Chief Joseph Scenic Hwy

Look for Chris....

Cooke City, Montana

Exiting the Beartooth Pass we continued our drive into Cooke City.
This small town has a population of about 140 people according to a website I found, but it doesn't look like that many in the midst of it. We stopped to have a bite to eat at Beartooth Cafe, and as we sat waiting on our food the power went out, one of the staff members told someone else to go get Ronnie, and Ronnie came back to turn on the generator, and run an extension cord for the radio. The power was out for about 15minutes, our food arrived in the dim lit restaurant, only lit by the sun seeping through the windows. Our food must have gotten done just in time! I had the grilled chicken sandwich and Chris had the famous FUNK burger, they were both delicious!! Later we found out that the power goes out often, due to the wind. The power came back on and a set of new guests came in to sit beside us in the corner I told one of them not to trip over the exstention cord, he said, "That would be awesome," as he looked up at the stack of plates the cord ran by in the serving window. Leaving the restaurant, we saw a big black tour bus up the street and realized we were sitting next to Korn, Chris recognized them. We walked down to the Beartooth Plateau Outfitters and there stood Finny leaned up against a wooden fence post using one leg as a prop, cowboy hat slightly tilted downward, hav'in a smoke. He leaned upright when we approached and shuffled towards the door to open it for us. Entering the store it became apparent that this store remained silent for most of every day. Now a local, Finny moved to Cooke City from Minnesota. Finny is a guide, he takes visitors on pack trips and fishing trips, and he has high hopes of owning part of the Plateau Outfitters some day. We spent the next hour or so chatting with him, and our conversation carried outside to the front of the store. He told us about the forest fires and how everyone from the town comes together, the old, the young, everyone who is able runs to put it out. He says, "In a town like this, the whole thing could go up so fast, so everyone has to work together to protect it". A few minutes later here comes about a 30year old fire truck with three teenagers lined across the seat heading up the mountain. Another young man drives up in his 'Asphalt' truck and tells Finny that there is a fire to the east and they need everybody they can get. The guy jumps back in his truck and continues down the road, jumping out of his truck and running into businesses. Young people, waiters and waitresses, ran out of the salon jumping in their cars heading east. Finny looked at us and said, "Well, you wanna go put out a fire". He kind of laughed but we think he may have been serious. Of course we declined...well for one, we have not the slightest on how to tackle a forest fire...I mean without stating the obvious. There is one road that runs through Cooke City, and the fire to the east was the way we were heading. Finny asked the 'Asphalt' guy if the road was closed yet...he said, "No, but you'd better hurry". So Chris and I made our way that direction but we stopped once we saw the smoke. I can't say exactly what moved me but I found my heart aching, and a sense of urgency...but I was helpless. I thought...if only I was somewhat trained, or if I had a fire suite, and did they need this, or that...I never thought I would experience the realness of a forest fire, or be right at the foot of trees burning, it created a stir, a reality to life in a National Forest, not only life of everything that is mother nature but the people who live in these small towns, how they live uniformly with the forest. Tourist started showing up trying to get through and we told some of them that the road was closed, some sighed in inconveince saying, "We have driven all day for this," and another lady asked me what was going on...had there been an accident? I wanted to say so many things to this lady that still make my blood temperature rise thinking about it, so obviously it is inappropriate to say here, but instead, I point with my pointer finger to the smoke billowing up right in front of her and said, "It's a forest fire". Chris and I suggested to some travelers not to get out of their cars and go down there, there was already to many people. Us saying this because there were tourist down in the midst trying to take pictures, while the towns people were fighting a fire. One day in this town and we felt like we were becoming a local...such a warm place, that you can't help but respond to it. We got in the truck and turned back towards Cooke City, we sat on our tailgate, and watched people come back through town, we were unsure what we were going to do because we were on our way to a Wal-mart in Cody, WY, and Yellowstone was west and we weren' t ready for that yet. Finny came back and caught us up, and told us immediately that we could stay the night on store property, grateful we backed in the truck. The next morning the fire was still burning but they were letting travelers through following a pilot. We went in the store to say thank you and farewell to Finny.

On Our Behalf: We did take pictures of the forest fire while driving up to it, the evening of and through it the following day. We were respectful and kept a safe distance.

Photo by: Chris Taylor

Cooke City @ Night

Awesome.

Beartooth Pass...Snow in June

Little Bighorn

Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument memorializes a major battle fought on June 25th 1876, between Lakota, Cheyenne and Arapaho Indians, against the United States Army. These tribes were fighting to preserve their traditional way of life as nomadic buffalo hunters. The U.S. Army was carrying out the Grant Administrations instructions to remove the Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne peoples to the great Sioux Reservation in Dakota Territory.

I rose before the sun just in time to see it come up. We were set to leave camp at Red Shale early and hit the road to put some miles behind us, heading to Red Lodge. On the way we would pass Little Bighorn so we decided to stop and pay our respects. Approaching the gate we realized there would be a fee to enter, we almost did a u-turn (it is easy to get burnt-out paying fees), but instead approached the gate with a little hesitation. I had my $10 in hand, the man at the gate told us to proceed, we noticed a sign that read, Today Only-Free. The date, June 25th, we just happened to visit on the 136th anniversary of the Little Bighorn Battle of 1876!! "I can't believe our luck," we heard a guy say to his wife later in the morning and we wonder if the same thing happened to them:) We went to a ceremony of the Lakota tribe, listened to drums and chanting, and were mesmerized by a Native American in his full garb, tribal dancing. It was a powerful experience bringing an emotion that was unexpected. Maybe it is the land, or how sacred Native Americans still hold their tradition, and the respect they have for their elders that fought for them and lead their people to battle. I found myself wiping tears from my cheeks. We visited the learning center, listened to a ranger talk about the battle, and drove through the Little Bighorn Battlefield identifying the places that certain events occurred. After our drive it was almost noon so we stayed for lunch, that the monument park provided, a sandwich, chips, an apple, and a Coke or Pepsi. We sat on the grass next to a family group of  Native Americans. We watched a charge on a hill where Native Americans yelped and charged their horses in honor of the battle. This experience was extra ordinary because on our drive up the Native American Scenic Byway in South Dakota we went through the Lakota reservation, and then on this day we went to their ceremony and listened to them speak. The chief of the tribe expressed that they barely had enough money to make the journey from South Dakota and they held a blanket offering. One of the head ladies of the tribe laid out a blanket and people went to the front laying their donation on the blanket. 

Red Shale Campground

Custer National park has three campgrounds that are free of charge, one being Red Shale. Continuing on 212 we found this lovely place, inhibited by no one, and we were free to pick any site we wanted, there was only one with a view like we had. I was so excited to find a place that was free in a National Park and made me even more excited to visit Montana!! I found Red Shale on visitmt.com, I would say the best 'state' site I have found...thank you Montana. We turned into the campground stopping to read the billboard posted with information about rattlesnakes, ticks, firewood, safety, the land, etc. then went to find a campsite, that was it, no registration, nobody to talk to, just a free camp spot for the night. Love It!!! The hottest day we have experienced on our trip reaching 105 degrees, the wind a blissful blessing, we put the canopy up for much needed shade!! It is heavy to load and takes up space but man are we glad we brought it...shade is hard to come by out west. Setting up our chairs we sat down to a view overlooking a meadow that turned into mountains, Don't Fence Me In, ringing in my head. We did some reading, and listened to the pure beauty of silence. Evening began to fall and I knew that the deer would be coming out soon, I glanced up from writing in my journal, and there she was with her fawn. I through my journal in the chair and grabbed the binoculars (we use them every day), I watched the white tailed deer walk against the fence as far as they could until they reached the wide open space of the meadow and began to trot with increasing speed across with full awareness, a hint of fear in the mother's eye. I watched a red-headed woodpecker disappear into his hole in the tree, mountain bluebirds feeding, and crickets that made the whole ground jump with every step I took. We built a fire to cook dinner, but it is so dry that it's not as enjoyable, it is a little nerve racking, with every wind. There is no way, with extreme dryness that you can't worry and think about how just a little fuel...just one carried ember could ignite, turning into an uncontrolable wild fire. And the wind out here is so unpredictable. Many places have fire bands. Oh but what a find!!

Red Shale had the best picnic tables and fire pits that we have ever seen at a campsite!! Notice above pictures. We would like one of each:)

The Endless Road into Montana...

                                         

Hwy 212 from the Walmart in Gillette,
Wyoming, into Montana. We nicknamed
Gillette 'peel out capital of the world'.
We have no idea why everyone feels the
need from sun up throughout the night to peel out
but it is a overly popular thing to do in Gillette.

A suggested route...

Fellow travelers, Will and Patty, told us about this off-road adventure, right up our alley of travel. This route is a must to anyone who is visiting Devil's Tower, and enjoys going off the beaten path, not minding creeping at speeds of 5 to 10mph down gravel road 838. Roads like this allow us to travel inside the trees and beautiful mountains...opening up more appreciation for the spender of great views. Warren Peak Lookout Tower is on the route and the views are breathtaking. The lookout tower provides views of the Black Hills National Forest, and 80% of all forest fires in the Black Hills are spotted at this location. Talk about a panoramic view!! Coming out on the other side of the 838 gravel road we headed east on paved hwy24 towards Aladdin, population:15. We stopped at Cindy B's for lunch, delightful, a suggestion from Will and Patty, suggested to them by a local. The burgers are delicious, and can be halfed considering they are 1/2 pounders!! And don't leave without trying the fried green beans!! We had great conversation with Cindy and her sister, and signed the guest book, that Cindy has had going since 2007, "Great food, Beautiful People". The conversation plus the wonderful food made for an unforgettable experience.