Trip report to Yellowstone and Glacier.

[cimmer]

I just returned from a trip to Yellowstone and Glacier National parks. I wasnt on my VR but have a minivan as I had 4 other people along with me. I did go over Beartooth Pass on June 16th as they had opened it just a day and half earlier. The road was in ok shape but they had some very tall snow drifts they had blow the road open thru. I would guess some to be about 20 ft tall. There was some ice in these areas as the snow would melt then refreeze in the shade of the snow. They are talking that there will be construction in these areas also so you might want to check road reports if you plan on riding up there this season. They did have the road tore up between Cooke City and the park entrance with a warning to motorcycles about the road. Yellowstone was nice, seemed like lots of traffic for June and there was still snow there in the higher elevations but the roads were dry. They did have reports of oil and rocking going on this summer there too.

The biggest issue I saw was the buffalo of course. The road from West Yellowstone seemed to be very slow in the mornings due to the buffalo using the road to move about. Took me 45 mins a couple of times to get pass them. Also the moose are back in Yellowstone too now. I had one jump out in front of me and ramble across the road, so be careful of them. Also had a report of a 600 lbs Grizzly having dinner on Fishing Bridge road and blocking that road for hours.

 

I then drove up to Glacier via Boseman, Helena and Kalispell, MT. Those road were in good condition and nice scenery along the way. I would recommend to everyone to go north of Helena and take the boat tour for the Gateway to the Mountain. It is about 2 hours long and very beautiful scenery as the Missouri River cut a path though the mountains.

 

In Glacier National Park, the Road to the Sun was not opened yet due to snow and avalanches . They guessing it should be opened by the 4th of July. They did have it open in the lower parts of the mountain but you have to use Hwy 2 to get to the other sides.

 

Hwy 2 thru Montana was in good shape other the some road construction in Havre. This had the road down to gravel and dirt as you went thru town. There was also 6 miles of construction farther east that has it down to gravel and dirt. This is east of Dodson, MT.

 

Other then that, the trip was nice and I wish I could have been on my Venture but that will have to wait for another trip I guess.

 

Hope this helps anyone riding out that way.

Rick F.

[Kregerdoodle]

Sounds like a nice trip, I am from Polson Mt. grew up there on the lake.. I havn`t been back for a few years, but want to ride up through the SD badlands, then head west, stop and see my sister in St. Ignisous (M/S) then head over to Wash. and take the old hiway south through Or. Do you have any pics??

[cimmer]

I have a few pictures but I need to shrink them down before I can post them. But I will post a few picture in the near future.

Rick F.

[chocking]

Thanks for the update. I'm leaving tomorrow at 7:00 for that same trip. I am really bummed that Road to the Sun is not open. I had planned on hitting it July 3rd and the Beartooth around the 11th... Sounds like a great trip.

 

Thanks again. Unique timing on this post.

 

Clay

[dr_bar]

I can't believe that Havre is still all messed up. Went through there last June on my Valk, it had been raining and Havre was 4"-6" deep in slimy mud, not a fun ride through that town...