Living Sculptures - Part 2

More pictures from our day.... Lamar Valley, Dunraven Pass, Mt Washburn, Canary & Mound Terraces, Jupiter Terrace, Lamar Valley, Ice Box Canyon Lamar Valley

Howdy Mr. Dillon...

Got up this morning, said good-bye to Bill & Margaret, and headed into town to do some errands. With our chores done it was time to drive up State Rte 287 to two famous ghost towns Nevada City and Virginia City.

In the spring of 1863 Nevada City was a main center of commerce during the Placer Gold Rush. By 1864 nearly 10,000 people flooded the surrounding hillsides. Today Nevada City consists of buildings from the 1800’s that have been found in places all over Montana by the Bovy family to save their history. We walked through buildings like the Music Hall, Nevada City Hotel, George Ives Jail, Elkhorn Barber Shop, and Gallows Barn (circa 1895) site of a triple legal hanging by the State of Montana. The town and history was interesting.

The more well known Virginia City (Matt Dillon & company) was just up the road, so we saddled up the HHR and headed into town. This was just like being in a TV western. Stagecoaches rumbling through town and cowboys tying their horses up at the hitching post. This lively community of 150 is the site of one of the best preserved Western territorial townsites in the nation. We wandered up the boardwalk that desperate Vigilantes once patrolled. We had a great lunch sitting in a sidewalk patio watching people and listening to a cowboy sing western songs. He was very good. Finishing our stroll around town we drove back to camp. The road goes through the Madison Mountains and the views across the valleys and ranches are tremendous. Imagine waking up to this every morning.

Back to the Long Branch for dinner. Wow it’s Taco Tuesday so of course we had tacos! We beat last nights bill… $11.80 for 4 tacos d 2 beers. It was great.

Sounds awful but the altitude is affecting us and we are really tired after our travels. It’s really hot (high 90’s) so we used the AC, and tried to get some shut eye.

Marvels of Underground Water

Rolling down Rte 287 we stopped at the Lewis & Clark Caverns. We couldn't take the coach up the dirt road to the caverns so we unhooked the car, left the coach in the RV parking lot, and drove up the winding road up to the caverns. We signed up for the 12:50pm tour and grabbed lunch at the cafe. As we sat at a table outside we watch the tour before ours go UP the path that wound around the moutain - what have we done! Several people turned around and came back down... oh oh... We met our guide and she explained we had to walk the path along the side of the mountain which was a 3/4 mile hike that elevated 300 feet (I thought you went below ground to see caverns..). As some of you know I am afraid of heights.. but off we went. Thanks to Ken he got me through it. We had 1/2 hour to do the hike and it took the whole time! As I stood in the mouth of the cave I could look out over the valley below and it was beautiful.

Lewis and Clark Caverns is Montana's first and best known state park. Hidden in the white limestone cliffs high above the Jefferson River, are two dark holes. These openings are gateways to an underground world of spectacular caves that are naturally air-conditioned and feature a world of frozen waterfalls, multi-tiered columns and rock icicles. In 1892, two hunters discovered the cave. Though Indian arrow heads have reportedly been found in the cave, these were the first men of modern time to enter. Tom Williams, one of the hunters, returned to the cave six years later and began to wonder about the possibility of developing the caverns. A local miner and investor named Dan Morrison was approached. Morrison opened the caverns to the public and began to build 2000 wooden stairs inside. These included the famous spiral staircase, and started a large campaign to publicize the caverns in 1901. You can still see some of the original staircase today.

The tour was about 2 hours and it was excellent. Exiting the cavern through a tunnel that goes through the mountain we found ourselves back onto flat ground.

We continued down Rte 287 through ranches and small towns which are very close to being ghost towns! We arrived at the town of Ennis and our stopping point the Ennis RV Park. We got settled in and had our evening cold “Mikes Lemonade” while we enjoyed the view of the Madison Mountains.

We headed into town. Ennis is a little western town and we walked up main street enjoying the various store windows. We found the Long Branch and walked through the bar to the restaurant in back for dinner. Ken had pork chops and I had a big salad and taco. The food was really good and the bill was $23!

After dinner we took a ride out of town. We saw about 100 deer in a field as we drove down the road. The sky was clouding up and getting very black. We turned around in the driveway of a ranch and saw several pronghorn. The clouds suddenly burst and we had a fantastic rainbow over the mountains. It went from the ground up the side of a butte and into the clouds. The colors were really clear, even the purple.

When we got back to camp we had new neighbors in the site next to us - they were the couple from Phoenix we met in Medora on July 31! What a small world. We had a nice visit. Bill got a tour of the coach as he would like to downsize.

What a nice day. Don’t know if we’ll have time to fish as we have to be in Yellowstone on Wednesday. There’s not enough time to do everything. We really want to come back to Montana!

Chief Plenty Coups

Sunny and cooler this morning. We said goodbye to everyone. This is the first place we felt like we made some friends. We stopped at "the green place" for coffee and apple strudle. We left Fort Smith about 9:25am. We took a "no name" route west out of St Xavier. The route was spectacular around the Pryor Mountains. Rolling hills, canyons, and then back into mountains again!

We got to Pryor and stopped at the Chief Plenty Coups State Park. Plenty Coups was the lst traditional Chief of the Crow Nation. He was a visionary that lead his people from the "Buffalo Days" intio the 20th century. The chief was so well respected that the Crow people never named another traditional chief after him. His history is very interesting. He was an accomplished statesman and ambassador well known by several U.S. Presidents and foreign leaders. Chief Plenty Coups best illustrated the close bond between the U.S. and the Crow nation when, in 1921, he offered his war bonnet and coups sticks at the dedication of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. In his speech, he promised the allegiance of Crow warriors to fight any enemy of the United States. His promise has been upheld countless times in wars or armed conflicts since that gathering. The Chief built a log home in 1884 to show the Crow they could live in houses like the white man. He and his wife "Strikes the Iron" lived here until his death in 1932. The grounds are very nice with views of the Pryor Mountains and huge cottonwood trees. We enjoyed touring the log cabin and reading the various historical documents inside.

Leaving the park we took Route 418 out of Pryor. The road ran beside Pryor Creek and we stopped along the side of the road for a picnic lunch.

Later we connected up with I90 West and drove along the Yellowstone River to the town of Big Timber on our way to Yellowstone. Our camp tonight is the Spring Creek RV & Trout Ranch located in Sweet Grass County. Big Timber is located at the place Lewis and Clark called "Rivers Across". From opposite sides, the Boulder River and Big Timber Creek flow into the Yellowstone River. To the north the 11 thousand foot Crazy Mountains rise in breathtaking splendor. To the south lie the 12 thousand foot Absaroka-Beartooth Mountain Wilderness. We can see snow in the peaks and it's gorgeous.

The ranch is ok, but don't let the title fool you. It's an ok RV park with a very small pond for fishing (more for kids than adults). The river runs right through the park. Our site was nice and we got settled in. Then we decided to find a place for dinner. We had dinner at the City Lanes,Casino, and Steakhouse. Very interesting place, the walls are covered with various cattle brands and other ranching items. The food was ok.

A Hidden Treasure

The coffee clutch gathered at our picnic table this morning. After the pot was emptied we decided to go into Fort Smith to a little "green" place (no name) that Richard told us about. He said they had great burritos. He was right! So a breakfast burrito and 2 chai's later we were ready to fish again.

We picked up some "hoppers" (flies) at another fly shop. There are 3 in town, oh yes town consists of about 6 buildings. We waded the shoreline for a couple hours, and Ken asked me a strange question - "What day is today?". I said I didn't know (I'm retired now...). Bob stopped by to fish about 2:30 and Ken checked with him and Bob said it was Aug 7... (OHOH)... we have been fishing illegally all day! Our license ran out at midnight Aug 6! We packed up quickly - Ken had a hit and I had a bite - but we left.

Another campfire and cocktails with Bob & Barb. They invited us to join them in Idaho next year for their annual trip to Hells Canyon (jet boating). We are going to try and make it the year after next because of our plans for Alaska next year. Everyone at camp showed up at the fire. It was our last night so we exchanged addresses with everyone. We will miss this group, but the weekenders were arriving and it was time to go.

If we hadn't gone exploring 4 days ago we would have never found this wonderful place or made new friends. Bighorn Canyon will be a highlight of our trip. What a special stop!

Bighorn Cleaning Day

It's 8AM and already in the high 80's and humid. We got up and over coffee decided it was a cleaning day. With a view like this who minds cleanin g! Richard appeared and spent most of the day talking with Ken. Richard is sweet and has millions of stories. Perry returned from fishing while we were having coffee. We never heard him leave at dawn he was so quiet. Perry ties his own flies and he gave me a really neat foam "hopper" to fish with in Yellowstone.

After last night we decided to put the boat away so we repacked everything in the car (boy do we need a car top carrier). Unfortunately one of the oars got bent a little last night so we will probably need to get a new one. It took all day to give the coach a good cleaning in and out. We are tired because we got little sleep because of the heat last night (no electricity here, so no fans or AC).

About 6:45 we took a ride to the access to watch people fish. It wasn't too crowded and the fish were jumping right out of the water... no one was catching any though. We watched big black clouds move in and started to see pretty large lightening bolts over the Bighorn Mountains so we headed back to camp. Just as we got in the rain started and we had pretty strong thunderstorns tonight.

It was a good down day. If the weather is good we'll stay another day. We are really having a good time with the group here and hopefully tommorrow we will fish again. Otherwise we will head out.

Floating the Bighorn River

Luck is with us and we were able to make reservations for a site at Fishing Bridge in Yellowstone for Aug 12 - 19 so we can take our time to get there. We have gone 4200 miles as of noon today on this trip!

With Yellowstone in place we headed for Hardin, Montana on I90. We found a place to wash the coach and car.. and it needs it! Let me tell you about the grasshoppers out here. They are all over the roads and ground. Sometimes there are so many it looks like the road is moving! They make a mess. We had one come flying in the window and was hopping all over the front of the cab. At first we though we were in a rain shower with big drops hitting the windshield. It took us a couple days (yes we are slow...) to figure out what they were.

Now that we are clean (for the moment) we headed down Rte 313 to the Afterbay Campground in Bighorn Canyon. Down a 8% grade gravel drive we pulled into what looks like a parking lot with campsites along one side and which overlook the river. We pulled up and checked with the Camphosts (Bob & Barb). They are really nice folks and we hit it off right away.

After we got set up Bob said he would take us down the river with our boat and we could fish together. Ken's eyes lit up like saucers! We went down to Fort Smith and got licenses and some flys. Then we raced around getting the boat together and loaded the boats onto Bob's trailer. We parked one car at 3 Mile Access and then drove back to the access where we had left the boats. About 4PM we hit the water. Ken hasn't rowed much so he tried to navigate the river with Bob coaching from the other boat. He kept apologizing to the people fishing along the shoreline. Unfortunately the oars kept coming out of the holders and it made it really hard for Ken to manuver. I'm trying to fish and then I hear "grab the oar"! Oops I pulled it out of the water as it floated by (Phew). We stopped on a sandbar and fished for a while, but no hits. The Black Caddis hatch is awesome tonight. We are covered with them. Back on the river we are struggling to get into position to stop at our end access point. It was fun floating a river for the first time, but nerve racking for Ken. He did really great though. I think we will wade if we go again as he didn't get to fish much.

Another RV pulled in next to us while we were fishing. Perry seems very nice and spent some time exchanging fish stories with Ken. Back at camp we joined Bob & Barb for a campfire and cocktails. Richard, who is also camping here from California, came by. Another couple, Ronnie & Barb, joined us later. They all come here every year and it's a nice little group. They made us feel really welcome.

Finding Bighorn Canyon National Park

We found a recreation area called Bighorn Canyon on the map so we decided to go check it out. We took the Crow Agency Road to State Route 313. The road meanders through the Crow Indian Reservation. It's mostly farm land and fields until you get to Fort Smith which is the gateway to Bighorn Canyon National Park. Fort Smith is the north end of the park which stretches south through Montana and down to Sheridan, Wyoming.

We pulled into the Fort Smith visitor center and quickly learned we were in "fisherman heaven". Off we went to check out the fishing access sites on the map provided by the ranger. We were hoping to put the boat in. As we pulled in there were a number of people fishing from the shoreline and several float boats. Ken excitedly said "I thing we can float this!" We learned this was a first class fishery and was some of the best trout fishing in the country. We could see the fish rise! (There is hope...)

We got back in the car to explore the rest of the area. Following the signs we found the road to Bighorn Lake after getting sandwiches at Patty's Place for a picnic. The road climbed and switched back and forth up the steep canyon to Yellowtail Dam. We went through the visitor center and walked around the dam. The focus of the area is the 71-mile-long Bighorn Lake which was created by the Yellowtail Dam. Created in 1968, the dam provides electric power, water for irrigation, flood control, and recreation. The 525 foot high dam creates one of the largest reservoirs on the Missouri River tributary system. Continuing up the road we enjoyed the play of light and shadow on the rock walls of the canyon as well as unbelievable views. We arrived at the Marina overlooking the lake. We thought about renting a boat.. but not for $275/day. Sitting in chairs overlooking the lake we had a nice lunch on the porch of the marina and then headed back down the road. We decided to check out a campground we noticed on our way up to the dam. It's a "primitive" site but they have a camphost and it looks OK. We really like the area and we may come down and fish for a day or so.

On the way home we decided to make reservations (which we don't like to do) for Yellowstone. We're afraid we won't be able to get a site. Back at camp we reviewed the route plans and looked at Yellowstone Campgrounds. A couple we met while we were in Ohio told us about Fishing Bridge Campground so we will try that one for a week.

Over dinner we decided to go to Bighorn for 1-2 days. We'll leave tommorrow. We were so impressed with the beautiful scenery in the canyon area!

Little Bighorn Battle Monument

It was a lazy start this morning and we followed the Yellowstone River along Rte 12W. Along the road we saw a small group of Pronghorn in a field and passed the "Howdy Hotel (whoo-who!). The corn in the fields is finally getting high, but none for sale yet. Our destination is the area around Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument. We found a campground called the Lucky 7 Ranch in Garryowen, Montana. The Lucky 7 is a working ranch situated within the Crow Indian Reservation. They have nice gravel sites with beautiful views and nice facilities.

Even though we drove a lot today we decided to take the battlefield auto tour. The battle was just the latest encounter in a centuries-long conflict which started with the influx of the first European settlers in North America. It was truly due to a clash of cultures. All the Northern Plains Indians wanted was to preserve their nomadic way of life.

The Lakota and Cheyenne left the reservation in 1875 after gold seekers swarmed the Black Hills which was the heart of the new Indian reservation given to the Indians in the Treaty of Fort Laramie in 1868. The army tried to stop the influx but was unsuccessful. The government ordered the tribes to return to the reservation before January 31, 1876. Sitting Bull, the Lakota leader, and others refused to comply and the army was called to enforce the order.

As you pull into the parking lot your attention is drawn to the large sprawling hillside filled with rows of white headstones. This is where it hit me that this isn't just about the clash between the US Army and Lakota and Cheyenne Indians, but we were truly in a national cemetery. We walked through two sections one with fallen Civil War and World War I soldiers. We found our way to the visitor center and watched a video on the history of the park and General Custer.

The history is so powerful here. We drove over the battlefied stopping at areas where small battles and skirmishes took place visiting markers of both warriors and soldiers. At the end of our drive we stopped at "Last Stand Hill" where Custer and about 41 men tried to fight off the thousands of Lakota and Cheyenne. We then walked across the knoll to the new Indian Memorial. I had a really strange unsettled feeling as we viewed the headstones of the soldiers and Indians. The true history of this place is not what we are lead to believe. The monument to the Indians is beautiful and some of their statements are very telling. Our government was not very nice and I felt a little guilty about how the Indians were treated. Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse and Lame White Man (cool name) were very intelligent and probably could have been friends if the government kept promises and negotiated better.

With lots of mixed feelings about history, we returned to camp. Had dinner outside overlooking the rolling hills and mountains in the distance, talked about what we wanted to do tomorrow and called it a night.

Zebras in North Dakota?

The Elkhorn Cafe in Medora is a little local place with great breakfasts! After fluffy omelets and mugs full of coffee we left town on Rte 85S. Over rolling hills covered with silvery sage, lots of cattle, and fields of hay the road takes us towards Rte 12W and Montana. We traveled through the Little Missouri Grasslands and some little towns that had some unique distinctions - In Armidon, ND we saw White Butte which is the highest point in ND (elevation 3,506 ft) - Marmarth, ND is known as the "Land Where Dinasours Roamed". Of course the fields are filled with metal dinasour sculptures! Motorcycles are starting to pass us heading for Sturgis and they are all shapes and sizes. We even saw a local police car with a Budweiser banner draped on it to welcome the bikers...

It's in the 90's and humid as we cross into Montana. We're back on the Lewis & Clark Trail passing ranches with the usual horses and cattle, but also had donkeys and zebras grazing with them. We decided to stop today in Miles City at the Big Sky RV Park for one night. The park is nice and is conveniently right off Rte 12. Ken was having a craving for Chinese food so we explored downtown and fortunately found the "Happy Fortune Cookie". After a good dinner we went back to camp.