Wednesday June 20, 2012-Ponderosa Campground

To begin today's entry, I must tell you that this is post #1000! It's been a long time since May of 2008 when I began writing this journal but its been fun. I hope you've enjoyed it too!

Today we took Doug and Judy with us as we went over Beartooth Pass. It was the most beautiful drive in this area of the country, and quite possibly the most beautiful that we have seen.

We pulled into a pull through rest area for a "bio break" and this was the view. Quite nice, isn't it?

Doug spotted this Great Owl sitting on a post beside the road. We returned to take some photos of the bird but he flew away. We found him just off the highway, facing toward the woods. As Judy snuck up on him, I took a picture of how close she was to him. Neither of us got a good shot of it but we did get to see it.

A small unnamed lake with a beautiful snow-covered mountain behind.

It is hard to believe that this photo was taken in late June. It looks like the middle of winter here.

Beauty is all around you when you take this drive!

This shot of my GPS with the altitude displayed near the top of the pass. As you can see, we were at nearly 11,000 feet!

Another shot of the snow on the top of the mountain. You can also see some skiers that are using a ski lift to come back to the top. This lift doesn't use the traditional sit-down lift chairs but gives the skiers a handle attached to a cable so that they can actually ski up the mountain! I watched the lift for about ten minutes in 35 degree weather but didn't see anyone come up on it so I could take a photo of it.

We also entered Montanan at the top of the drive. We went to the small Montana town of Red Lodge where we stopped for a break and a snack.

We saw these mountain sheep or goats. We didn't see a lot of wildlife along this drive

This shot is out of sequence, but it is taken at The Top of the World, a small store that is near the mountaintop where we stopped for a rest and to get something to drink. It is an amazing place!