Montana: Big Sky Country Yee Haw!

Tuesday morning, Eastern Washington.

We said when we moved up here, it would be an adventure.

A twist of fate and some creative planning had Eric and I on our way to Yellowstone National Park last week.

I NEVER thought I’d get to Yellowstone, much less Montana. But a call from a recruiter to Eric for a job in Michigan for a short contract required he take his car. And since I didn’t have any major commitments until Friday, we worked it out. I was to help with the driving as far as Billings, MT, then catch a flight home.

Montana is an amazing place. A lot of history, most of it sad (a lot of the Indian Wars took place there, Little Big Horn, The Nez Perce, etc.). Many people also worked to preserve as much as possible, beginning with Teddy Roosevelt. It was THE first National Park in the US. I might add Yellowstone the probably the BEST PARK for kids! Lots of bubbly hot stuff to spur imaginations 😉

Here’s a quote from The Total Yellowstone History page: “In 1872 the vast wilderness of the west was viewed by most Americans as something to be tamed, to be explored, settled, mined, logged, ranched and farmed. For most at that time the west was not valued for its wilderness, but rather for the material treasures that it could yield. It is remarkable that during such an age Yellowstone was set aside as the world’s first national park. That such a park could have been created more than a century ago is perhaps the most illustrative indicator of how unique and magnificent the Yellowstone country was perceived to be, even then.

Of the undisturbed ecologically cohesive areas so common in western America in 1872, few remain. Now, at a time when the face of the earth has become so ravaged that few truly natural areas remain, the Yellowstone country assumes a value far greater than the original proponents of the national park ever could have anticipated. Here we find the largest essentially intact ecosystem remaining in the lower 48 states – millions of acres of diverse mountain wilderness relatively untouched by the imprint of man, much the same as it was hundreds, or even thousands, of years ago. Here in Yellowstone National Park and in the surrounding millions of acres of national forest, nearly every species of plant and animal life that John Colter could have seen when he ventured into the area almost 200 years ago continues to flourish.”

The evidence from the fire twenty-two years ago was hard to miss. Lots of dead trees still stand, and some have fallen, but there’s a brand new forest which has sprung up in it’s place.

Since we only had one day, we chose to see the Mammoth hot springs area, Old Faithful and the valley where we’d have the best chance at seeing the wildlife towards the end of the day. My list was short. I saw all the usual suspects: Elk, Bison, Deer, a lone wolf (actually heard one!). I also wanted to see the antelope. I didn’t see any in the park, but it wasn’t until the next morning on the way to Billings I saw a few small herds.

It was one of my dreams to go to this park. It was a very short stay, but we look to go there again.

Here are the best pictures of the trip.

The Gorge area, Eastern Washington.

Here are some images from Bozeman, MT.

We found the Farmer’s market. More of a bazaar than a produce market.

A soap wranglin’ cowboy. He makes really good soap! And I couldn’t resist a photo opp with him :-).

This is the motel we stayed at in Bozeman. There was a MASSIVE hail storm recently. We saw a LOT of cars with golf ball sized dents on hoods. It tore up the siding of the building!
The Gateway to Yellowstone, North entrance.