Alpine Tundra Above Beartooth Pass
Beartooth Highway, Wyoming
Friday, July 23, 2010

The Beartooth Highway, which the late journalist Charles Kuralt once proclaimed the most scenic road in America, is a spectacular way to access Yellowstone National Park. It enters the park from Cooke City in its northeast corner. I had always wanted to take this route into Yellowstone; this was the first time it made sense to do so.

The highway takes drivers up a steep winding road past some breathtaking views of the jagged Beartooth Range to a large region of treeless alpine tundra. The Beartooth Mountains were beautiful but it was this wildflower-blanketed tundra that caused me to pull over at the Wyoming-Montana state line to have lunch and spend some time exploring.

It was very cold and the wind was blowing hard so I donned my parka, gloves, and fleece cap before stepping out into the elements to grab some shots. Lewis joined me for a while before retreating to the warmth of the camper. In the end, despite spending over two hours here, wasn’t able to get any images that I considered successful. This image, taken with my 24mm tilt-shift lens, conveys the vastness of the tundra but not the density and variety of the different wildflowers.

Mom and Boy out on the Tundra
Beartooth Highway, Wyoming
Friday, July 23, 2010

Just to prevent any confusion between the iPhone 4 and a real camera, this is a quick shot of Lewis and Darla out on the tundra, complete with featureless blown out clouds, courtesy of the iPhone.

How cold could it really be, you may be asking. Mom and Boy aren’t even wearing coats. It was cold enough that they didn’t want to wait a few seconds for me to grab my real camera.

Lewis Among the Flowers
Beartooth Highway, Wyoming
Friday, July 23, 2010

I stopped 10 minutes farther down the road to grab this shot, again using a 24mm tilt-shift with a tripod. This time The Boy elected to put on a jacket.

Back To His Movie
Beartooth Highway, Wyoming
Friday, July 23, 2010

Road Construction
Beartooth Highway, Wyoming
Friday, July 23, 2010

We had been warned that there would be road construction delays on this route into the park. Having passed so many places where the roadwork had already been completed, we thought we got lucky. Not so. We sat here for a long time.

How Much Farther?
Beartooth Highway, Wyoming
Friday, July 23, 2010

The park seemed to get farther away the longer we waited.

First Sighting
Beartooth Highway, Wyoming
Friday, July 23, 2010

We were just east of Cooke City when we had our first buffalo sighting of the day. It was hard to miss—an entire herd wandering down the middle of the highway.

Roadblock
Beartooth Highway, Wyoming
Friday, July 23, 2010

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