Wed 31 Jul 2013 Bozman Lake to Numa ridge lookout.

Wed 31 Jul 2013
Bozman Lake to  Numa ridge lookout.

Numa lookout is fire-tower which is manned
24 hours a day to check for wild fires, mainly
caused to lightning.

For those who remember the hike to the fire tower
in Sequoia Park, this was a very similar hike
and fire observation point.

A good hike from 3,968 to 6,918 feet, gives you a magnificent
view of the surrounding mountains,

Some other visitors in the campground

Sorry Lukasz, passed the 'Home ranch bottoms'
2 times, but before 10 AM. To soon for a beer
and no cars. Would have been lonely there.
By the way, very nice pictures. Thanks.
And yes definitely more snow.

Tue 30 Jul 2013 Bozman lake

Tue 30 Jul  2013

Going-to-the-sun Hwy to the west side of the park.

Finally decided to go to Bozman Lake and campground,
and skip Kinzla Lake.  Choices, choices, life is hard....

Hike to Quartz upper lake,..
Instead of showing all the pictures of the lake, and impressive
mountains, this hike was more into the dense forest.

Beautiful upper quartz lake, with dramatic clouds.
But no rain these days.

Some small bridges to pass.

Lower quartz lake, as beautiful as the upper part.

Can be uploaded, if the internet was somewhat faster.






Got several visitors in the campground.

Mon 29 Jul 2013, Glacier, Ptarmigan tunnel

Mon 29 Jul 2013

Start of the day, delayed due to some rain,
and very cloudy overcast. Looked like
a stormy day....

Started my hike at 4.896 ft and passed the
Ptarmigan tunnel at 7,232 ft, in the complete fog.
What the ranger Nathalie promised as being
the most beautiful view, needed a lot of
imagination.
Yes, this was the view on the Valley:

But the fog slowly cleared up, and at last
you could see some of the trail.

30 minutes later, even the lake showed it beauty.
Still in the fog, but the nice deep blue color is visible.

But the real surprise, was the side track to
Iceberg Lake. Again, a sur-real view with the real
icebergs in the lake.

Seeing just the reflection of the rock relief in the ice cold water
makes all this  climbing effort  worth it.

Even the wildflowers are magnificent.

Nathalie,  was right after all.

Sun 28 Jul 2013 Going to the Sun Hwy

Sun 28 Jul 2013

Going to the Sun Hwy

Was planning to take it easy, but that
does not work on this road.
The views, the small hikes to waterfalls, wildlife,
All impossible to give much of a quiet moment to
my camera.

Virginia waterfalls

The famous St Mary Lake, at the easy side of the park.

Another view of the peaks, and the so many waterfalls.
 

The typical Red tour bus, along one of the vertical
parts of the road.

Saw plenty of mountain goats.
some hard to see on the far vertical slopes,
others which are just walking on the road.

Sat 27 Jul 2013 Gunsight lake

Sat 27 Jul 2013

Gunsight lake

Waterfall at gunsight
Wonder what the view where several weeks ago.
There must be visibly way more snow.

The way back, and yes this is the path,
fighting your way thru 3 ft high wild flowers.

Skip the picture of the moose, bear, antelope,
wild flower and all the other waterfalls.
A 19.7 miles hike, including some detours for
waterfalls.
This deserves some beers. Tried some of the
Lewis & Clark brewing Co. All are bad
according to my taste. Good that there was the
Scape Goat Pale Ale from the 'Big Sky Brewing co'
(Missoula, Montana) which has never let me down
the last days.

Fri 26 Jul 2013 Finally, Glacier Park.

Fri 26 Jul 2013
Finally, Glacier Park.

Leaving the flat lands of Montana,
back into the mountains. Just one hour drive.
 

Rockwell falls, on the way to Cobalt lake

Nice bridge, especially the sign
about the relative max weight.
Load limit, one hiker at a time.

Won't bother you with the other waterfalls
on the Rockwell trail, Asper falls
or twin falls.

But the moose can not be missed

Probably will attack 'Gunsight lake' tomorrow.

Thu 25 Jul 2013 The few days of small local museums in Montana

Thu 25 Jul 2013
The few days of small local museums in Montana

Chief Joseph Battle Ground of the Bear's Paw.
Another big battle between the Indians
and the Whites (Chinook, 1877)
In the end the Indian leader had to surrender.
They lost all there hunting grounds, mainly
under false promises.

And the museum showed also some emotional
pictures about the great depression in the 30'ths.

Havre, offered another amazing tour.
A century ago, the town burned down, and
all the merchant restarted there business
underground in the cellars. This includes
some bars, brothels, butchery, bakery, pharmacy,
blacksmith, Chinese laundry, opium corner,
Little John's office.
Some booming business during prohibition.
Nicely restored with the original items
of that time.

Another point of interest, jumping Buffalo.
A cliff where for thousands of years, the
buffalo pushed in a stampede off some cliffs.

Fort Benton, a fur trading post around 1870.
Rebuild, and has a very nice collection of
bronze statues.

And of coarse all the small towns along
the rail road, are a marvel to see.
Close to ghost towns, but still vibrant
place with a few motels and restaurants.

Wed 24 Jul 2013 The flat lands of Montana

Wed 24 Jul 2013

The flat lands of Montana

Passed several historical markers and places,
such as Sleeping Buffalo rock, Nelson lake and
Malta local historical museum

Had an interesting chat in a local museum,
with an older guy, who was once a sheep herder.
Regular stuff. To much regulations, drill more.
His point, there is unlimited oil here.
He still forgot that it took millions of years
for nature to 'make' the oil, and we just burns
it up in a few decades. Unlimited, was at least
250 years according to his info. He only forgot
that is was a number of more than a year ago at
the current production rates of then. They plan
to double the production each year for the next
5 years. After 1 year, this is a reserve of 125
years, next year 62, 3th year 31, 4th 15, and
within 5 years all will be gone in 7 years.
And seen the 'scenic drive' yesterday, doubling
is an underestimate.



Charles M Russell National wildlife refuge
Nice nature displays, but contrary to the promise,
no wildlife at all to see, even not in the
"slippery Ann" Elk viewing area.
Guess the origin of that name !!!


Another sudden storm, that I skipped by driving
in the good direction.
 

PS: "slippery Ann" explained:
Cyprian Matt was some sort of notorious outlaw
who operated a trading post in the 1880's.
Over the years, Cyprian became Siparyann and
finally Slippery Ann.

Tue Jul 23 2013 Montana

Tue Jul 23 2013

Montana

Wide open space area

Drove about 200 miles, and passed
only one house.

Yes some exaggeration, but not much.

Passed in the morning the Fort Union
trading post. Active peaceful trading
with the Indians, from 1828 to 1867.

Passed also the Fort Peck Dam on the
Missouri River.
5th largest reservoir in the US (After
lake Mead, Powell, Sakakawea and Oahe).
Largest Earthen dam in the US (4 miles)
8th largest dam of any kind in the world.

And in the middle of this, one of the best restaurants.
Finished a nice dinner with creme Brulee.

Mon Jul 22 2013 North Dakota

Mon Jul 22 2013


North Dakota

What should have been a scenic drive,
was a terrible drive in the midst of
roadworks, and heavy trucks.
The larger and heavier, the less they
obey speed limits.

I know oil, is the new gold rush here.

And it is changing everything. Drilling
platforms, everywhere. Hiring signs,
rebuilding the small scenic drive to a
2 lane highway. All nearly overnight.
The big oil companies (Schlumger, Halliburton,
Continental) quadruple there platforms
in the last year. And no end in sight.
So many jobs, so much money,.....
But can someone do the calculation.
The world consumes about 30 Billion Barrels
a year, and the US consumes about 7 Billion.
The best prognoses is 28 Billion Barrels
found here in North Dakota.
Or do I miss a factor 1000 ?

One of the so many drilling platform.
And burn of flames can be seen in all
directions.

Sun Jul 21 2013 Theodore Roosevelt, now the North Park.

Sun Jul 21 2013
Theodore Roosevelt, now the North Park.

Everywhere where you look you see, grass
fields, hay bales and oil pumps.

Started on a small hike to an overlook,
and yes a real storm blew over.

Lukely, made it to the shelter at the overlook point.
Basically, a roof of about 15 feet square, on stone pillars.
But the rain, hail (ice blocks up to an inch) and
especially the very strong wind, made us all totally wet.
But 20 minutes later, the storm was over,
another 20 minutes I was dry, and another 20 minutes later,
wet again due the the sweating from the heat and humidity.

But from then on, all hiking was nearly impossible.
Rivers everywhere, and the clay or bentonite made walking
nearly impossible. Pounds of mud sticks immediate to
your boots, and very, very slippery.
And everywhere pools of mud water.

Sat Jul 20 2013 Theodore Roosevelt national park

Sat Jul 20 2013

Theodore Roosevelt national park, alias
the badlands of North Dakota.

As far as one see, the rugged badlands topography
reaches out to meet the sky. Each colored layer
tells a story about the land and changing past
environments. Volcanic ash carried into this area
by wind and water from the emerging rocky mountains
created the bluish layers of clay called bentonite.
Black layers of lignite coal indicate a wetter
climate and swamps. Lightning and range fires over
the years have ignited coal beds. The resulting fires
often burn for decades. Heat generated by the burning
coal bakes the overlying rocks into reddish clinker,
locally called "scoria". The brownish sandstone layers
where deposited during an alluvial plain stream bed
environment.

More prairie dogs on the lookout.

Some Buffalo in the badlands.

A nice sunset over Dickinson.

PS: thanks for the neighbors and Tim, to watch
my house while I was gone.

Fri Jul 19 2013, North Dakota

Fri Jul 19 2013

Complete alone in the campground,
and these creates woke me up in the morning

Mandan, Bismarck.
Fort Abraham Lincoln state park.
A must if you want see General Custer's
last 4 years commanding post, camp and house.
One of the guide (brewing coffee)

And interesting, this state park shows in
a close area a totally different history.
Slant Indian village occupied by the Mandan,
an agricultural Indian Tribe.

Or you like a local story

Missouri river, from one of the camp towers.

This will be my impression of North Dakota
for all the miles I have done. Hay bales
for miles to see.

Thu Jul 18 2013 Badlands

Thu Jul 18 2013

Leaving the Badlands, going up north.

Ending last night with a nice sunset
over the badlands

On the way out, made another stop at the
control center Delta 1 of the minute man.
A huge concrete bunker 30 feet under ground.

And a visit the active military airbase.
Some nice displays of the B1 airplane, and
many other planes and

On, to North Dakota.
The open fields, planes, long distances/
Just camping now at the borders of a lake.
in the middle of nowhere.