- winter excursion on the Beartooth Highway
- More black bears sighted
- Emergency shelter built for dinner
We wake up in the rain and therefore take it easy. During breakfast it only drizzles, which is only a short-term improvement. Soon we will set off towards the Lamar Valley, but the planned hike is out of the question in this weather. That's why we continue via Cooke City to the Beartooth Pass. The hope that the weather there is a little drier dies quickly.
Even higher up, the clouds and wafts of mist hang low over the forest. Rainless sections remain the big exception. The road leads us up to over 3000 meters above sea level. Spring is only slowly arriving here. There is still a lot of snow and most of the lakes are still frozen over. On the way we make a stop in a small shop with all kinds of souvenir items and other items, just typically American.
On the way back we go shopping in Cooke City and have an ice cream. The next downpour follows and the visibility in the park has unfortunately not improved. We drive through the Lamar Valley towards Mammoth Hotsprings to drive the dirt road over the Blacktail Plateau again. Due to the weather, this street is of course closed today. So we drive back the same route and there are now dry sections.
We see two more black bears near Tower Junction. It really seems to be teeming with them here. At least I can get some good pictures of the sneaks. When we are back on the campground, it pours again like buckets. We decide to have a reasonably dry shelter to stretch the tarpaulin between the car and the table. Necessity makes inventive and that's how we build our shelter. As soon as we have built it to some extent, the rain stops. We draw hope and still make a campfire. When the steaks are on the grill ... of course the next thunderstorm comes. We put aluminum foil over the fire to help cook the meat. Soon afterwards we retire to the tent. We can only hope that the weather will be better tomorrow.
