During September I took two road trips to Wyoming and Montana. Great fun, and scenery that goes on forever.
Trip One took me to Fort Benton, by way of Billings, to visit the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument. I saw small towns across central Montana, almost all struggling to survive. A common thread was that most had abandoned grain elevators along an abandoned rail line. In Harlowton, I met the owner of Wojtowick Motors who told me of the days when the electrified Milwaukee Road ran through town, with freight trains that went from Chicago to the Pacific Ocean. In windy Judith Gap, I found a prosperous town benefiting from an energy boom – giant windmills spread across the plain.
Trip Two was the tourism route through Jackson to Yellowstone National Park. The crowds in the parks were sometimes overwhelming with parking lots jammed, long lines for toilets and busloads of Chinese. But if we arose early and arrived at major sights before 9, we came upon mostly empty and peaceful surroundings. One surprise was seeing big numbers of elk, not out in the meadows or woods, but in urban areas of Mammoth and Gardiner. A ranger told us that the elk have learned that towns were free of their predators and safe places to hang out. Wildlife highlights included grizzlies and a great gray owl. What a shock when we left the park and landed in the capitol of tourism tackiness, West Yellowstone.
Here is a list of some of the towns I drove thru on Trip One. I’d like to revisit every one.
WYOMING
Evanston
Rock Springs
Green River
Eden
Farson
Lander
Hudson
Riverton
Shoshoni
Thermopolis
Meeteetse
Cody
MONTANA
Belfry
Bridger
Laurel
Billings
Roundup
Ryegate
Shawmut
Harlowton
Judith Gap
Hobson
Moccasin
Windham
Stanford
Geraldine
Fort Benton
Loma
Virgelle
Big Sandy
Great Falls
Simms
Lincoln
Ovando
Bonner
Missoula
Lolo
Stevensville
Corvallis
Hamilton
Darby
Sula