Beartooth Rendezvous - "The Last Best Place"

Montana riders say the Beartooth Rendezvous is riding, “The last best place”.

That may be open to argument, but Dead Indian Summit, Chief Joseph Scenic Highway, Beartooth Pass (10,947 ft) are areas that provide some of the most breathtaking scenery and adventurous motorcycle roads in the country.  They are located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, just east of Yellowstone National Park in the Shoshone National Forest.





Bear Tooth Pass Road above the treeline



Shoshone, the first national forest in the United States, was designated by President Benjamin Harrison in March, 1891.  Most of the history of this area occurred before then, but Camp Monaco, just east of Yellowstone NP was the site of “Buffalo Bill” Cody’s last big game hunt in September of 1913.  It was named for the Prince of Monaco, who was a member of one of Col. Cody’s many notable hunting parties.




Rally site



In 1877, Chief Joseph and his tribe of 800 Nez Perce were chased by the US Army throughout this area for 1100 miles in an attempt to flee to Canada which ended in the last major Indian battle in the United States. 





Gene Austin and I rode off to this fantastic area on our way to the Beartooth Rendezvous near Red Lodge Montana on our BMW R100GSes.  

We left Placerville early, and headed east on US 50 following the old Pony Express Trail through northern Nevada past Ruby lake

Alpinesque Lamoille Canyon,Nevada

and across the rugged Ruby Mountains.  After an overnight in gorgeous Lamoille Canyon, we crossed northern Utah near Promontory Point on back roads - mostly dirt.  We paralleled and crossed many other pioneer routes and wagon trails, and we were surprised at how well marked these trails were even in some very remote locations.



Atlantic City, Wyoming

Dirt roads inevitably allow rocks to find some way of doing damage, so after an unplanned detour to the BMW dealer in Salt Lake for a new tire, we rode up Ogden Canyon, and on to Wyoming.  Our goal was to stay out of Yellowstone NP, and keep with the old wagon trail route, stopping at ghost towns and historic points along the way.   We crossed the Divide at South Pass, and took the dirt road leading to two well preserved ghost towns near South Pass – Atlantic City and South Pass City. 

South Pass City, Wyoming

North to Riverton, we rode the magnificent Wind River canyon, and over-nighted in Thermopolis with its Indian hot springs – open to the public and free.  Next morning it was on to Cody for breakfast at the “Irma”. 

Opened in 1902, Buffalo Bill maintained two suites and an office in this historic hotel after helping found the town of Cody in 1895.  Cody Wyoming is one of a few cities that still have an authentic “Old West” feel to it.  I hope it stays that way.

Bear Tooth Rally site

The rally site is the Lions youth camp about 10 miles south of Red Lodge.  The camp, sitting at about 6,700 ft elevation, is rustic, but nicely equipped with shower cabins, bunk houses, and meal hall.  In addition, fast flowing Rock Creek passed thru the campgrounds, and its whitewater sang everyone to sleep at night.

The rally hosts were the Beartooth Beemers, MOA#303, and the pin map showed most attendees from Montana and neighboring states plus California and Colorado, and as far away as Illinois and Florida.  Plus, there was one young guy on a trail-worn Airhead GS from England.  Rally co-chair was Bob Clement of Bob’s Motorwerks in nearby Roberts, MT. 

In a conversation with Bob, I learned a lot about the shortcomings of the Valeo starter on the R100GS.  Having just turned 40,000 miles over Beartooth Pass, the original Valeo on my GS ended its service life – rather ignominiously – in front of the rally registration table.

Clark Fork Canyon on Chief Joseph Hwy, Wyoming

I think the rally met its attendance limit of 250, but the camp didn’t feel crowded at all.  Food was provided all day long by volunteers of the Lions Club.  Three dinners were included with pre-registration, and were nothing short of fantastic.

Live entertainment on Saturday night was provided by two local guys who were outstanding on vocals, harmonica, guitar and banjo.  The beer trailer was full of local Red Lodge Ales on tap, and people were taking full advantage of the ales.  Well, I was anyway.

Some of the characters we met at this rally were - unique.  High miler type guys on high miler Beemers.  Conversations with some usually ended in a roar of laughter.   Maybe this entire trip had Gene and me in “ghost town” mode, but the “log cabin” feel of the remote Lion’s camp, and the characters hanging out here was like stepping back in time to Buffalo Bill’s day.

Weather was . . . well, let’s just say between the hard freeze one night, seeing new snow on the mountain sides only a few hundred feet above us, getting hailed on, and dodging thunderstorms during our subsequent ride north to Helena, Montanans were calling 2009, “The summer that wasn’t”.

The Beartooth Rendezvous was the destination, but as usual, it was “all about the ride.  Ten fantastic days of ghost towns, pioneer trails and historic sites: a typical GS ride.  This time, looking back, we may have indeed rode, “The last best place”.

Tom “Tuco” Harris (August, 2009)

For more information about the BMW Club of Northern California, visit http://www.bmwnorcal.org/