Wednesday, January 23, 2008

Winter Montana Mountain Road Trip

Winter Driving in Montana
Winter Montana Mountain Road Trip

This is what a winter Montana Mountain Road Trip can look like. The manager of the Super 8 at Big Timber kindly told us that we had an opportunity to get through the Bozeman Pass when the winds let up in the afternoon, other wise they were predicted to be high again the next day. We drove through the mountains in snow and blowing snow. On the other side was clear sky, cold and clear roads all the way to our destination, Missoula. The Missoula Super 8 had a place to park our until for the night and a warm room for us. Across the road was the Montana Club, a great place to eat. You'll like the lodge-style atmosphere. You can come as you are. The menu has everything from hamburgers to steak and seafood. Their salads were fresh and crisp. The taco salad was very generous and the hamburger grilled to perfection.

Rangitsch Bros RV is one of 2 large dealers in Missoula. They were easy to find, friendly and helpful! There is no sales tax in Montana making it economical to purchase a RV in that state. They do have property tax. We visited with the manager of the repair shop while we had our car checked out and learned that there has not been normal snow fall in the last few years. It has been dry causing a lot of fires. He works with the rescue teams going up in the mountains to help evacuate people in the path of the fires. Sometimes the homeowners do not want to evacuate even when they are in the path of 300 ft high flames. The smoke jumpers have a museum, but it was not open during the winter. We learned that besides working with fires, they are called on to jump in to mountain areas in a medical emergency to stabilize the victim until they can be transported.

Pinter Scenic LoopPinter Scenic Loop

The Pinter Scenic Loop is a 53 mile alternate to Interstate 90 that drives through the mountains and around the Georgetown Lake area starting at Drummond and ending at Anaconda. The big blue sunlight Montana sky contrasting with the snow covered mountains made a beautiful continuing scene as we drove. The road is well maintained. Cabins and resorts surround the Georgetown Lake area. Recreational sports and fishing are available.

You can see abandoned mine equipment on the sides of the mountains. At one time gold was mined in this area. There are areas of ranching and irrigated fields in the valleys. In the 1800's the town of Hall had a station on the Northern Pacific Railroad. It was a livestock and grain shipping point for the area until the bank failed after WWI.

Anaconda Smelter TowerAnaconda Smelter Stack

As you drive into Anaconda you will see a huge smoke stack on the horizon. There were copper mines in the area and other ores from the Butte area were transported here to be processed. This stack is one of the tallest freestanding brick structure in the world. It is 585 feet tall. The inside diameter is 60' at the base and 75' at the top. It is not used and the area has been in the process of being reclaimed.

There is a lot of mining and many areas with oil and natural gas wells in Montana and Wyoming.
It was reported on the news that in one area there was coal smoldering underground for 27 years. A fire in the area had started the coal vein smoldering and it worked it's way back to the top soil and the dry grass just caught fire.

Next Time Not Winter!

So much history in this area! So much to see when it is not winter! The headwaters of the Missouri River are located near Great Falls. Three Forts were built in the 1800's to protect immigrants and later the workers constructing the Trans Continental RR from the Indians. All are open to the public, except in the winter. Deer Lodge, MT has several museums of ranch history and the Old Montana Prison. Yellowstone National Park, Black Hills State Park, and the Badlands are on this route but most of roads are closed in winter.
There are thousands of acres of ranch land being sold in 20 acre tracts for development plus larger tracts for investment ranching. One area along the interstate has white fences along the front of each tract with brick posts at the entrance driveways, but no homes, yet!
We even stayed in Wall, South Dakota after a day of driving in cold, wind and snow and we did not even try to find the famous Drug Store!! Plan your trip anytime from April through October and enjoy the Big Sky Country of the West!

Prairie Schooners

Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Waiting in Big Timber, MT

This is the view from our motel window in Big Timber MT. We pulled off the road yesterday early afternoon because of high winds. They are still gusting up to 50 mph today, but expected to lower. You can see the Crazy Mountains in the background. They were a landmark for the early immigrants as they traveled the Bozeman Trail west. They can be described as having saw-tooth jagged peaks.

Yesterday, we followed the Yellowstone River. It was the same trail that Captain WM Clark with the Lewis & Clark Expedition took on the return from the Pacific. The river was open and flowing in places, but many miles had huge ice chunks.

We tried to imagine what it would have been like riding an original Prairie Schooner (covered wagon) pulled by oxen and seeing the huge mountains ahead that needed to be crossed. And then we experienced the need to adapt to the weather, just like they did! Only we did not need to find wood for fire and water and food in the elements!!

Wild Life

We saw bald eagles sitting in the pasture beside the road along with flocks of wild turkeys. Herds of antelope and mule deer were grazing on the hill sides along with the cattle and horses.


Agriculture

As you can see there was no snow in Wyoming as we drove through. The ranches in the valleys had stacks of bales used to feed their herds of cattle and horses. We could see the white patches of alkalized deposits along the pasture areas where water had accumulated and then evaporated.

It was unusual to see fields of freshly worked ground. Some were even ridge tilled and ready to plant. There were a couple of large fertilizer applicators on the road.

An unusual cattle feeding set up on a hill near Hardin, MT had two large round buildings with pie-shaped fenced pens build down the sides of the hill.



Magnificent views as we drove along the edge of the Big Horn Mountains. There are many historical places to stop and view, but most are closed from December to March. With below zero windchills coming the next few days, we can understand why!

The right lane on the interstate through the mountains has grooves from wear and can be treacherous. It is no wonder these states charge for permits for trucks and commercial vehicles. The snow fences are unique to this area. They remind me of the backs of rows of bleachers without any seats!

Our trips to east have shown what man has done to change and use the land. There are areas like that, but man has mainly learned to adapt to the land and leave the mountains unchanged.

Thank you for checking in on us!
Prairie Schooners