Distinctly Montana Magazine

D I S T I N C T L Y M O N T A N A M A G A Z I N E • S P R I N G 2 0 2 2 38 and both mountain communities. Despite the grueling conditions, treacherous terrain, two deaths and logistical and engineering difficul- ties, the $2.5 million roadway was completed on schedule in 1936 for slightly less than half of what the federal government had expected. Visitors came from as far as Cal- ifornia and Maine to be among the first to take a trip over the top of the world on June 14, 1936. An aver- age of 400 vehicles were traveling the new roadway each weekday by 1939. The number soared to well over 1,000 per day on weekends and holidays. "The Beartooth Highway opens a window in the spectacular scenic and natural envi- ronment of an alpine ecosystem that might not otherwise be available to most Ameri- cans," Montana Department of Transportation historian Jon Axline writes. "The Beartooth Highway is also a story of man versus nature in its construction. It was no easy task…" The Federal Highway Administration des- ignated a significant portion of the roadway as an "All American Road" in 2002 due to the highway's cultural, scenic, and historical sig- nificance. It was added to the National Reg- ister of Historic Places in 2014. THE REST OF THE TRIP The highway crosses the 45th parallel approximately 30 miles outside of Red Lodge, marking the halfway point between the equator and the North Pole. We pulled off soon thereafter to take in the beau- ty of cerulean waters of the Twin Lakes, cradled majestically by the rocky swath of valley below. They are but two of the 950 alpine lakes that lie within the 943,377- acre Absaroka-Beartooth Wilder- ness, which contains the Beartooth Mountains. The area boasts 20 peaks over 12,000 feet, to include Montana's highest point, Granite Peak, at 12,799 feet. A lavish display of Indian paint- brush, columbine, shooting stars, and vari- ous other wildflower blossoms bedazzle the tundra in June and July. The jagged, volcanic peaks of the Absaro- ka Range broke over the horizon as we rode past the Beartooth Basin ski area, which first opened in the 1960s and is one of the oldest alpine ski training areas in North America. Off in the distance, we could see the sharp spire of "Na Piet Say," the Apsaalooke Indi- ans' name for "bear's tooth," stabbing sky- ward just before we reached the 10,947 West Summit overlook approximately 1,000 feet above the tree line.

• Cover