Montana

I'm back on blog!! Sort of.. only a quickie while bike is in for repairs..  now where did I leave off..

Here I am leaving Yellowstone (in August) and found this important little sign to pass on my way to the north of America..

I'm on my way to Bozeman Montana to visit and stay with Barton Churchill, whom I met last year in Russia.. a man with very good taste, he rides KTM as well!

Best add the Siberian flashback photo here along with Dean and Paul Martinello, from Adelaide!! in August 2010 (photo by Walter Colebatch):

Now a year later at Barton's house in Montana!!  I think we both look a bit different.. many many miles/km's after!

I know, the lighting sucks on this one, but I loved seeing Barton's dog, Amelia, smiling so nicely behind us.. such a good girl!!

Montana is a place I've wanted to go my whole life.. cowboys, ranches, horses, big sky, the whole deal appeals to me.. but I never really thought of it this way.. (took this photo through the store front window in Bozeman, if you can't read past the sunglasses, it says "The Green Coalition of Gay Loggers for Jesus") All righty then! That would be a busy mob keeping up with the politics... ;-)

After a great visit with Barton.. he changed my oil for me.. ;-)))) and we ate the best sushi in the world right here in Bozeman steak/cattle/ranch country..!

I was off on the road toward Canada and Alaska which I must accomplish before the weather changes up that way.. hard to imagine as it's so warm here in Bozeman.

So the other stuff I dreamed of is clearly here too.. big sky country!

I can not believe that house is abandoned!!  I'll take it.. I'd live there in a heartbeat!!

Big day riding, I make my way onto Flathead Indian Reservation where I set up camp for the night..

I know, I live in a dream world. But was hoping to see native culture happening here, maybe two men in a canoe with feathers fishing for dinner.. but so far I mostly see fast food joints and RV's... bummer..

Great night of tuna from a tin and crackers on the lake, looking forward to morning ride through Glacier National Park..

Beginning Glacier National Park

The poor fisherman.. waiting so patiently...

And a drive through the park

Here is a native Flathead man.. who brought me to the front of the line of traffic he is stopping for construction..  Absolutely hilarious man.. I was stuck there for 15 minutes, and couldn't stop laughing..

The cars behind me don't know what they are missing with this guy.. total comedian!  If the traffic people were on motorcycles, they would be having more fun.. ;-)

Haystack Falls

Watching a ranger talk is not normally what I'd put in a blog, but I really thought what this guy was saying is important.. he is showing us how the glaciers used to look compared to today, but the big point to note from him.. the glaciers are EXPECTED TO BE GONE.. by 2020...!!!!!  That's only 8 years away.. made me a bit sad and wanted to mention to you so that if your goal is to see "Glacier National Park",  you might want to get here sooner than later!

Another note.. the birds on the picture board the ranger holds above are called White Tail Ptarmigan. They also suffer from the effects of global warming.  Most animals that change color, do so as the season changes.  These birds however, change on a time clock rather than season.. so they are turning white for winter earlier than they should now since warmer weather means later winter.  Unfortunately, makes them very easy to see for predators long before the snow now falls.

 Disappearing glacier...

So I've set up my tent and decide to go for a walk.. some things to keep in mind as a solo traveler in bear country..

 

I was scared walking the trail back to these water falls.. I rattled my keys for noise the whole way.. at the end of the trail a couple there says, "did you see bears?"  I said no, thank goodness, however this couple was very happy to say they were right on the track!  Am I the only weirdo who is not keen to come across bears on my walk??

OK, there's one.. far enough away and only interested in berries it looks like.. whew! When I was nearly back to my motorcycle, a couple with 2 small children were starting down the trail.  I warned them about the bears because they were letting their little ones run ahead of them (running small people = bear targets?)... they didn't stop their children, but the Dad ran back to the car to get the camera, in hopes of seeing these bears.. don't mind the children!

Moving on to my next campsite..

I found hiking not to be as enjoyable when constantly worried for big grizzly bears.  I might be over worried, as most people around here don't seem to be..at all!  I'm going to hide out in my tent for the night.. I'll be safe in there.... yeah, uh huh.. ;-)  As they drum into you around here on paper notices.. do NOT leave any food within 20 meters of the tent, not even a water bottle, put all food in storage lockers or tie into a tree, including cosmetics, anything that smells of food, might invite a bear into your tent..  geez!  I've got my little airhorn, a tire iron and a leatherman (with knife part already out) ready for attack right by my pillow.. but I kept my water bottle and took my chances.. see you!

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park.. has been on my list for years!! 

But first a little lead in to it.. Traveling west from South Dakota,  I stopped for the night outside the park in Cody Wyoming.  Named after the all too famous William "Buffalo Bill" Cody.

A bit like Elvis, could swear I actually saw the guy alive and well walking down the street back in Custer, South Dakota!  Could Micheal be nearby??

Found some hot springs further along the road that remind me a bit of Pammukkale Turkey!  Pammukkale was really dramatic having never seen a landscape like it before.  I remember thinking while there that I wonder if any other place on the planet would have such calcium mineral formations, and here it is!  (granted, not as nice as Pamukkale..)  In a place called Thermopolis, Wyoming.. interesting name!  Being that Pammukkale was at a place in Turkey called Heiropolis!!  On the other side of the planet!

Now on to Old Trail Town Wyoming.. laid out by Bill Cody in 1895..  Most of these western states have plenty of history, wagon wheels, and buffalo grazing in the field.  But this old town drew me in because it has many of the original cabins.

This is where I have always thought I'm meant to be.. a pioneer woman in the wild west..   However, in this daydream I've often had (instigated by all the best western movies I watched as a kid on Sunday mornings with my Dad), I imagined I would be rescued by a long black hair native man on a pinto horse with lots of feathers and beads of color and ride off into the sunset!!   I probably shouldn't admit my dreams in writing, should I!!

Oh dear.. back to Old Town..

Still taking the long way around, I go up to Red Lodge and carry over to Yellowstone via the Beartooth Highway. (which weaves in and out of Montana and Wyoming borders) Highly recommended by many as then most beautiful road in America!  After coming across the midwest flatlands of corn and soybeans, I won't argue with this claim..

Even at this elevation I get one of my biggest bug splats ever!

Now for a bit of Yellowstone.. Finally!!

What is one of the biggest attractions to aim for here??  Old Faithful, of coarse!  By the looks of the crowd here, "biggest" was the key word!

 

This is what we've all been looking at for the last 45 minutes..

And then.. pressure..!!! I've met a few people, let alone Mother Nature, who do exactly this!! ;-)

Oops, felt the need to pop my head up.. to ruin a perfectly good photo! ;-)

 

Remnants of a forest fire.. 1980's?










Heading on down the road, as we ALL do!!

Close call!!

Plenty of buffalo in the road, and from what I can tell, it's their preferred track as well.

Kiss My Ass, comes to mind...!!

Made my way to camp..  lots of warnings about bears, not many campsites available.. not much food in my pack, I go to a little community called Fort Yellowsotne built by the US Army in 1886 as a base to control the Sioux Native people.  Now it's "tourist central"..as you might imagine and I find these elk also prefer the freedom of this very public land.

U.S. Post Office.. and the local loitering elk!

The next morning, I scrape the frost off my bike's seat and make my way out for an early morning ride.. hoping to see a grizzly bear!!  It's on my list.. as well as the wolves I've been listening to, but not seeing.  Anyway, I found a dirt track.. yay!!  After all the civilized paved highways to get here, and even within here, this is a real treat..

 

I made it to the east side of the park where I knew some people saw a grizzly yesterday. I hope with my zoom you can see Mr. Grizzly.. this is my first one to see and I'm happy to keep my distance.

Bear crosses river and has a one on one face off with a lone buffalo..  Having the time to watch for a while, when I knew where the bear was heading,  I was so ready to see it fly.. and then hide my eyes.  But nope!  After the stand off, the bear walked on.. and ate grass!!  Fascinating!

Aw well, Grizzly bear I was glad to see, even at such a distance.. better than nothing!

On a rush back to camp to beat the sunset , Indian Creek camp to be exact at the Northwest side of the park, I loved the moon...  was just such a pretty dusk, why rush...

Couldn't decide which one I like the best so I show you both.. hope you can see the elk, lovely lucky place to be on this night in the world..

Moon included it was about 5 AM when I was listening to the gorgeous sound of many howling wolves from my little tent.. they were far enough away, but close enough I could make out either a little one, or something smaller within the howling group.. do coyotes howl?