On day two we checked out Cooke City, Montana, two miles west of the campground. It's a village of 100 year-round residents exploding to 300 in the summer. I expected a typical western town with a gas station, grocery, and a couple of bars. I was wrong and pleasantly surprised. We first discovered the Montasia Asian restaurant. Chef Lee Johnson has been making good things to eat since 1994. He met his wife Yokie at MSU in Bozeman, where she was studying chemical engineering, and they now focus their talent on the Montasia restaurant  in Cooke City. It is a family affair with mama Madeline...

We arrived Sunday to open the U.S. Forest Service Colter campground located in southeast Montana. We have traded a place to live for keeping track of the campers and doing bear safety education this summer. Colter is a beautiful campground with 18 sites with great views from its 8000ft location next to the Absaroka-Beartooth wilderness. The northeast entrance to Yellowstone National Park is six miles away. This resident mule deer loves Dandelion greens. The view from campground site 10. Sunset from Site 10 in Colter Campground Next Entry in Diary