For our 2024 Yellowstone trip, Jean and I decided to try something different. Usually, we fly into Jackson to spend a few days in the Tetons, and then move on to Yellowstone. This year we thought a flight into Billings might be quieter and cheaper, and that would also give us the chance to sample some hiking in the Beartooth Mountains. The Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness is a nearly million acre tract that somehow still gets lost in the shadows of the nearby Yellowstone, Teton, and Wind River areas.
This
would be the first time in the Beartooth for Jean, but I had been once before.
In 1991 five of us made an 8-day, point-to-point, and mostly off-trail traverse
of the range while climbing the first and third highest mountain in the state. (Beartooth 1991) We weren’t looking for
anything that epic this time, we just couldn’t pass up the easy access to the high
elevation Beartooth Plateau available from the Beartooth Highway (US 212). 
At the Basin Lakes Trailhead near Red Lodge.
8-7-24,
Basin Lakes Trail, 8.0 miles
Flying
in, all the traveling, shopping, and accommodations in Billings went well. We
realized that Jean likely wouldn’t acclimatize to the near 10,000’ elevation of
the Beartooth Plateau, and picked a lower elevation trail out of Red Lodge. The
Basin Lakes Trail (FS 61), off the West Fork Road, was an 8 mile roundtrip,
past a lower lake to alpine tarn. Though the lower elevations were clear,
anything higher was completely fogged in. The lack of other cars in the trailhead,
and a massive rainfall the night before in Billings, should have given us a
better clue about the weather forecast.
Basin Creek Falls.
The
trail began with a steady climb, a handy way to warm up in the wet cold air.
Just past the trailhead is a small double waterfall. We would follow its feeder
creek steadily upward through a dense pine forest. Soon we were in the fog, and
far from the bright sunny summers of our previous western trips. On went the
raincoats, just to keep us warm.
With
the steep grade and high elevation, we set no speed records, but had to move
purposely just to generate heat. The thick fog robbed us of any views of the
lower lake, but we did enjoy the ruins of an old prospectors cabin on a gentler
section of trail. When we reached the upper lake, we could only see a few feet
past the shoreline. Another couple told us of a pretty lunch spot further along
the shore, but also warned us of rain approaching in the forecast. 
Remains of an old prospectors cabin.
On
cue, the rain began, and would accompany us all the way back. At least now we
were hiking down, and the trail was well maintained enough to ensure good
footing as we hoofed it hurriedly. We caught the other couple at the waterfall,
and chatted with them back to the car.
Lower Basin Lake.
Our
lodging for the night was in Cooke City, so next up was the most daunting
section of the trip, driving the Beartooth Highway. I had driven the road in
1991 setting a shuttle, but I had long forgotten how exposed the roadway was.
After a lulling valley section, a series of precarious switchbacks are carved
into the sheer valley walls. With no visibility we were held to 20 mph on the
sharp curves. We saw two places where guardrails had been demolished by
vehicles, and one car rollover marked by flashing police lights.
Upper Basin Lake.
Once
up on the Plateau, the grades lessen, and the view presumably is better. For us
the fog was still thick, and we saw little scenery until we dropped out of the
clouds in the Absarokas, and were guided to Cooke City by the beacon of Pilot
Peak. Jean was too spooked by the road to take pictures.
8-8-24,
Beartooth Lake Loop, 8.1 miles
For
our second day of Beartooth hiking we wanted to take advantage of the high
elevation trailheads to begin our walk in the alpine zone. There are few loop trails
on the Plateau, but we picked the obvious 8 miler out of Beartooth Lake on
Trail 619 and connecting to Beauty Lake on Trail 621. We were lucky to glimpse
a small elk herd on the drive in.
Beartooth Lakes Trailhead.
It
was still colder (48F) and wetter than we had expected. Both of us wore our
raincoats simply to cut the wind and retain heat. Unfortunately, the loop began
with a near immediate rock hop of the inlet to Beartooth Lake. We got across it
dry, but then had to dance around another half dozen smaller marshy crossings
feeding the north side of the lake. 
The first ford near Beartooth Lake.
All
the crossings were an annoyance, partly since we were not yet out of site of
the Trailhead. For better or worse, the main stretch of trail started with a
long gradual climb along the west slope of Clay Butte that warmed us up, and
got us to higher and drier ground. We saw two deer grazing early in the hike.
Descending toward our lunch lake.
The
fog remained thick so while we could see the nearby lakes, the mountains above
them remained out of view. We turned onto Trail 620, made a slight climb over a
ridge, and followed a chain of lakes toward the trailhead. We stopped at the
uppermost lake for lunch, finding a nice peninsula with the best view. Jean
spotted a figure moving fast up the slope we had just descended. A quick check
of the binocs confirmed it was a bear. I originally thought it was a grizzly,
but a closer look at Jean’s super zoom shots showed the snout was more like
that of a black bear. It was still an exhilarating scene, and the perfect bear
encounter. There was just one bear, it didn’t notice us, it moved away, and we
only saw the back end of the bear. 
Maximum zoom of black bear.
At
Claw Lake I passed the first campsite we had used on our 1991 trip. At Beauty
Lake we turned off onto Trail 621 for our final leg.
Descending toward Claw(?) Lake
Things
went well until the final ford. By this point we were tiring (we’d been above
9,000 feet all day, max’ing out around 10,500’). I got across the ford with no
issues, but Jean slipped and filled both of her boots with water. Wet boots are
never any fun, but getting them soaked within sight of the trailhead definitely
added insult to the injury. 
Late summer wildflowers.
But
luckily we had little hiking left to do. We re-drove the rest of the still
fogged over Beartooth Highway west to Cooke City and entered Yellowstone at the
Northeast Entrance of Yellowstone. The bison were in rut, and seemed inclined
to do it in the road. 
A bison in the oncoming lane.
We
were caught in massive bison jams in both the Lamar and Hayden valleys, much of
it caused by bison milling in the road oblivious to cars, but much of it also exacerbated
by drivers stopping in the road and oblivious to traffic. We also ended up
getting stuck behind a disabled vehicle at Tower.
Beauty Lake at the end of our loop.
In
the Lamar Valley we could see much of the repair of the Northeast Entrance Road
that had been caused by the 2022 floods. Remarkably, with the exception of the
highway bridge at Tower, all the cleanup of the areas that we travelled was
complete. 
Jean fording near Beartooth Lake.
8-19-24,
Island Lake Hike, 6.0 miles
For
our last hike of the trip we chose the Island Lake Trail, off the Beartooth
Highway, and just east of our Beartooth Lakes Hike. This would be a simple,
flat, out and back hike out to the Becker Lake junction that we had passed on
our Beartooth Lakes Hike. The case of Covid-19 that I had picked up somewhere
in Yellowstone was still mild, and I had the energy for modest hiking.
Jean near Island Lake.
The
sky was finally clear, and we got our first views of the mighty peaks of the
Beartooth towering over the plateau. Our trail put us in line with Lonesome
Mountain with several 12,000 footers looming in the distance.
Island Lake on our return leg.
We
had one easy rock hop at the start of the hike, but otherwise had an easy walk
up the west sides of Island and Night lakes. By Night Lake the sky had grown
dark, and we encountered three groups leaving. But the sky again turned bright,
and we continued on. Then we wove through some smaller lakes before dropping
steeply off our edge of the plateau and down to the signed junction to Becker
Lake where we turned around. With the sparkle of lakes around us and summits
calling from above, this was finally the Beartooth experience that I had
remembered.
View up Island Lake.
Sometimes
one gets spoiled by the perfect days and takes them for granted. But summer is
too fleeting in these high ranges to risk waiting until conditions are perfect.
Our ideal weather and easy trail redeemed the range in Jean’s opinion.
Back
at Island Lake we gave away our bear spray to fellow hikers. 
Hiram near Island Lake.
The
drive on the rest of the Beartooth Highway was somehow less scary with better
visibility, but it is still a road that deserves respect and concentration. I
wish we’d seen it on the front end to get a sense of scale and perspective on
the range. After Red Lodge, we were back on the prairie for the rest of the way
to Billings.
View from the highway at Beartooth Pass.
