Yellowstone National Park

We drove through Yellowstone National Park, saw the famous Yellowstone Falls and the giant high-altitude Yellowstone Lake, but the weather was overcast and we didn't get the sense of rugged highland we were looking for. We exited the park via the Beartooth Pass, the highest mountain pass in the area at over 11,000 feet. There we navigated hairpin turns, saw soaring peaks and alpine tarns, albeit under cloudy skies. Once we reached the Montana plains we headed south to the dryer Wyoming highlands, where sparse vegetation framed the rugged unbroken face of Absaroka Range, a name that also sounds beautiful.

While we were still in Montana territory we encountered police who insisted on us paying a traffic fine on the spot. He was tipped off by a local vigilante who followed our car for miles after I made an illegal pass. Although we didn't realize at the time what the policeman did to us was probably illegal.