Hill City, SD

We stayed at Hill City last year ago and really liked the campground. Also, it is located near a number of attractions in the Black Hills. This was a rainy day, so we decided to just stay put and work on our blog since we had good internet.

Hardin, MT to Hill City, SD

We saw these interesting tepees along the road, at a tourist trap.


We did not have a stop at Little Bighorn in our schedule. However, we discovered we would be driving right by the gate. John had purchased and just finished reading a book, The Killing of Custer; so we decided to take a tour. This was the military cemetery at Little Bighorn National Monument, also known as Custer's Last Stand, in southeastern Montana,


There were many small tombstones scattered around the hilly area of the park.


The Little Bighorn River ran through the park


Another view of some of the many tombstones scattered around the area. A brochure stated that each stone is located on the actual spot where a soldier fell.

Cut Bank, MT to Hardin, MT

Cut Bank, Montana is considered the coldest spot in the US, not because it has had the lowest temperature but because it had the most extreme drop in temperature in a 24-hour period. We seem to remember that the drop was 100 degrees.


This is an old, wooden grain silo. The newer ones are metal, and we have seen a few made of cement.


We probably saw over 100 Pronghorn Antelope.

They are making hay while the sun shines. We saw thousands of bales of hay.


We saw many wind farms in this part of the country. Click on the triangle to see one in action.

Glacier NP to Cut Bank, MT

There are two large lakes in Glacier National Park. This is Lake McDonald on the west of the park.

During the summer, they had shuttle buses to transport visitors around the park. However, they discontinued this service after Labor Day. Our only way to travel the Going to the Sun Highway was to take a tour on one of these buses. It was fun riding in this bus with the top rolled back. They were first used during the '30's and in recent years reconditioned by Ford Motor Company and returned to use in Glacier and some of the other national parks. Our driver and tour guide was most interesting. He has been giving tours for about 7 years. He lives north of the park, near the Canadian border, away from electricity and other conveniences. His mailbox is a mile from his house, which he built from trees on his property. He was very knowledgeable about all aspects of the park.


You can see the road in the distance that we traveled (the horizontal line less that halfway down the picture.)

We passed mile after mile of farmland and saw hundreds of grain silos. Most of the newer silos were made of steel and a few of concrete. Occasionally you would see an ancient wooden one. Farmers prefer to store their grain until prices are better.

West Glacier, MT to Glacier NP, MT

Here are two waterfalls we saw today in Glacier National Park.

Iceland Parkway to West Glacier, MT

This was our fourth time to Lake Louise and the first time it was cloud free. Here are two of the many pictures we took.


This was another mountain reflection we viewed from Highway 93 south of Lake Louise.


We also liked this view.



On the outskirts of Radium Hot Springs we saw this momma mountain goat and her youngster on the side of the mountain.


Radium Hot Springs had flowers everywhere.


Carol spotted this mountain of hoodoo formations.



We will end today with a colorful evening sky.

Prince George, BC to Iceland Parkway

Some more beautiful scenery as we traveled toward Jasper and Banff.


This was one of the Bighorn Sheep we encountered.