Big Sky Country

I've made it to Montana! It's a clever thing they do out west... they seem to name intersections. If you look on a map, you'll see that the whole state is peppered with towns and cities. But I tell you, don't expect much of anything more than a signpost in about half of those named places. Just today, I trekked 84 miles in total. I didn't pass a store or any other structure with water/supplies until mile 84- yes, the whole day. The closest I came to seeing a settlement was a collection of 2 ranch houses on the same hillside with a post office in between. As long as you know that there is nothing ahead and you can stock up on water and snacks, it's not so bad. I most definitely saw more antelope today than cars. Below is a photo from Volburg, MT- one of those dots on the map but this one was like Christmas because I could actually buy a cold coke from them:
My route changes a lot. One of the additions I made was traveling through Spearfish Canyon on the north exit of the Black Hills of South Dakota. The canyon is said to be older than the Grand Canyon and I could make a case that visiting it was way cooler than seeing the Grand Canyon. In the Spearfish Canyon, you get to drive through the canyon valley, everything is green and alive, and there are several waterfalls along the way. Of course, 17 miles of downhill also made my experience quite enjoyable. Here's a picture from Spearfish Canyon, but I promise you, you cannot capture this place in a picture:



I also visited Devils Tower National Monument in northeastern Wyoming. I didn't even know it was rather close by until I reached Badlands National Park. Anyways, I arrived just as a thunderstorm came on... and that pillar of stone is quite a good lightning rod. There were a few strikes in that "flash-boom" distance. Here's a couple pictures of Devils Tower, the first as that storm approached:


I have had an outstanding stay in Jordan, MT... I'll have to write another post about it and more later on when I find another internet point!