The Beaten Path is an iconic Montana trail that begins near Cooke City and winds up and over the Beartooth Mountains and drops into East Rosebud (near Red Lodge) 29 miles later. It’s a stunning example of Montana’s sheer beauty, mountain lakes, and high, granite cliff walls. Many people choose to do this hike in a day or even two, but us, we chose the leisure route...
Before even THINKING about heading into the backcountry think to yourself, what's the plan? Where are we heading? What are our contingency plans for weather and other circumstances?
Late last summer, while most of Montana was on fire and views were nonexistent, I had an idea to escape it all without having to leave my home state. I called up my friend, Carrie, who lives in Tucson to see if she’d be interested in hiking the Beaten Path the 26 miles up and over the Beartooth Mountains. By the next day, she booked her flight and the date was set to...