 |
The Custer Monument and Battlefield:
Mike has had a long-standing interest in history and especially military history. On our way to the "Hole in the Wall" lodge, we stopped just outside of Billings, MT, to see the Custer battlefield and monument. It is amazing that so much history was made and so many lives lost in such a small area. |
 |
Hole in the Wall:
On the road again and about 6 hours west we got to the Hole in the Wall lodge. It is located about 55 miles southwest of Missoula, MT. The last 16 miles is a narrow, winding, gravel road. Despite the warnings about logging trucks being on the road, the only thing we saw were the trees and the little river that the road followed. |
 |
We really didn't know what to expect of the Hole in the Wall. WOW!!
The gate welcomed us to the lodge. Behind Mike are some of the duplex cabins they have available.
They offer hunting, fishing, and trail riding expeditions from June-Dec. |
 |
And if you aren't into hunting, fishing, or horseback riding it is the best place to just do nothing we found. This is what we "had" to look at while sitting in the rockers on the covered porch of our cabin. Yes, those funny specs you see just over the fence are horses. |
 |
We did manage to get out for a couple of walks. The slope of the
road shows that you can get some exercise just walking here.
There are black bear in the area...we did see one of their "calling cards" by some raspberry bushes, but didn't see bears up close and personal. We don't feel that was a loss :) Moose regularly move through the camp, but we didn't get to see one of them, either. Rumor has it that there was one in their pond early one morning while we were staying. |
 |
Lots of pines and rock escarpments that rise vertically from the road |
 |
And when you step outside or open a window all you hear is the
sound of the wind in the pines and the river spashing over rocks.
The air is so clean and pure it is almost hard to breath. |
 |
As they are so far away from town, the Hole in the Wall has it's own top-notch restaurant. |
 |
It rained while we were there and the morning fog rolled
through the mountains.
Unfortunately we could only stay two days. We will go back. |
 |
Yellowstone:
Mike had never seen Yellowstone Park and as it was only 60 miles south of Interstate 90 we decided it would be our next stop. We were hoping to see some wildlife but didn't expect to see Elk grazing and resting on the lawn at Mammoth Hot Springs. |
 |
Not too far down the road we found several herds of buffalo grazing along the road. |
 |
Tower Falls was spectacular. This picture shows some of the burned trees still left standing after the 1988 fires. There were whole mountains that had only skeleton trunks left. |
 |
The size of Yellowstone was a surprise to Mike. We entered the Park
around noon and had only seen the northeastern portion of it by 5:00 p.m. So, we stayed
one night in Yellowstone at Lake Lodge.
After getting up to 32 degree temperatures outside and frost on the windshield we drove the next 51 miles to see Geyser Basin No trip to Yellowstone is complete until Old Faithful blows. |
 |
We were also able to see Riverside Geyser erupt. |
 |
On our 4.5 mile walk through the Geyser Basin we also saw the Morning Glory hole... |
 |
...and the strange formations that nature can form with hot mineral water. |
 |
Tetons:
Immediately south of Yellowstone is the Teton Mountain range. This is a picture of Moran Mt. with Lake Jackson in the foreground. The level of Lake Jackson was down over 30 feet. Idaho accesses the water from this area and are drawing a larger than normal amount because of the drought they are experiencing there. |