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The 68-mile Beartooth Highway, called the "most scenic drive in America" by the late Charles Kuralt, starts out as a two-lane highway west of Billings, Montana. With a posted speed limit of 70 miles per hour, you start out thinking, "How bad can this be if the speed limit is 70 miles per hour?" Well, suffice it to say that this drive is not for the faint hearted.
There were tall, skinny tree branches serving as the only markers for the right and left edges of the shoulderless road. These branches stood out amazingly well against the blue sky and clouds. Moving at speeds greater than 15 miles per hour was unthinkable. The curves and switchbacks certainly kept me on my toes. Fortunately, there are pull-out areas where you can rest your white knuckled hands, stretch your legs and take stunning photographs. And what photographs you can take along this road! I have never seen anything quite like it. The snow-covered mountains and pine trees give way at around 9,000 feet to a strange, barren plains-like scene atop the Beartooth Plateau. The plateau still held around three feet of snow on the ground in July. The snow had been plowed from the highway but was quite visible everywhere else. Gazing at the Beartooth Plateau you almost forget you are on top of the mountains. The wind was pretty ferocious at around 10,000 feet and I was glad I had purchased that second set of Yakima tie-down straps for my kayak in Sheridan, Wyoming. The kayak and bicycle on the SUV rooftop took the winds very well.
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