Trip Highlights #2

jacobtothe (70)in #travel • 9 years ago

This post has a lot of images, and it may take some time for all of them to load!

The second day of travel involved a trip across eastern Montana and about halfway across North Dakota. While we didn't see Yellowstone National Park, we did see quite a bit of the Yellowstone River. There's a nice campground and park in Columbus, Montana.

Let's try embedding a panoramic photo. The river is running fairly high with a strong current. Try viewing the image directly to get the full effect.

The scenery here is somewhat arid and quite rugged.

Further downstream, we stopped at Pompey's Pillar, a significant point of interest from the Lewis and Clark expedition as well as a prehistoric native landmark. Across the river from this rock is a gap in the rimrock that lines the north bank of the river, granting wildlife access to water and creating a rich hunting ground. This high point was also useful as a surveying landmark.

There is a nice interpretive center here now. When I last saw this landmark, there was nothing like this.

William Clark's name is still visible on the rock face along with plaques and many other carvings. Now there are cameras, motion detectors, and other security measures to prevent vandalism. It's a wonder anything survived. This is said to be the only physical evidence of the expedition that remains along their route.

The views from the top of the rock are amazing! Let's see if some of these panoramic shots upload well again! Ignore the distorted foreground please. The platform was not as strangely shaped as these make it look!

Rest areas along the highway in this region have signs like this:

There are also often historical information signs, like this one in Wibaux (pronounced WEE-bou) offering background for the area.

In general, between Butte, Montana and the North Dakota border, the mountains have been giving way to buttes and craggy hills, and then more gentle rolling country. Again, a photo from Wibaux:

But geology and geography have one more major surprise in store for us. Our next touristy stop was at the Theodore Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota, where there is a nicely-maintained badlands overlook.