BIG SKY COUNTRY

If you have never been to Montana - plan a trip tomorrow! What a beautiful state and this is a great time of the year to visit. The drive out through North Dakota was rather uneventful; ND really doesn't have a whole lot to offer (in my humble opinion).

Our first stop in Montana was "Pompey's Pillar". This is a rock structure along the Yellowstone River . On the rock, Wm. Clark (of Lewis and Clark) signed his name - amazingly enough, it is still visible.

He called it Pompey's Pillar after his Indian guide's child that he called "Pomp". At this stop, we learned that the Yellowstone River is 650 miles long and is the only undammed river in the lower 48 states. In the days to come, we saw a lot of this rivef.

We spent the night in Billings - this is one to skip as it is a dirty city with overpriced campgrounds (the world's first KOA) and it is hard to get around - If you want to hear a story, ask Mike someday about his experiences in this town.

From there we went to Galatin Gateway, a small village south of Bozeman where we stayed three days with Maggie and Rocky, North Branch friends. That is such a sterile sentence but the experience was truly remarkable. They had a vision and built a ranch at the base of a mountain. With their 2 horses, 4 mules, 1 dog, and at least 4 cats, they enjoy a good life on this little piece of heaven. This is a sunrise picture of the entrance to their home. (Yes, those are snow capped mountains in the distance.)

And these fellows greeted us each morning. (You can see their home up the hill in the background.)
The first night, we were told to "keep the windows open and listen for the elk" after we had the opportunity to see them coming down out of the hills at dusk. And listen we did - Elk bugle! Oh my gosh, it is such an unusual sound that Mike and I actually laid in bed and giggled at the commotion. We could hear them knocking horns together and "talking". We heard this every night, but not to the extend of that first night - what an experience.

Maggie planned a day trip for us to Yellowstone Park so Mike and I headed out by 8:30 one morning to explore the northeast part of the park. About 2 hours into it, we decided that this is a place to which we need to devote at least a week in the near future. Within a few miles of the entrance, we spotted these guys.

We were north of Old Faithful, but had plenty of opportunity to see geysers in more natural settings.

Did you know there is a Grand Canyon and HUGE waterfall in Yellowstone?

There were some beautiful views...

The same components that cause the geysers create some very unique structures.

Near the end of our day, we had an escort out of the park...


Once we left the park (I could share 157 more photos, but have chosen not to...), we headed back toward Gallatin Gateway and saw this daddy and baby Rocky Mountain BigHorn Sheep along the road.

WHAT A DAY!

On another day, we visited Big Sky sky area and home to the rich and famous - since a gate was open, we took a drive to see some of those homes up close and personal - WOW. Once again, I took a hundred or so pictures, but this one of our evening campfire is my favorite. It shows our host and hostess, in front of their home, looking to the mountains for the ever present elk.

Thanks, Maggie and Rocky, for sharing your part of Montana with us.