ambivalent images

Blue-Ribbon Carrots

Award-winning carrots at the fair. I don't know why I thought this was kind of funny, but I did...

Stop Meth Car

One of the many anti-meth “art” projects in Montana. I believe this one won an award; here's the story of its maker. The art is part of the Montana Meth Project founded by millionaire Tom Siebel. The campaign's ads are also all over the state and they're extremely gruesome. Maybe that's what it takes to discourage a few people from trying meth...

Cannonball Lady

The Cannonball Lady in mid-flight from cannon to net. You can see the tip of the “cannon” on the right, and the net over on the lft. I'm not making this up; the woman really did climb into the cannon, it went boom!, and she flew across the pond and landed in the net. Sounds silly, doesn't it? But it was actually kind of cool.

Mr. Potato Head

A giant potato at one of the carnival food stands. It has probably been made into french fries by now...

Montana Fair Carnival

A few of the rides at the Montana Fair carnival. I thought the view notable b/c of the fact of the bluff in the background behind the rides. Billings is a city that gives you interesting views like that—views you're not likely to find in other cities of this size.

Steel Indian Silhouettes

Steel sculptures at the summit of the Chief Joseph Highway. I bet these sculptures look spectacular in different light.

The sculptures help commemorate the Nez Perce warriors who were hunted down by General William Tecumseh Sherman as part of the white man's effort to exterminate or otherwise crush the non-white native peoples of the west in the late 19th century. Yet another sad and disgraceful period of American history...

Pinetop Detail

A closeup of the trunk of a pine tree near its top where it is still growing.

Hidden Falls

A waterfall near the bottom of the south (Cooke City) side of Beartooth Pass. This waterfall is right next to what used to be the highway. However, when the highway was last improved, a big new bridge was built that makes it difficult to see the falls from the road. There's still a pullout alongside the road to allow you to park and walk to the falls, and trust me, it's worth it.

Rock Tree

Tree growing out of rock atop Beartooth Pass. This is at the rest stop about 2/3 of the way up the pass...

Rearview Cyclists

The view in the rearview mirror as we drove up Beartooth Pass. There was a whole group of cyclists tackling the hill that morning. I have no idea where they started, but there's no doubt they were headed for an excellent downhill ride once they got over the top.

Trunk on Trunk

A tree atop an old steamer trunk in the woods. There's no telling how long the steamer trunk has been there, but I would estimate 50 years or more. Just down the road from the cabin we visit near Red Lodge are the ruins of a couple of other buildings that used to be part of the ranch before they fell into disuse and basically fell down. This steamer trunk is near those ruins, so I assume it was connected to them in some way. Every time I see it I wonder what story it would tell if it could talk. Why would someone take such a nice trunk and just leave it out in the woods to be crushed by, well, a trunk?

Light-etched clouds

This was my attempt to capture the way the sun lit up the clouds over the mountains behind Red Lodge. I'm afraid I wasn't very successful; in real life that white line just above the trees looked like it was laser-etched.

Wild Turkeys II

Wild turkeys on the lawn at the cabin near Red Lodge.

Space Trading

The board for our new game, Starfarers of Catan. This game was a birthday present for L from her sister and is another in the series of Catan games that we love. What kind of geeks play complicated board games where they pretend to build space stations, trading ships, colonies, and colony ships? Our kind of geeks, apparently.

These games are a little complicated to learn, but trust me, they're fun.

Time Time Time

The clock on the old stove at the cabin. At right is a short of the clock above the stove in a little more context. The things to left and right of the clock are salt and pepper shakers that came with the stove. They're made of a pinkish glass unlike anything made today. I know this isn't that old (1940s-50s?), but it's still pretty cool in that vintage/retro way.

Ok Computer

A sign in the mountains above Red Lodge. Why? Well, we were driving to our trailhead for our short hike and L saw this sign from a distance. “No fires,” she said. “No barbecues... but ok computer? Why would you want a computer up here?”

She likes Radiohead. What more can I say?

Also, from a distance, it really does look like a laptop, don't you think?

Wild Rasberries

A wild rasberry in my mom's hand. At right is another berry on the vine. We saw a good number of these berries on our short hike in the Absaroka-Beartooth Wilderness above Red Lodge. We started out on the trail Lake Fork Trailhead and it was beautiful. We probably only walked about a mile in, but we'll definitely be going back for a bigger adventure—such as the hike to Black Canyon Lake. I've now been up in this area every weekend for three in a row so I might take a weekend off before heading back, but I do hope to do this hike before the snow flies this fall...

Mountain Lake

A lake high above Red Lodge. Of course I don't remember the name of this lake, but it was a short hike from a campground on one of the last turnoffs as you head up Beartooth Pass. People were pulling lots of little fish out of the lake and mostly throwing them back in. I need to get a good map so I can learn the names of this lake, as well as the mountain that's reflected in it.

Mountain Getaway

The cabin near Red Lodge where we recently got to spend some time. It's a wonderful place; peaceful and relaxing with lots of nice amenities.

Mountain Dusk

The setting sun infuses the clouds with color over Red Lodge.

Toastmaster

The antique toaster at our friend's cabin outside Red Lodge. It still toasts like a champ!

Wild Turkeys

Wild turkeys outside Redlodge, MT. See them there in the grass? Ok, so I didn't get a good picture, but you'll have to trust me on this...

Bye bye birdie.

The pitiful remains of a bird that flew into our grill on the eastern border of Yellowstone. It was sad, but what can you do?

Cooke City Morning

The view down main street in Cooke City looking toward Yellowstone. We stayed overnight in Cooke City and, while I wouldn't recommend the Soda Butte Lodge, I definitely recommend the cafe across the street and the coffee and pastry place just up the way. Cooke City is basically inaccessible to automobiles in the winter—snowmobiles only. It's kind of a crazy little place, but one to which I definitely hope to return soon.

Bison Jam

Bison block the road in Yellowstone. They seem to be having some sort of important conversation there on the asphalt, don't you think?

We sat in this “jam” for at least 15 minutes before a few cars decided to ease around these animals. When cars began passing them (albeit very slowly), the bison decided they might as well give the road back to the four-wheeled beasts.

At right is a shot of more bison in the meadow beside the road. Lots of little ones were feeding and frolicking in the grass.

Yellowstone Rainbow

A rainbow shimmers in the mist of the Lower Falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. This was also from Uncle Tom's Trail.

Lower Falls

The lower falls in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone. Awesome.

This was taken from the stairs on Uncle Tom's Trail.

Learn about the Buffalo

An informational table at the Tower Falls visitor center in Yellowstone National Park. The sign on the left says:

NOTICE TO VISITORS: This group is expressing first amendment rights. These activities are not connected with nor endorsed by the National Park Service.

Of course, that disclaimer made me pay much more attention than I would have otherwise. The table offered information about the bison in the park and about how they can be killed by ranchers if they wander outside the National Park boundaries. (There are no fences to keep the animals inside Yellowstone.) If I understand correctly, ranchers want to kill the bison b/c bison can carry a disease (brucellosis?) that, if transferred to cows, would cause the cows to have a stillborn calf. However, there's never been a proven case of the disease moving from bison to cattle, so the ranchers don't have much justification for their fear. Nevertheless, as the law stands now, ranchers can kill bison if the bison are on their private land. So this group was encouraging people to sign a petition to change the law and prevent ranchers from killing bison. Seems like a good idea to me.

Sky Lake

A small pond near the top of Beartooth Pass.

Beartooth Vista II

Another view from near the top of Beartooth Pass. This one is right near the top of the ski lift that looks entirely out of place when this area isn't covered in rocks. Apparently this steep slope is used as a late spring Olympic training ground and extreme tourist thrill, hence the ski lift up the nearly vertical rock face.

Beartooth Vista I

The view from near the top of Beartooth Pass. Here are some more interesting pics from the state. Obviously the views from the road are spectacular. To make it even better, try it on a motorcycle or a nice sporty convertible if at all possible. I haven't tried either myself, but I saw lots of people who were doing it and it looked like the perfect thing.