Trip to MontanaMom & I

September 09

Honey getting ready for the trip to Montana

Buckin bronc rider statue in Helena, MT (State Capital)

CathedralIn

Helena, MT

Tiser Gardens is located outside of Helena, MT in the mountains.

It showcases local plants and others.

One favorite attraction is the children’s garden.

Tonka toy truck planters on bridge

Tiser kid’s garden (gnomes, fairies, etc.)

Tiser’s kid garden

Some of the trees have faces on them.

The faces are made from bark or arecarved in the tree

Next stop is Jordan, MT where my Gramawas raised. My Great Uncle still lives there.

There are only 2 paved roads, the one that goesthru town and most of Main street.

Population … around 200

Uncle Kenny’s sign

The mailbox is an old cream separator

Remnants of a stone bldg at my cousin’s place

1925 road grader that is still used to grade the roads

1920 Thrasher that is still useable

One day, my Uncle saw a man around the property. He

got on his horse and rode out to see what the man was doing.

The man said that he was an artist and he was taking photographs of the land to paint.

He said to my Uncle that he always wanted to paint a western scene and asked if he could

take my Uncle’s picture on his horse, in which my Uncle said that he could.

This is the painting.

These are pictures of a Montana sunsettaken on my Uncle’s ranch

in Jordan, MT

Uncle Kenny and Aunt Alice

Me and my cousin Terease

The next pictures are of Hell Creek (note thatthe pronunciation is “crick”, not creek) whichis part of Fort Peck Damn. Fort Peck is one

of the largest bodies of water after theGreat Lakes.

On the way to Hell Creek, you go thru theJordan badlands which reminded me

somewhat of the Grand Canyon

Yucca plants that grow wild in Hell Creek

The next two pictures show the water of Hell Creek

but the picture was taken of the mountains on the far

side of the lake.

Shortly after my Grampa had a heart attack, the family

went to Jordan. Uncle Kenny, Dad, and some others

went hunting elk in the mountains. Grampa couldn’t go

because he was still recovering.

Aunt Alice had baked some apple pies and when the

hunters and rest of the family got home, Grampa had

eaten most of the apple pie and just laughed saying howgood it was.

That’s why I call these the “Apple Pie Hills”

Now we are off to what we call “up the Canyon”.This is near the Big Sky ski resort between Bozeman, MT

and Yellowstone National Park.

The first set of pictures are of what we call the“homestead”. My Great Grampa and Grama built

the cabin and the house by the Gallatin river and it was a stage coach stop for traveler’s going to

Yellowstone National Park.

The property is in the “valley” which is at about 4600 feet above sea level, which is as high or higher than Snoqualmie

and Steven’s pass in the Cascade Mtns.

View of house from towards the hwy.

View of house and cabin from near the rock bend

The next few pictures are views of the property.At one time, the property went back into the

mountains on the other side of the hwy. Accesswas up Doe Creek road.

The property was sold when the Forest Servicetraded the adjoining land to a developer.

The last slide showed the south end ofthe property. These woods are a favorite place

of mine to chill.

Every time I visit the homestead, I have to go thereto check on the old Model T Ford and seehow much more of it is buried. There are

times this wooded area is flooded and each timemore of the car is buried.

When I was little, you could sit in the car. Now …

The next few pictures are of the one room cabin.It sits only a few feet from the Gallatin river.

This is where we stayed when I was little and we came up the canyon. There is no running

water and it is heated by a wood stove.

The foundation was in disrepair so my Dadhas been working on redoing the foundation.The foundation is done and the floor is readyto be put in, then chinking between the logs

and it will be back to original condition.

These are pictures of the Gallatin riverfrom in front of the cabin looking

in front, north, and south.

The campfire pit and camping areaare located to the north of the cabin next

to the river.

Gallatin river in front of the cabin

Gallatin river south of the cabin

Gallatin river north of cabin near the firepit.

These are a couple pictures of the campfiresI had while up the canyon this trip.

When I was little, the first thing I would do, even as early as 8am, would be gather firewood.

Then I would start askin, “can we have a fire now?”

I have loved campfires since the time I couldtoddle. The original campfire pit by the cabin

had to be filled while the cabin is being redone, sothe family uses the one I built several years ago.

When I finally got tired of my parents saying “no fire until tonight” (haha) I would go to my MOST

favorite spot on the property …The bend in the river.

Here I would go to look for rocks, mainly agates and petrified wood, but sometimes an interesting rock

just as well.

From the time I can remember, I loved looking for these rocks, and I still love it. In fact, the first day

I was there, I found an agate almost the size of my fist.

This is where I find my peace.

One of the days I was there my Dad and I went fora ride on the ATV’s. Usually we go on horses,

but let me tell ya, ATV’s are cool as hell! You canget to places a lot further and faster on an ATV.

Now I still love to ride a horse, but the ATV was seriously fun.

These pictures were taken on top of the mountains up Doe Creek road. At the highest point of the trail,

we were at 9300 feet above sea level.

Mountains otherside of river, north of the cabin

Mountains otherside of river behind cabin

The next three (3) pictures are looking south towardsYellowstone National Park.

My Great Grampa helped survey the boundary linesfor the park. He was one of the guides for the

US Geological Survey team.

While surveying the area, he found a site nearTaylor’s Fork which he homesteaded for a while.

Taylor’s Fork is about the middle of these pictures.

This next set of pictures were taken at the top ofthe trail up Doe Creek.

The elevation here was 9300+ feet above sealevel. Needless to say, the views were fantastic.

And although we were that high, there were stillmountains that towered over us.

Sphinx Mountain (Grama called it Bricktop Mountain)

My Dad and his ATV

Lone Mountain, Big Sky Ski Resort (you can see the lifts lines)

Mountain range of Big Sky Ski resort

Well, this is the end of my

slideshow of my

Trip to Montana. I still say that

Montanais one the most

beautiful places on

earth.

I hope you enjoyed the pictures as

much asI enjoyed being

there and taking them.