Day 3, August 15

Day 3, August 15

Locations: WY: Lander, Yellowstone; MT: Butte, Pioneer Mtns Scenic Byway

Miles driven: ~524

Click map to enlarge

I left camp at Frye Lake around 7:30 and headed into Lander. I fueled up and got into the Toyota/GMC dealership pretty much right at 8:00. K.C. had called his friend last night who works there letting him know I would swing by and would like to have them take a look to see what has been causing the whine. After standing in line a few minutes, it took two seconds for the diagnosis—the power steering pump was making the noise, but that it would be fine as is for the rest of the trip. It turns out it was, and it eventually faded away. The only problem was that it was a bit embarrassing at times pulling into parking lots and such for the next week or so. This was a relief to hear, and I was on my way out of Lander at 8:18. Next stop: Yellowstone.

I passed through Dubois at 9:20, went over Togwotee Pass, and arrived at Moran Junction in Teton National Park at 10:18. I didn't even stop to take a picture of the Tetons, but did take three snaps as I was driving. I thought that I can come here at any time, being relatively close to home, and I had different goals in mind for the trip and wanted to keep heading north. They were as impressive as ever, but they would have to wait. I kind of wanted to stop at one of the pullouts along Jackson Lake to take a quick picture, but it was filled with tourists. If you need a Teton fix, you can view a few pictures of them in my Wyoming gallery. I did stop at Colter Bay Village long enough to top off the tank, then I headed back out.

I arrived at Yellowstone's southern entrance at 10:55 where I asked the attendant if the Beartooth Scenic Byway was open. I had heard that there were mudslides on it earlier in the year (in May, 13 sections of road were wiped out) and that it was possible that it may not even open this year. Well, hoping for the best and expecting the worst, I was told it wouldn't open this year (it did end up re-opening on October 7th). It was a disappointment since the scenery is highly acclaimed and I have not taken this route yet. The Beartooth Range is home to Montana's highest peak, Granite Peak, which is visible from the highway, and I was planning on taking a couple of roads in the area and spending the night. I'll just have to do all of this the next time I go up. At any rate, time for my first alternate plan on this trip. Instead of exiting the park at its northeastern entrance, I was already prepared to exit the park via West Yellowstone, Montana, in the western-central part of the park, so that's what I did.

Before I just drive straight to West Yellowstone, however, I figured I wanted to see a bit more of Yellowstone Lake and would drive the lower loop in the park, so I drove over to Lake Village and stopped for a bit along the way at a pullout along the shore to take some snaps and enjoy the view. From the Lake Village intersection, I headed north to the Canyon Village intersection while seeing numerous buffalo, and oh yeah, tourists, and less than stellar drivers with no concern for other traffic while stopping in the middle of the road to take pictures of the bison. Ooh, how I have a strong dislike for the main drives in national parks! This is the reason I have an extreme fondness of back roads! I headed over to Norris, then down to Madison Junction, and out through West Yellowstone, all without stopping at Lower Falls or any of the thermal pots. I had not been on this Madison River section of Yellowstone previously, but I really enjoyed that stretch.

I arrived in West Yellowstone at 2:00 and turned north on Highway 191. Just north of West Yellowstone, I turned onto Highway 287 and pulled off the road trying to decide where I wanted to go next: either north along 191, or continue northwesterly and shoot for somewhere around Virginia City. I decided I'd take 191 north and loop over to the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway southwest of Butte. The drive to Big Sky was leisurely and scenic. A couple miles south of the Big Sky turnoff around 3:10, there was a 30-45 minute delay. The reason, according to a conversation I was listening to on the CB, was due to a trucker falling asleep. I can't recall if other vehicles were involved, but when I passed the semi in question, it was on its side on the side of the road burned to a nothing-but-black crisp. I continued north and turned onto I-90 at Belgrade at 4:35, just northwest of Bozeman.

Shortly after passing through Butte, I turned south on I-15, and about 10 miles in, my gas light came on. I knew it would be somewhat close, but I thought I could probably make it to Divide, where the next major intersection, and my next turnoff, was. Being that the further I headed south, the more desolate things became, I decided I had better turn around not knowing if there would be a gas station or not. I made it back to the last gas station I passed on I-15, but not before babying my speed and RPMs! I'm sure I didn't have too much left in the tank. After fueling back up, I headed south again and passed through Divide and Dewey, whose hills were looking fine in the late afternoon light. I turned south at Wise River to begin the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway, and hoped I could find a decent spot to shoot sunset, and hopefully scout for a sunrise location. Being that the entire byway lies in national forest, I knew a camp spot would be easy to find. I toured the northern half of the road reaching as far south as Mono Park, where I would plan to be at sunrise. I found a multitude of awesome secluded campsites along the way. I ended up taking the first non-snapshot picture of the trip from Grand Vista parking lot and ended up camping just north of there off the road and overlooking the river below. I made a couple of sandwiches out in the back of the truck in the dark just waiting to be spooked by footsteps or a big ugly face! Though the Wind River Range in Wyoming is also grizzly country, this would be my first of many consecutive nights in the heart of it! I always made sure I didn’t leave chunks of lunch meat on the ground or barbecue sauce smattered about my face while I slept! The night came and went without any issues of this sort as did all the remaining ones.

6:04 AM — Frye Lake from the campsite