Scenic byways through mountains and canyons

 What a day! We started from Columbus, MT just before 8am, hoping to beat as much of the predicted high temperatures as possible. We started on Montana Highway 78 heading south toward Red Lodge through cultivated fields with mountain backdrops.

In Red Lodge we turned onto US 212, in this next stretch known as the Beartooth Highway that twists through hairpin turns with sheer, rocky drops off the side as it winds it's way into Wyoming and over Beartooth Pass at 10,947' above the treeline. This is not only an absolutely beautiful drive, it's a ton of fun on a motorcycle.

Near the top of the pass we crossed from Montana into Wyoming.

We passed several high mountain lakes and then a group of motorcycles, one with a side car.

We started seeing signs warning about cows in the road, and around the next few curves came across several cows.

After descending Beartooth Pass we turned south onto Wyoming Highway 296, the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway.   The route winds through the Shoshone National Forest through the Absaroka Mountains. Although not as high elevation as the Beartooths, this route is just as beautiful with curving roads through the forested mountains and several ranches with open ranges - which meant more cows on the road.

We had been on the road for over 2 hours when we stopped at the Sunlight Creek bridge and overlook for a snack and bathroom break. This is the highest bridge in Wyoming over the deep Sunlight Creek canyon. - so far down that it's challenging to see the creek from the bridge.

We shed extra layers of motorcycle gear liners as we were now riding into lower elevations and warmer temperatures before we continued south on the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, named for the Native American chief of the Nez Perce tribe who led his people through this area attempting to flee to Canada instead of being forced onto a reservation.

Wyoming 296 ends at Wyoming 120 where we turned east toward Cody. The terrain was now dusty, dry hills with occasional rocky outcroppings that meant the road was mostly straight with some curves around the higher hills.

We stopped in Cody, founded in 1896 by Buffalo Bill Cody who was impressed with the rich soil, scenery, hunting, and proximity to Yellowstone National Park (only 52 miles away). Continuing on toward Thermopolis, the BMW's odometer rolled over to 49000 miles; we've ridden over 3000 miles so far on this trip.

We've stayed in Thermopolis before, taking advantage of the Hot Springs state park but we still had about 40 miles to ride for the day. Instead of the hot springs, we stopped at a McDonald's so Mike could get a strawberry shake and we both drank ice water to try and cool off as the temperature was now 99-101 degrees. I dipped my shirt in water to try for some evaporative cooling - it helped a bit until the shirt dried.

We now turned onto a combined route with US 20 and Wyoming 789 for the final part of today's ride. The first few miles were the best - through Wind River Canyon where the rock walls rise 2500' above the 2-lane highway.

As we rode out of the canyon we passed Boysen Reservoir which stretches for miles along the highway.

We rode 297 miles today, ending at Riverton, Wyoming. We saw more motorcycles on the road today than we have during the entire past two weeks with so many riders out enjoying the scenic byways, twisting hairpin turns, curving and sweeping roads, and fabulous scenery.  We're anticipating hot temperatures for the next two days as we continue south toward Colorado - but that doesn't change our enthusiasm for what each day will bring on the BMW.

Windy Wyoming

 We started our day with a walk in Thermopolis State Park, home to mineral hot springs and a bison herd. We walked across the Swinging Bridge footbridge over the Bighorn River, and stopped by the Teepee Fountain, built in 1909 to cool the hot mineral water. As the hot mineral water flows over the stone base, it cools and deposits layers of travertine.

Once on the BMW, we headed south on US 20 through the Wind River Canyon, a gorgeous ride where the rock cliffs rise 2500' with the 2-lane highway, Wind River, and train tracks winding along the bottom of the canyon.

Some of these rocks date from the Precambrian period, more than 2.9 billion years ago. The road passes through three short tunnels before coming out on the south side of the canyon and the Boysen Dam and Reservoir.

Boysen State Park covers more than 35,000 acres, including the huge reservoir. Backed by the snow-capped mountains to the West, it's a gorgeous spot - and we saw hardly any traffic.

We turned west onto US 26, spotting numerous antelope as the road wound up through hills, then down long flat stretches.

There are still patches of snow on the north-facing hills, even though we were never higher than 7000'.

We stopped at Sweetwater Station at the junction of WY 135 and US 287 for a bathroom break, and thanks to the several interpretive signs, we learned about prehistoric people who lived here for hundreds of years and the Mormon/Oregon Trail that passed nearby. This is a wide-open, empty part of the country and it was a very welcome stop.

We continued on US 287 toward Rawlin, passing through more open land on roads that stretched ahead of us as far as we could see.

We stopped for lunch in Rawlin where we realized we had veered away from our planned route. We regrouped, rode a few short miles on I-80, then got back on track on US 30 toward Laramie.

On the way to Laramie several huge tractor trailers carrying wind turbine blades passed us going the other direction, and then we came up groups of wind turbines as far as we could see. We've been buffeted by strong winds every day in Wyoming, and it makes sense to use that wind for energy.

We rode 298 miles, ending the day in Laramie. This was the first day of the trip that we didn't need our rain gear and we enjoyed the sunny skies and wide-open landscape.

Yellowstone National Park: bison, mountains, antelope and more bison!

 We spent 4 days with our son and his girlfriend in Bozeman, MT and thoroughly enjoyed the area. Today we started our journey home, riding from Bozeman through Paradise Valley, a major valley of the Yellowstone River.

Much to our delight, this is a less busy time of year at Yellowstone National Park which meant far less traffic and plenty of time to enjoy the scenery while looking for wildlife.

Much to our relief, this was the closest we came to bison in the park

There is still plenty of snow on the tops of the mountains, and plenty of bison including numerous calves.

After we left the park, we rode for a few miles on the Beartooth Scenic Byway 

before turning south on Wyoming 296, Chief Joseph Scenic Byway, crossing the Shoshone National Forest and the Absaroka Mountains on twisting, tight hairpins and wide sweeping curves.

We stopped at the Sunlight Bridge and walked out over the spectacular canyon below.

After descending more twisties we turned south on WY 120 and rode through gorgeous red cliffs and more open country.

After stopping for lunch in Cody, WY, our luck held as we watched rainstorms all around us but only felt a few random raindrops.

We finished today's 299 absolutely gorgeous miles in Thermopolis, WY, home to mineral hot springs where we spent a relaxing 30 minutes before dinner. Tomorrow we'll spend the entire day in Wyoming on our way to Colorado.

Back on the bike after a weekend in Denver

We spent the weekend in Denver with our kids, using Lyft to get around instead of our motorcycle.

The first 40 miles today were on busy, congested, Monday-morning Denver traffic highways so we could get out of the city and on our way northwest. Today's destination is Thermopolis, Wyoming, the site of the world's largest mineral hot springs.

The real fun started when we turned onto US Route 40, riding what Butler Motorcycle Maps calls one of the most fun and difficult rides in the country.

Route 40 twists and turns up and over the Continental Divide through Berthoud Pass at 11,307'. The temperature dropped to 42 degrees at one point as we descended down the shady side of the pass.

This wasn't the only pass we climbed, or the only time we crossed the Continental Divide today. Route 40 continued on over Muddy Pass at 8,772' and Rabbit Ears Pass at 9,426', each time crossing the Continental Divide.

Along the way we saw numerous road signs advertising F.M. Light & Sons cowboy outfitters since 1905 in Steamboat, and then the actual store on the main street. The signs are a good reminder that this area was popular long before it became a tourist and ski destination.

Once we rode through the busy traffic in Steamboat Springs, we continued on Route 40 along the Yampa River, a mostly wide and shallow river that flows through the green countryside.

We crossed into Wyoming with wide-open views to the horizon, clear blue skies, and pronghorn antelope munching the grass along the side of the mostly open road with almost no traffic.

We continued on WY 287 North through Sweetwater Station, near where the Oregon/Mormon trail crossed the Sweetwater River during the Mormons westward migration from Illinois in 1846-47. This road is named after Shoshone Chief Washakie who was instrumental in signing important treaties and establishing this trade route.

We stopped at the scenic lookout on the top of the Beaver Rim Escarpment where trappers and traders met in the 1830's to exchange goods. We could see over the Wind River Basin to the Absaroke Mountain Range 120 miles away at the border of Montana and Wyoming.

We wound our way down the escarpment into the Wind River Valley and the Shoshone Reservation. Route 20 is the Wind River Scenic Byway, and scenic doesn't even come close to describing the twisting road that snakes along the river through the steep and rocky gorge.

The scenic byway ends at the town of Thermopolis, our stopping point for the night. It's the first time we've been on the motorcycle in Wyoming, and we loved the changing scenery and roads tailor-made for motorcycles.