Happy Trails with Mike & Ellen Taylor

Well, we've found it--the place we want to spend our summers forever! Red Lodge, MT, is just about the most wonderful place we've ever been. The town is quite small, with some tourist-y shops, but lots of fun and interesting places, too, plus really nice people. The campground we stayed in was just outside of town on roaring Rock Creek, with lots of trees and, unfortunately, lots of mud. The owner was frantically trying to do landscape and grade new sites, but he said it had rained every day in June except maybe 2. We were there 6 days and it rained in the late afternoon of 5 of those days. But we still loved it!

The drives from the town of Red Lodge were just so incredibly spectacular. Charles Kuralt had written that the Beartooth Highway was the most scenic and beautiful in the United States. We haven't seen all of the U.S., but so far, we agree with him! Ellen took lots and lots of pictures, but you just can't imagine how magnificent the views are. We drove it twice, once on a clear sunny day and once with heavy clouds, and I think we could drive it every day for years and not tire of it. The road is a long series of hairpin turns and steep climbs (or descents), with several large pullouts where we could get out and marvel at the scenery. When we reached the pass, at almost 11,000 ft. and above the tree line, we were amazed to see tiny wildflowers growing out of the rocky tundra. Almost as amazing were the skiers we stopped to watch, still enjoying their sport in June!

Another beautiful drive was the Chief Joseph (of the Nez Perce) Scenic Byway, with miles of high rolling hills, and a deep gorge made by the Clarks Fork of the Yellowstone River. We stopped often to take pictures, and to read about the tragic journey of the Nez Perce.

http://picasaweb.google.com/TxMike3

In addition to enjoying the town and the drives, we discovered terrific places to hike with the dogs. Two different hikes took us along high rushing rivers--Rock Creek, which was the same one that rushed by behind our RV campsite, and Stillwater River, which was certainly not still.

We were really sad to leave Red Lodge, but as always, are looking forward to new adventures. We are in Cody, WY, where there's lots planned for the Fourth, including parades, BBQ (we've missed good BBQ), and a championship rodeo.