Rock Creek Canyon and Three Tiers of Switchbacks Are Seen Four Minutes After the Tunnel of Snow. We Climb the Summit. View Northwest.
“[Then the tunnel opens onto dark sky again and when we emerge we see we’re at the summit.“
Beartooth Highway, MT. The Narrator omits any mention of these switch-backs. Despite this, I thought you should see this and the next next two photos of the scenery on the way to his climatic narrative “summit”. Here, on the fourth tier up, is the scene practically the same as that immediately after emerging from the twin snow banks. Standing on this higher tier, we see the curve of the tier below. Beyond this, and looking carefully we see the loop of the tier next below. I believe the tunnel of snow is at the very right of this photo, just beyond the next (barely perceivable) crest in the green grass, with the line of snow beyond. This shot was taken 4 minutes after my “twin banks of snow“ photograph. Thus we have just finished a series of 3 or 4 switch backs on the way up. (The next photo, one tier further up, will show this same foreground stretch of guardrail.) Although the Narrator does not mention seeing "The Gorge" a second time, what we see here is the upper reaches of Rock Creek. We now have an even better view of "The Gorge", which over eons of time was carved by Rock Creek. On the nearside of the valley wall right (but out of view), are all those zig-zag switch-backs and the rest area that we saw on the way up. In this view Red Lodge and “down valley”, is to the right some 18 miles “as the crow flies”. “Up valley”, to the left in this view, points Southwest to central Yellowstone National Park some 80 miles by the same measure. Of course the distance by road is considerable greater! Note: Road Maps not generally not good enough to show all these switchbacks at Beartooth Pass. The Pilgrim, especially since they really need to "go hiking", should bring good topo map. Consider the Topozone Maps already mentioned. You of course may print one of these directly off your computer, or order a color plastic coated version from Topozone. .
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(Photo = 106-0627 ...... ZMM Page = 110 ...... WayPt = 143w)