Saturday Hilary and I drove from Missoula to Bozeman, by way of Dillon, Twin Bridges, Sheridan, Nevada City, Virginia City, Ennis, and Norris. Calling these places “cities” is a little generous. Dillon is the biggest by far, with less than 4000 people. Virginia City and Nevada City are literally ghost towns. Ghosts literally live there. They are haunted. Scary business. I need to go turn some lights on.
These pictures were all taken between Missoula and Dillon.
We were almost to Drummond and drove out of the sunlight into the fog of the inversion. Everything was coated in ice and we drove by some giant animal sculptures. I made Hilary turn around so we could check it out.
It turns out the place is the residence and museum of an almost 90 year old retired rancher, Bill Ohrmann, who just paints and sculpts now. (I got this information from this article in the Missoulian) The man makes some amazing things. If I was an artist I would like to made an 8 foot tall steel grizzly bear. The ice covered stillness of it all made the experience a little surreal.
Instead of taking 50 miles of I-90 between Bozeman and Missoula you can take a detour on the Pintler Scenic Loop. I have driven past the sign for it countless times, but until last Monday never scoped it out.
The route leaves the interstate at Anaconda and comes back at Drummond. Calling it a loop is a bit of a misnomer, more like a “Scenic C”.
There were some interesting sights along the way, Anaconda is a classic small town. The town of Philipsburg is located on the route, and we stopped briefly to walk around its vibrant (for a town of 900 at least) downtown.
The weather in Bozeman has been great the last couple of weeks, chilly mornings with warm days. These are just some random pictures taken during my favorite time of year.
A few weekends ago Hilary’s parents and their friend Kathy came out to visit. We had a marvelous weekend in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho. I had driven through but never spent any time there.
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you the Masters of Tube, David Sulock, Dot Sulock, Scott Sharpe, Michael Sulock, and Rebecca Sulock.
A few pictures from the more mellow times at the lake. It was the first time our immediate family had all been together in a good while.
One of the last things we did before driving 24 hours straight to get home was go up the highest road in the United States to the top of Mount Evans. The road is only open from Memorial Day to Labor Day and in typical Colorado Style doesn’t have any guardrails.
If you even find yourself on Interstate 70 west of Denver I highly recommend it.
After a bit of driving we came to Rocky Mountain National Park. I wasn’t really sure what to expect, but the road going through the park is quite amazing. Also, the park has more alpine area than any other national park. We took a short walk at the top with epic views in every direction. It was cold in the middle of August and during the winter it must be an incredibly hostile environment.
One of the first things we did on the drive back to Asheville was head east on I-90 for a short while, then turn south onto the Beartooth Highway down to the northeast corner of Yellowstone National Park.
From north to south the road goes from the small town of Red Lodge, Montana, to the way smaller town of Cook City, Wyoming.
I had heard a lot about this road but living in Bozeman it isn’t on the way anywhere so I hadn’t been on it yet. It was an amazing way to begin what would be a fairly epic 3000 mile journey back home.
Davy and I did some rock climbing during his brief stay in Bozeman. We climbed Gallatin Tower, 3 fun pitches in the Gallatin Canyon. It was only Davy’s second time climbing outside (the first being when we went the day before) and he handled it like an old pro.
My brother Davy drove an epic 950 miles from Lake Tahoe, California to Missoula, Montana last Sunday. The following day we hiked up to the “M” (putting letters on hillsides is a big thing in Montana) and watched the sunset from Sentinel Mountain.
Starting tomorrow Davy and I will be starting the drive back to North Carolina. It’ll be the first time I’ve been to Asheville since Christmas.
Went for a bike ride yesterday in the Missoula Valley along the Clark Fork River. I brought along the old point and shoot almost as an afterthought, and I’m certainly glad I did. One thing is for sure, you ain’t gonna be takin’ no pictures if you don’t have a camera with you.
We intended it to be 2 or 3 hours and it ended up being about 8. We got a little lost, but I think that is part of the fun of riding a bike sometimes. We’d brought along a decent amount of food and water, but we definitely stopped at the first gas station we saw coming back into town.
Our rides were two newly purchased Long Haul Truckers, the first steel-framed, as well as the first brand new bike I’ve ever owned.
Rock Creek is about 20 miles east of Missoula. It is a nice place to do some car camping, even if you forget your sleeping bag.
