a good sign.  This lady (the owner, Jean) and gentleman (a customer, Jim) were sitting there kind of looking at us like, "What are you doing here?" Neither one was very friendly and she was really downright crabby!  Well, you know Rick.  He was his friendly self, just kept conversing, asking them questions about the area, telling them about our journey and before you knew it, we were having a real nice time with them.  Jim gave us a history lesson on Chief Joseph and Jean and I were swapping nursing stories. She had somewhat of a bad taste in her mouth for Wisconsin-ites.  Apparently 3 from our state have moved out there and have not made a very good impression in this small town.  Too bad.
From Belfry back to Red Lodge for our last night with the rushing river.(Picture below) We'll miss this campsite and the cool but have to keep moving if we want to get to all the places on our list.  Hope all is well with you.  Happy trails.