Oh, Montana! How I love thee, let me count the ways…

After getting the truck and camper VERY dirty on our trek to the petrified forest in Theodore Roosevelt National park, passing into Montana from North Dakota was a pleasant drive. Our itinerary had us stopping in a relatively small state park called Makoshika SP.  I have to say that the view from our site was the best yet.  We were front and center of this massive wall of some of the most beautiful rock.  We enjoyed a couple nights stay and daytime road hikes up into the highlands. We met a fellow whose grandfather had owned the land originally and used it for cattle ranching.  Their family cabin still sits up in the hills and is used by the park ranger staff for programs.  The area is also well known for dinosaur fossils because the land from that era was pushed up to the surface here.  The park had a nice visiting center with replicas of the fossils that were found here. 

The view from our site

Our site

From the top of the road we hiked up from our campsite 

Pretty wildflowers, not sure what they are 

The long view down the valley 

Below is a short clip of our walk on the 16% grade of the road that took us to the top of this canyon

Before reaching our next destination, we took a side tour to visit the special place of the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument.  It was a solemn experience where brave native tribes had banned together in June 1876 to successfully defeat a hostile attempt to take over their land by 260 American soldiers led by General Custer.  The Indian numbers were well over 2,000, their leader was Sitting Bull.  It was very moving to be able to see the actual land where the battle occurred that fateful day.

The hilltop where the battle was settled 

Walking the hills of the battlefield, tombstones mark where soldiers and Indians remains were found

General Custer’s tombstone

Beautiful ironwork symbolizing the bravery and cooperation of natives tribes which enabled them to defend their land

After the moving visit,  we continued west to Billings, MT where we spent the night at another Harvest Host, Canyon Creek Brewery.  We were joined by 3 other campers in the back parking lot.  The brewery was lively until just after 8pm, when they closed and everyone went home. Then we had a peaceful night’s sleep until the city woke up at around 5am. We appreciate these Harvest Host establishments because they make for a quick and restful stop and we feel safe. 

Enjoying the first of my two beers we had at Canyon Creek Brewery, Billings, Montana

Agi posing in the morning with our fellow “camper” next door

We were pretty far back from the brewery but grateful for the early closing time