Fall 2018, Day 7 - Montana, and Day 1/3 of The Beartooth Mountains

Friday, August 31, 2018 - Montana, and Day 1/3 of The Beartooth Mountains - 236 miles driving, then 13.5 miles hiking:




I really had nothing planned except get up and drive to the East Rosebud Trailhead, and then hike. Well, ok, I wanted to buy 2 more Crunch bars (on sale at Walgreen's), so I mapped the Walgreen's in Billings. Google Maps had me take an earlier exit, and lo-and-behold I was suddenly driving RIGHT BY a National Monument - Pompeys Pillar National Monument:



Captain William Clark ("the Lewis & Clark Expedition") carved his name in the sandstone butte:


um, no big deal for me, but he also wrote in his journal:


the view was really nice, but I didn't see "emence herds of Buffalow, Elk, and wolves":



It is right alongside the Yellowstone River, which is right up there with the Snake River for "My Favorite River in the United States":



40 minutes later I was over in Billings, Montana. My "Walgreen's stop" actually turned into quite a list: Walgreen's, a bank for ones, gas, US Post Office, Subway for lunch, coffee for the road. Well, it turns out THEY ARE ALL AT FOUR CORNERS OF A SINGLE INTERSECTION:

Thank You God!!!

Kind of wide-open-flat in this part of the country:


But then I saw The Mountains - With Snow:


Beautiful views driving up to the trailhead:

and up at the Trailhead (East Rosebud Lake), there are a bunch of cabins/houses:

(maybe Wendy and I can stay here someday?)

It was 64℉ when I started hiking:



Yes, the views are BEAUTIFUL:

One hour in, looking ahead, toward the sun heading down in the west:

and looking back behind me, back down the valley:


3.5 miles in is Elk Lake:


from the top of Elk Lake, looking back as the sun behind me makes the mountains blaze:


Hiking Note: when you hike into the sun, ALWAYS LOOK BEHIND YOU - the sun will make it all Come Alive!

Hiking up the canyon:


to Rimrock Lake:

at the bottom of Rimrock Lake you cross a bridge:

and hike up the north side of the canyon:

The trail is a trade-off between back-and-forth switchbacks, and nice straight paths:

I got to Rainbow Lake just after 5 PM:


6 PM, looking back down at Rainbow Lake:

(This is a Long Hike!)

7:30 - The Mountains are ABLAZE:

and I set up camp 15 minutes later:



I was camping on the north side of Duggan Lake, with Impasse Falls at the west end:


I was "planning" on hiking 16 miles up to Fossil Lake, but 13.5 miles (uphill) is certainly enough for me today (and its a Perfect Camping Spot). Thank you God for these Beautiful Places, and for giving me the body that allows me to get out and explore!

driving Music for today I did another "R" album:

R.E.M. - Reckoning, 1984 second album


I then listened to a Country Station for about an hour, until I had had enough of that. I found The Mountain, 99.3, out of Red Lodge, Montana:

It sounded GREAT - high-energy 80s and 90s songs!
Which took me to the Trailhead!

Fall 2018, Day 6 - North Dakota

Thursday, August 30, 2018 - North Dakota - 469 miles today:



Because it was closed yesterday evening, I visited the Annunciation Monastery, the "Jewel of the Prairie" this morning:


I arrived at the tail-end of Communion/Worship Service, and sat in the back. When it was over, one of the Sisters (she has been there 53 years) showed me around:



And then it was 134 miles west:

to vist Theodore Roosevelt National Park:


I did the Scenic Loop Drive (counterclockwise):

Because of road paving in the beginning, you follow a "Guide Truck":

but, like hiking, everyone pretty soon hits their own pace:





I went up the side-road to Buck Hill, and hiked to get some great views:




and then back down to "The Loop":


WAIT - What's he doing on "my road"??!?


Boy, out here these Stop Signs are EVERYWHERE:

Can I be like the Hudson River School artists, and just "paint out" the cell tower (and cars)?


Mailed postcards (they really like their "Western thing" out here):


I LOVE their license plates!!!!!:


Then back east to their Painted Canyon Visitor Center:




Then north to their "North Unit":


It is a beautiful, windy (it winds back-and-forth, not windy with gusts of wind) [English can be so tricky sometimes] road to get out to Oxbow Overlook. Sometimes you are all alone on the road:

Sometimes you're not:




Not many people in the Oxbow Overlook parking area:


The "oxbow" was created when the Little Missouri River was blocked (from flowing north) by glaciers, causing it to turn hard to the east:

On my way back I stopped at the "River Bend Overlook":



After leaving the Park, I zigzagged up-over-and-down to get to Montana Route 16 South:

These "High Plains":

remind me of my favorite Clint Eastwood movie - "High Plains Drifter":


Is that one of these "Early Warning Radar Stations"??:


Route 16, and then I-94, go alongside the Yellowstone River (yes, that "Yellowstone"):

checked into the Super 8 at 7:15


WOW. Thank you God for this great adventure day!

Started the morning with quiet music: Dionne Warwick - An Introduction to ...


then driving Music for today I kept moving up the "R" albums:

The Police - Reggatta de Blanc, 1979 second album

I really like this album!

various artists - Reggae Around the World, 1998


various artists - Red Hot + Rio, 1996


various artists - Red Hot + Dance, 1992


Patty Larkin - Red = Luck, 2003


then because I've been driving through some wide-open, desolate country:

Bruce Springsteen - Nebraska, 1982

The characters/stories speak for themselves, so maybe I'll move to something a little more upbeat.

Bruce Springsteen - Tunnel of Love, 1987


lyrice to "Valentine's Day":

I'm driving a big, lazy car, rushin' up the highway in the dark
I got one hand steady on the wheel and one hand's tremblin' over my heart
It's pounding, baby, like it's gonna bust right on through
And it ain't gonna stop 'til I'm alone again with you

...

They say he travels fastest who travels alone
But tonight I miss my girl, mister
Tonight I miss my home

Counting Crows - Recovering the Satellites, 1996 second album


Grateful Dead - Reckoning, 1981 acoustic album


R.E.M. - Reckoning [Deluxe Edition], Live at the Aragon Ballroom, Chicago, Illinois, July 7, 1984