July 8 - Black Wolf, Badger, Buffalo, and Backroads!
What a day! The black wolf, the badger, and the buffalo – and that was just the beginning. Today’s ride took me from Pray Montana through Yellowstone National Park and then down Chief Joseph’s highway. The views on Chief Joseph Highway were fairly obscured due to a fire in the area but the ride itself was awesome nonetheless!
This morning I headed south on highway 89 from Chico Hot Springs Resort to the northern entrance of Yellowstone National Park. Once in the park I followed Grand Loop Road and then the NE entrance road to skirt the northern end of the park. One of the things I love most about Yellowstone is that you never know what you will actually see until you are there. The buffalo sightings were rather slim on the first 10 or so miles through the park. But the further I got from the hustle and bustle of Mammoth Hot Springs the more wildlife I saw.
The first major sighting was a black wolf in the general vicinity of Soda Butte. I would not have noticed the small black speck crossing the riverbank without the help of several other visitors with binoculars but it was pretty exciting nonetheless. Continuing east I stopped at an overlook with hundreds of buffalo grazing below. Out of the corner of my eye I saw a badger pop out from under a rock, run across the sagebrush, and drop down into a hole under another rock. Then later before exiting the park I was able to see a herd with lots of young buffalo grazing right next to the road.
Fourteen miles after passing the town of Cooke City I veered to the right on Highway 296, better known as Chief Joseph’s Highway. This 46 mile-long scenic byway follows the route taken by Chief Joseph as he led the Nez Perce Indians out of Yellowstone National Park. I have wanted to ride it for years but was always too tempted by Beartooth to do so. The road itself was spectacular, with lots of twists and turns and remarkable vistas of lakes, streams, mesas, plains, and buttes. I have to admit I was disappointed that a nearby fire created a smokey haze that covered much of the area. But I decided to focus on what I was still able to enjoy – the challenge of the road itself, the occasional clearing of the air, and the gorgeous green and orange colored cliffs and rocks right near the road. If you look at the main picture closely you can see the remarkable s-shape of the winding road behind me as seen from Dead Indian Overlook.
