We sadly had to leave Jake and Monique’s place and head east to visit another spot in Kathy’s National Park book. It was a two hour drive through Missoula and towards Butte to a town called Deer Lodge. We made it at about 2:30 pm and were lucky enough to catch the 3 pm tour.
We were blown away at this national historical site. It is so well preserved and is still an actual working cattle ranch, one of two in the National Park System. If you are in the area, stop by this place. It is incredible. Instead of going into details, here’s a link to the history. https://www.nps.gov/grko/index.htm
The tour of the home is amazing and the guide was so informative of the history and characters. After the guided tour we walked the grounds, buildings, and exhibits until closing time. We could have spent the day here.
We headed a few miles south to a wild camp area and set up for the night near a rushing stream.
Today we’d like to wish Kathy’s parents a happy 60th anniversary
The trail camp was a bit noisy by the road, but given the name, there were some good trails. I walked a loop that was nearly 4 miles across streams and through lush forests. Immediately after breaking camp, we crossed into Idaho. Shortly into our days drive, we stopped at a grocery store and I found some issues with Howie and the lights. It took a bit to find the problem with the extension line which had wires that had become disconnected and shorted. Fortunately there was a Napa and Ace Hardware and I was able to fix the cable and replace the blown fuses in the parking lot. People were incredibly nice as two or three checked in on us as I made the repairs.
Along the way was Big Hole National Historic Park, another battlefield in the Indian Wars that led to Sitting Bull eventually laying down his weapons. A quick storm blew three and dropped some rain at the park just after the dogs got to stretch their legs.
We drove up this beautiful canyon and over a pass with a Ski Resort and then down a long canyon/valley towards Hamilton, MT, where an old friend has settled. We rolled in around 5 to their beautiful homestead and spent three nights there, taking in the local town, doing some fishing, and catching up.
Jake and Monique were married in Hamilton during Covid, after their original venue cancelled their wedding. They found an Air BnB in Hamilton that was available, sight unseen, and fell in love with the area and eventually bought a house and moved there with his daughter. The town is beautiful, and there is hunting and fishing 10 minutes from their home.
Jake and Monique took us down to their favorite restaurant, Naps, that had great hamburgers, salads, and nachos, and then Jake showed us around the area, including the river they frequently fish.
I was able to get some maintenance completed on Howie on Saturday, including my first diesel oil change, and one of the two fuel filters (I couldn’t get the cap off of the engine block one, uggh). Jake had the 1 1/8” socket I didn’t have and a step ladder to get into the engine compartment. He also took us for a ride in his Tesla, which kept a smile on Kathy’s face. I think she might want one when we return. Monique has a horse who became a quick friend of Kathy. She spent the several days feeding, petting, and conversing with him.
Saturday there was a town fest that had the streets in downtown closed so we had lunch at the food trucks and checked out Jake’s favorite store, Fords. The town oh Hamilton could pass for Bedford Falls, in “It’s a Wonderful Life”, and apparently in winter is is beautifully adorned with lights amidst the snow. Later on Saturday Jake loaded up his Side By Side and the four of us headed to to twin lakes, way up in the Bitterroot Mountains where they tried to catch some fish. Monique was successful back down near the dinner camp at the river. Jake lit a fire, cooked hamburgers and beans, and then we packed up and headed back. It’s nice up north where daylight extends to 10pm.
Sunday we parted ways, and headed east a bit to catch another national historic site. It was a great 4 days with two incredible people. We look forward to seeing them again soon.
We left Yellowstone from one of the northern campgrounds around 11am. We missed the checkout at 10 while we were walking the pups. Honestly I was not tracking such an early checkout time from a campground.
We drove the Grand loop again except this time we stayed east to get the western shores of Yellowstone lake. We stopped at the Fishing Bridge campground to drop the waste water as we progressed around to the lake. We saw tons of bison, a herd of elk, and some deer along the way. We stopped at the headwaters campground between the parks so I could take a call and Kathy found an old telephone and some cute ground squirrels.
We continued on, crossed into Grand Tetons National Park, and stopped at the marina visitors center up north to get stamps, learn some things, and buy a sticker. Just north of Jenny Lake Kathy had some coordinates of the site some relatives of here were spread so we took the pups and hiked out so she could lay some flowers for them. Definitely a nice eternal view.
We stopped at Jenny lake for a while, reminiscing about her relatives while taking in the breathtaking scenery. It was getting late and since we could not get a campground we headed towards Jackson. Traffic into and out of that city was crawling and bumper to bumper until we reached the western edge. I had been looking on iOverlander for a free camp site, yet we found a nice spot, not free, but ready for us called Trail Camp.
We took off from Bighorn Canyon national recreation area, and headed to Yellowstone. The drive in from the east entrance is absolutely gorgeous. The first animals we saw were at the first pass, a small herd of bighorn sheep. We were excited to get to Yellowstone, but probably more excited about stopping for showers. We spent about 90 minutes getting all cleaned up at Fishing Bridge RV park, got the dogs walked, and then headed towards the campground at Indian Creek.
The second animal that we saw, was a black bear. This surprised me because I’ve been here a couple of times and haven’t seen bears at all. The bear was crossing a small valley and people were trying to take pictures, parking was terrible, but I found a spot a little ways up the road. It turns out the bear was walking towards me, so I got a couple nice pictures and a video. From there, we saw a Buffalo, some elk, and deer.
We decided just to drive just to get to the campground, it was already about 3 o’clock. Kathy made a delicious dinner and I met a couple of neighbors. The first day we finished at 182 miles of driving.
I start the day off with a hike near the campground and manage about 3 miles with Zuzu. We got going and headed north to Mammoth Hot Springs and hiked the wooden plank trail around the spring area. I’ve been craving a hamburger so we stopped at the diner in the park and enjoyed a hamburger and some chili fries.
We continued up the grand loop road towards the north eastern gate, saw some beautiful waterfalls, and a bunch more buffalo and elk. At one point going over the last pass the traffic has stopped, and we found out there was a buffalo walking on the road, holding up traffic, for about a mile up to the pass.
We passed through Canyon Village again, and then headed down to Old Faithful, where we stopped to get some drinks while waiting for the next eruption, and managed to miss the next eruption (it was 10 minutes early. So we walked around for a bit, saw some more geysers, called family, and stayed for the next showing (20 minutes late). We headed back to camp, which was a little over an hour drive and had leftover Albondigas (meatball soup). It was about 9 at this point. The second day we managed 140 miles within the park.
My truck has been throwing engine codes, and the engine light came on twice. I did some research and it has something to do with the DPF (diesel particulate filter). When I got back to camp, I did some research, and I’m gonna try a couple of things before I have to take it in. I guess if it irritates me too much, I’ll have to do a “Delete” on the system to eliminate these issues. Not too worried now though as some fuel additives, higher rpm driving, and stop idling the truck, will probably fix the issue.
We got off to an early start today and were on the road by 9. It rained throughout the night and started again as we left camp. We watched the two deer in the brush that had crossed the river the night before and saw two others in the other side of the access area. We chased several pheasants down the road as we drove out. They’re like roadrunners of the prairie.
The Battle of Bighorn National park is under construction and we were fortunate to visit on Sunday as they were open on the weekends. We walked in the rain around the national cemetery and then took the informative 5 mile drive across the battlefield.
I’ve read about Custer and the battle, but it sure was different seeing how the battle transpired and being in the space added perspective. There was a phone number and signposts to describe each area and I thoroughly enjoyed the history.
We continued down the road towards Bighorn Canyon National Recreation Area but stopped in billings at a grocery store to resupply. I walked the pups and then we set out the chair and ate lunch.
The truck posted a check engine light at the refuel point so I looked at the codes. Nothing seemed out of place so I cleared the codes and went on our way. We barely made the visitors center before closing at 4:30 but Kathy managed to get her stamps. We decided to drive up the canyon and take in the views. The high point was the Snell Ranch with a clear running stream and old log buildings.
We decided to camp here at Horseshoe Bend campground. $18 for the spot, easy leveling, and no mosquitoes. It was taco dip for dinner and then we watched the sunset. We are at 3700 ft here and the mountains in each side get up to 13000 feet. We logged 255 miles today and about 10 hours of exploring. Tomorrow we head to Yellowstone. Two days there, one in Grand Tetons and then on to see an old friend.
I started the day off with a long walk with the dogs. I had planned to get up early and hike a trail but I managed to sleep until 7. We had a long days drive today into and across Montana and we needed to get going. Yesterday’s post noted bison and turkeys, and that was the first two hours of the morning. I’ll pick up from there.
Leaving Theodore Roosevelt NP we headed east and then north. There are tons of oil fields up here and the place is booming. The road (85) actually is a 4-lane divided highway, which made the travel quick. And then I saw a sign …. Lewis and Clark Museum.
This museum in Alexander, ND is named Lewis and Clark Museum, but is really a pioneer museum of the area and celebrates all the families that settled and built in this land. The first piece was a log cabin that one family with 8 boys lived in. It was decorated with some early 1900’s frontier artifacts. The main museum is the old 3-story schoolhouse. They have a little bit of everything in there, from frontiersmen and trappers coats made from buffalo, beaver, horse, or any other animal hide, to a history of electricity and radios coming to the area. The museum was built and funded by families in the area who paid for shadowboxes where they could display family photos, heirlooms, Knick Knacks, etc.
The next building housed a history of farm equipment from the area in this massive barn. There were even a couple of Ford model T’s and an International Truck. We spent two hours there, the last portion being in the gift and coffee shop where we met Cathy.
Cathy grew up here and told us stories of her grandfather and grandmother who settled here in 1902, where he first built a small shack on their property. Her grandmother told him to wait on building the house and get the barn completed because that would make them money. Cathy said the barn still is used and maintained on the property. We’ve seen quite a few exhibits and museums, and this one is the best so far. And Cathy also said the town has a hamburger fry in the park every summer Saturday, if we wanted to attend. It’s been going on for the past 70 years. Small town America is such a special thing.
We walked the pups and then got back on the road. Another hour up was the famous Fort Union Trading Post. The actual post was destroyed by the army after it was purchased by the Government and then abandoned for Fort Buford down the river, but this reconstruction is beautiful and gives a good sense of the fort at the time. During its 50 years it was a major trading post for the American fur Company where Indians and trappers and settlers could trade goods from around the world.
The rest of the day was driving down I-95 and then to our campsite, which we found on iOverlander, and turned out to be perfect spot at a fishing access point on the Bighorn River. It started sprinkling and then the thunder and lightning and downpour came. One of my happy places…rain on the roof while camping. Tomorrow we have another big day to get to Yellowstone. I managed to get two nights there in a campground; it’s a tent site, but with parking, so the TC will be great.
We left Stanton, ND about 10:30 am and headed west towards the next stop. I had spoken to my dad the night before and he noted that my grandfather was born in Killdeer, ND, which we would be passing through. About a half hour later we stopped there for fuel and some quick groceries. We looked on the OnX map tool for and properties owned by Dullum’s but couldn’t find any. We stopped by the community center and chatted with the folks in there, asking where to get postcards, but it seems Killdeer is not a postcard place. Oh well. One of the guys in the community center used to live in Buckeye, AZ so we joked about the weather.
We meandered on down the road and got to the park around 1:30. The park has a Northern and a Southern section and we planned for the northern. The visitors center was small but effective and we decided to find a place to have lunch.
The picnic area was occupied by a big group of kids so we proceeded into the campground. There were tons of spots opened and we decided to call it a day and set up camp. I had looked at iOverlander and did not see lots of camping spots at the next stop, about an hour down the road, and the campground was nice.
the next morning we got up, packed, and took the scenic drive through the park. It was not only filled with spectacular views, but we were able to see some bison and turkeys running around. Definitely a great way to start the day. We only managed 120 miles getting here, but it was beautiful.
Kathy and I were talking with the nice lady last night and she is originally from Thatcher, AZ and her husband is from Marana. They live now in a small town in South Dakota after moving to/from Nebraska. Small world
I got up early and took the pups for a long walk. It was almost 2 miles around the campground. There are tons of sites at this place. And it is well manicured and beautiful. The pups got to walk in the lake, even Zuzu. It’s funny how Oscar has changed since first moving to CO. He hated getting his feet wet. I guess AZ changed that. lol. It turns out this lake is where the trapper, Hugh Glass, was attacked by a bear and left for dead but crawled 200 miles to get help. Leonardo Decaprio played the part in The Remanent.
The campground had showers so we cleaned up and continued to head north. Jessica also mentioned there was an enchanted highway along our path, so we kept our eyes peeled. The sculptures were hard to miss. I’ve posted them in the photo gallery.
There are three national parks/monuments in North Dakota so we are off to see some on the remnants of Indian Villages that Lewis and Clark met and traded goods. This path we are on for a bit is part of the Lewis and Clark trail. I have always been in awe of that expedition and what they accomplished for this country.
The replica of the lodges used was really cool. We only had 15 minutes to visit since we crossed a time zone and we were late arriving. The rangers were awesome and provided suggestions for camping.
We stayed in Stanton at the city park/campground. Again, power for AC and DEET for the mosquitos. The place was quiet and we slept well. If. And we crossed into North Dakota with a 215 mile drive today.
I started out the day helping Riley with some yard maintenance; mowing the lawn, edging the front sidewalks, and raking the leaves. We ended up filling his garbage bin with yard waste. Kathy packed up the truck, I took a quick shower, and we headed off to find some Bagels. There are two Einstein Bagel places in Tapid City but one was closed for the summer and the other was closed due to lack of staff. We gave up and headed to Riley and Lizzy’s place. She had a cool little place that is constructed for gardening and small farm animals. Thy have planted a huge number of crops in the containers and boxes around the home. They even have 6 chickens. It’s a really cool place and this will be their first full summer with the gardens.
Since we didn’t get breakfast, we had lunch with them at a local Irish restaurant. Another great visit and good food. We said our goodbyes and headed out of town toward the minuteman middle monument. It is about 1 hour east of Rapid City, just past Ellsworth AFB and we were amazed at how many missiles the world still has. A different time than when our parents grew up.
We turned Howie northward and spent the next 3 hours crossing the vast grasslands of central and eastern South Dakota. We did pass the 45th parallel are are officially halfway between the equator and the top of the earth. Again, the lack of public lands makes it hard to find camping so we drove until about 7PM and got a rather expensive spot at a Shadehill State park, which charges out of staters more for the same campsite. It’s beautiful, and a nice lady helped us reserve a spot with her app. $40 for the night, although it does have an electrical hookup and showers.
Chicken and rice for dinner and we finally settled down about 11:30.
The night was cool and a nice thunderstorm rolled through about midnight. The Trick Camper rocked around a bit but the wind map only showed 10-20mph gusts. It felt like more, but nothing to worry about.
We had a shorter drive today ( 165 miles by the end of the day) that started first with a scenic drive through Badlands National Park. We stopped by the visitors center to look at the exhibits and grab stamps and postcards. Just after the visitors center we stopped for a photo of the view and Kathy spotted a momma deer and her baby. We watched the doe and fawn and they wandered around the edge of a bluff. Last night the coyotes were howling pretty good so I’m sure the doe was glad for the peaceful morning.
The drive took us through the Badlands and again Kathy spotted wildlife, our first buffalo sighting. A lone beast sitting in one of the canyons. Further up, and upon just exiting the park, a small herd posed alongside the road.
Our Friends in Greeley noted that we should stop by Wall Drug, in Wall SD, so we did just that. The business had been consistently open for 90+ years and is a sight to see. It takes up a whole city block and contains a cafe with 5 cent coffee, trinkets, a chapel, a historic pharmacy, and just about everything else. We putted around for about an hour, walked the pups, and then headed into Rapid City to meet my son, Riley and his girlfriend Lizzy for lunch.
Lunch was ended by a thunderstorm so we ran some errands, mailed packages, fueled up, and headed towards Mt. Rushmore to complete a long quest Kathy had at Horsethief reservoir. We stopped in Keystone, a small western mountain town and walked in the cool rain and browsed the shops and displays. It’s interesting how just 20 minutes from Rapid City the Black Hills are cool with an alpine feel at only 4600 feet. I’ve always liked this area. We headed back down to the city and finished the night parked at my son’s house.
