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After conferring with Mike about routes, I set off towards Yellowstone. I stopped for lunch in Butte, which was trickier than expected. Since it's Labor Day, almost all of the restaurants I could find were closed. I ended up going for one that looked on the outside like a generic Bar & Grill, but inside turned out to have an impressive collection of old motoring memorabilia. Lots of slightly rusty gas station signs and advertisements from the 40s.
There were some fun bits of road between Butte and Yellowstone, particularly where Montana Highway 2 crosses the Continental Divide. They were balanced by some monotonous stretches along the valley floor where the road was straight and featureless. At least those sections were fast.
I have reserved a campsite in Yellowstone for three nights. I chose a campground (Grant Village) near the South Entrance, because it has showers and laundry. Four days would be a little long to go without a shower.
Since I was entering from the west and the campground was in the south, I spent about an hour riding inside the park, and another half an hour looking at things from the roadside. There's a big forest fire across the lake from this campground. There were some views of that in the distance after I crossed the Continental Divide (for the third time today).
The other highlight along the road was a small herd of elk, including a male with large antlers. He was making an eerie bugle-like call.
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