August 2007

We arrived in Billings, MT with smoke in the air from all the fires burning in MT and ID. Too bad, since we can hardly see much with all the smoke, but we managed to visit Pompey's Pillar, where William Clark signed his name almost exactly 201 years ago to the date. We felt amazed to stand where he stood at that time and think of all that has happened in the intervening 201 years. They have a wonderful new Visitor's Center and lovely grounds along the Yellowstone River. There's also plenty of room for RVs to park. What an incredible journey they made!

Pompey's Pillar, Montana

Thumbnail of William Clark's notations, click to enlarge

If you've never been here, add this to a list of "must sees"!!!

Yesterday we were fortunate to have a fantastic weather day, so took advantage of it and traveled along the Beartooth Highway and the Chief Joseph Highway along the borders of WY and MT. The Beartooth has the distinction of being called "The Most Beautiful Road in the US" and we must agree...it went beyond our expectations. You rise up to above 10,000 feet and look into a glacier-carved valley, then continue on to the plateau from which it was carved and into areas of high meadows with beautiful small lakes and streams. The road goes to the eastern entrance to Yellowstone, but we stopped just before there in Cooke City for lunch and returned to Billings, via another beautiful scenic drive, the Chief Joseph Highway...again skirting high mountain tops, gorgeous valleys, streams, rivers, ending in the plains of MT. I think the photos will speak for themselves.

View from the Beartooth Highway

Twin Lakes at the top of the Beartooth Highway

Lake in the high meadows

View from Dead Indian Point looking at the Chief Joseph Highway, WY

Another day, we took advantage of a front that blew through this area, clearing the air of smoke from several fires burning in MT and ID and again drove the Beartooth Highway, this time taking time to go up to the fire lookout at Clay Butte, from which we saw 360 degrees of nothing but gorgeous wilderness. A volunteer mans the lookout which serves mostly for tourists to gain a fantastic view. "What kind of wildlife have you seen here?" I asked. "Two lost dogs," he reported. I was disappointed to hear that was all he had seen.

Side view of Beartooth Butte with Beartooth Lake in the distance as seen from Clay Butte Fire Lookout on the Beartooth Highway

We drove on, enjoying the clear day, and entered Yellowstone by the NE entrance, the first time we've entered that way. We thoroughly enjoyed the views along this route, although the only wildlife we saw were many bison in the Lamar Valley, but we were there during the middle of the day when many animals are taking time out in the shade.

View along the NE Entrance to Yellowstone (coming in from Cooke City)

Near the Lamar Valley along the NE Entrance to Yellowstone
You can see why the larger animals (bison, elk) will come here in the Fall and Winter for feeding...the Soda Butte Creek is to the right, out of the photo. This area adjoins the Lamar Valley, which serves as the wintering grounds for much of Yellowstone's wildlife.

Calcite Springs Overlook (fire in the distance)...Yellowstone River
Yellowstone was crowded, so we visited this part which we've not seen before. After a long day of driving, we overnighted in Gardiner, and then returned to the rig the next day by the "short route"...i.e. 89 to I-90 which also was very beautiful and different topography from what we had been in. The fires kicked up that day, and by the time we returned "home" larger plumes of smoke could be seen from fires burning in and near the park. We hope they are soon helped out by some much needed rain before we visit again in mid-September.

Aug. 25...Big Horn Canyon and Mountains, WY and MT
We threw our overnight stuff in the back of the Jeep "just in case" and headed to the area known as the Big Horn Canyon which spreads across both MT and WY. We had seen photos of the canyon and been told it was beautiful, and I knew that the PBS movie "Cloud: Wild Stallion of the Rockies" had been filmed there, so I was interested in possibly seeing some of the wild Mustangs that live in the area. We were not disappointed at all...in fact we feel like we found another "secret" of the USA that many don't know about. We had booked a boat tour up the Big Horn River into the canyon, but that ended up being cancelled due to some engine problems. As it turned out, that worked to our favor since we ended up going up into the Big Horn Mountains via route 14A (not recommended for big RVs) and staying overnight! The Big Horn Canyon area took us all day to explore though, without the boat tour. We did see some gorgeous wild horses, some Big Horn Sheep, and...in the mountains...several moose! A dividend!

"Admiral" and his family: wild Mustangs of the Pryor Mountains (most of these horses have been named by the locals who keep track of them. I found "Admiral" listed on a blog and there is no mistaking that this is him and his mate and daughter, who is almost identical to her mother, even to the tomahawk blaze on their foreheads.)

Big Horn Canyon, WY end, looking south

Moose, early morning in the Big Horn Mountains (at about 8100 feet elevation)

We found a lodge that had just 2 rooms left, in Burgess Junction, high up in the mountains, and the only place to stay for miles, so we happily stayed overnight to enjoy more of the scenery. At 8100 feet, you are in high mountain meadows with the moose, lots of deer (and hunters scouting them out for the upcoming hunting season), & bear (didn't see any, but they were around the folks warned us at the lodge). Food was great (best home made pie I've had other than "real home made pie") and the scenery was lovely all around. We headed back Sunday morning, taking I-90 to the route through the Crow Indian Reservation to see the northern part of the Big Horn Canyon and the Yellowtail Dam. We weren't impressed with that end. Unless you're a fisherman, you can forget it. We had such a good time that we're hoping to visit it one more time before we leave this area...and hope the boat is fixed!

Other photos in thumbnail format:

(L-R: Big Horn Canyon looking north, sod roof original ranch in the area, Pryor Mountains from an early ranch, wild horses,
moose, moose in evening, bull moose morning, moose habitat at 8100 feet)