Beartooth Mountains, July 2014
Alright, so we headed out to the mountains this weekend to take advantage of the long 4th of July weekend. There is a mountain road out there that leads to some impressive scenery. I've never been able to quite make it up there thanks to bad timing. We found a pretty secluded spot down below the plateau. Well, it was secluded until the other folks showed up for the 4th.
The next day, we headed up the road.
This section of the road is very rocky and very slow. It's a Subaruable road, but there are sections that have rocks the size of tires. Occasionally you need to pick a line. I let Beret get behind the wheel on the way up so she could get some wheel time in the new truck.
Near the top, we stopped for lunch at a picturesque alpine lake. What a great spot!
Soon after, we came to the final switchback, where we were met by this:
The area that was driveable was very narrow, maybe 5' 6". On the left, there was a steep and rocky dropoff. On the right was a very large snowpack, roughly 2-3 feet deep. You can see in the photo where the snow was turning the hill into slop below the pack. In the center, there is a rock that sticks up about eight inches. On the left side of the open section, there is a rut roughly ten inches deep. What you can't see is that I'm standing on the edge of a 7500 foot drop when I took the photo. So, within about four feet of the edge I tried everything I could to get over the hill. I had it in 4-lo with the locker engaged, rocked back and forth, everything. Trying this hill put the factory skidplates to use, as I bottomed out a few times. Between that and my back bumper bottoming out every time I tried the hill, it was a no-go. So, I parked the truck in front of this view.
The only thing that was hurt on the truck was the trailer plug.
Once that was bent back into place, we hiked up to the top of the plateau, which crests at 10,200 feet.
At the end of the road, we came across a peculiar sign warning us not to take hang gliders up there.
After the sign, there is a hiking trail that winds through the tundra, leading to a spectacular view.
The dogs were having a great time. Scout, who gets quite carsick, was handling the journey well with 25mg of Bonine in his stomach. They both enjoy exploring hiking trails in the mountains. The view was well worth it for them too.
After taking in the vista for a while, we headed back down, stopping at what appears to be an old mine on the way.
After that, we headed back to camp for some much needed rest, and headed home the next day. It was a really great way to spend Independence Day.
