Here are some pictures from the first couple of days of our bike ride. The first day we rode about 60 miles to Lewis and Clark State Park. The next day we went through Whitehall and then south towards Dillon through the Big Hole Valley.
Here is a short video I took when when were riding our bikes in Canyonlands. I believe those are the La Salle Mountains. The video messes up at the end when I had to stop myself from eating it.
Right about about mile marker 210 on I-90 between Missoula and Bozeman you pass the exit for Warm Springs and the Montana State Hospital. I have looked at this place countless times and until a few weeks ago had never actually stopped. It is a psychiatric hospital.
The whole place definitely has a bit of an odd feel to it. From the interstate you can see that most of the trees in the area were drastically trimmed a number of years ago, and the result is row of big trees lining the road with giant trunks and little wispy branches coming out of them. We were stopped by a couple of security guards making sure we didn’t take pictures of any of the patients.
I don’t mean to disparage people who work in the mental health industry. The whole place just looked like it needed some more money to steer it off the path of being the location for the next Friday the 13th movie.
They publicize their admissions data, which tells where they receive patients from, both geographically and from what type of care facility.
One last set of pictures from the Indian Council Pow-Wow.
Hold on to yer butts because school is coming down to the wire. Less than a week and I will be done. If you are reading this and you think about it, send some good test vibes my way.
I was lucky enough to be able to go over to the American Indian Council Pow Wow at the Fieldhouse at Montana State University on Sunday. I took a lot of pictures and here are a few.
On the way back we decided to take the scenic route, went south on 191, and then cut west on highway 95. The drive was a part of Utah I had never seen. You go across the Colorado River at the very start of Lake Powell, through the Glen Canyon Recreation Area. Then you drive a little through Capital Reef National Park. Much of the drive was characterized by tall cliffs on either side as you are following various rivers as they cut their way through the the landscape.
The scenic route was our goodbye to the Southwestern landscape as approaching Salt Lake City the red and orange cliffs are replaced by urban sprawl and the snow-covered Wasatch Mountains. Our decision not to backtrack turned what was probably a 12 hour drive to Missoula into a 16 hour one.
The last day we were back on our bikes. We drove about 60 miles south of Moab into the Needles area of Canyonlands. I was amazed at how deserted the road was. I didn’t think roads like that existed in the United States. We probably saw four or so cars total in a span of many hours.
The ride we did the first day in Arches ended up being a splendid introduction to the area. From bike you have a wide open view of the high rocks close the road and can really get a sense of the landscape.
Last week was Spring Break. I took a trip down to Moab, Utah. Jeff took me from Bozeman to Idaho Falls and Hilary picked me up on her way from Missoula. It was a sneaky maneuver that sped things up a bit.
We brought our bikes down there and enjoyed the bright blue sky and red desert sandstone.
Before we headed down the road for Norris Hot Springs I grabbed a few more shots of Virginia City, (including the sign).
Right down the road from Nevada City is Virginia City. It was a tad larger and looked like a few people might actually live in houses off of main street.
I had heard about Nevada City but didn’t know quite what to expect. The town was definitely deserted. Even the highway didn’t hardly have any cars on it. Walking around looking at the false front wooden buildings and old trains was a bit like stepping back into 19th century Montana. I want to go back and get a better sense of what this place is all about.
