My Journey

Tgil.....no they are quite a distance apart. More than likely I just didn't see it although I thought I had at that time. This was another 17 plus mile day and with Devils Chute Cave still on my to do list I probably hurried too much.....who knows. But they're definitely different caves.....that is for sure

JD.....thanks.....



So the last cave of the day was Devils Chute Cave and this was the cave that I mentioned previously where Tanner just jumped right in.....the picture doesn't show the scale very well but just the fact that the women that I had met earlier would not let their dogs down it gives you some idea of the steepness of the rock wall.....

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I made my way down the rock wall.....fortunately someone had dragged a dead pine tree into the shaft and that helped immensely with a few additional hand holds.....

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Once I had made my way down into the cave I realized that Tanner did not wait for me.....

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First I entered a large cavern which was difficult to photograph.....

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And at the very back of that cavern I saw a small opening which led into a much larger cavern.....I'd guess that opening was maybe 2 foot high and 3 foot wide.....

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So I crawled through that opening and that's where I found my knucklehead dog wading in a lake.....this cavern was much larger than the first one, the bottom was covered with water, and at the far end of it I could see a snow wall and light from above.....

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We didn't stay long.....I grabbed my knucklehead dog and said lets go.....

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I thought that he'd need my help to get out of that cave but that dog hit that rock wall at full speed and was up it in seconds.....

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We explored around the surface for just a little.....I was curious about that light that I saw. Maybe three hundred feet away we found the source.....there was another entrance.....

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Now I was glad that I had returned to the Ice Caves of the Big Snowy Mountains cause if I hadn't I always would have regretted it, and now that I did it, I didn't regret it, so I guess you could say that I had a day of no regrets.....and a sore foot.....
 
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So we killed a few days in the Big Snowy Mountains and once we were done we headed back down into Lewistown, Montana. Here we visited all the same places as before.....Albertsons for groceries, Tractor Supply for propane and dog treats, and on and on. Finally every errand was done and we headed north out of town.....

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Now I'd been hearing for days about the monster trucks coming to town.....

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.....and I was surprised to see them as I was passing the fair grounds.....

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I stopped in, gave thought to staying in town so that I could watch them compete (it's something I've never seen) but honestly I wanted to get out of town.....

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So we got right back onto Highway 191 and headed north.....

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We passed the Upper & Lower Carter ponds once again, and the turn off for the Judith Mountains once again, and at that point we were finally seeing new lands once again.....

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We made our first stop in Roy, Montana (population 108) and we walked through town just wondering what there was to see.....

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Roy, Montana.....not a place you stay for long.....there's nothing to see.....we were soon back on Highway 191 driving north.....and temperatures were rising just like everyone said they would.....

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Ace Brown

Retired Ol’ Fart
Jerry I worry about Tanner. You call him knucklehead and describe how he jumps into steep caves, and disappears through small openings. I can see you trust him immensely but dogs have a tendency to get carried away in the adventure and get into serious trouble. I had a dog get lost in a cave for about 15’. I was told some dogs have never found their way out. So just a note of caution. I’d hate to see you loose your best friend.

Ace


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Ace.....I understand completely and appreciate your concern. In that particular situation I knew exactly what laid ahead. That particular cave is well known and I had just gotten first hand information from the two women that I'd met so there was little concern for danger. It was steep at the entrance but he had no problem with it whatsoever. Yukon was much the same as Tanner when she was a pup but that was before we shared our adventures.....



Eventually the highway came to a tee in the road and here we chose to make a left turn continuing north.....

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There's something about the prairies that really is special beyond belief.....

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I guess it's just the vastness.....the wide open spaces.....

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Somewhere south of the Missouri River we pulled over along a random dirt road.....

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Tanner & I walked that dirt road and I thought this to be a good place.....not another soul for miles in any direction that we could see.....and we could see just about everywhere.....

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We spent the next three nights here just seeing what we could see.....there's really nothing like the beauty that lies here in the prairies.....

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"A cold wind blew on the prairie on the day the last buffalo fell. A death wind for my people."

Sitting Bull

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We started out our exploring by walking along that dirt road.....

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I quickly realized that the warnings that I had received regarding the heat were valid as every day here we experienced temperatures in the mid 90's.....

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The saving grace here were the winds that never ceased.....I don't recall the winds stopping not one bit.....

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The setting sun was always a welcomed sight.....

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.....as temperatures would drop at least 30 degrees.....

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One afternoon I decided to unhitch the Jeep and have a look at the Missouri River.....the river was only 9 miles north of our camp.....

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Exploring just a small bit of the Upper Missouri River Breaks National Monument was next.....

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The Jeep seems to always start after a good rest and it had been quite awhile since we last used it. So long as I don't turn it off, we'd be fine is my thinking.....

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We checked out the boat launch and the campground which were right off the highway and next to the bridge. I felt bad for those campers that were paying $12 per night for a spot where the wind didn't blow. It was hot in that valley.....but maybe they run generators and a/c units all day.....who knows.....

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Always grateful for more information.....

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We took the dirt road on the south side of the river and drove west.....

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I couldn't t help but think of Lewis & Clark when I first saw this river.....

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The dirt road climbed high above the river banks.....

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.....which afforded us some amazing views that stretched for miles to the east and miles to the west.....

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Late afternoon we returned to our camp with our big skies and never ending winds.....

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We stretched our legs along the highway as it was a fine place to log those so important miles on foot.....few cars or trucks take this route.....

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We were 80 miles from somewhere.....where ? I really don't know.....

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In Montana this is how each highway death is remembered.....

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Back at camp we watched yet another phenomenal Montana sunset.....

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The only sound now is that never ending wind that I cease to mention.....

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Temperatures are falling rapidly now.....a welcomed respite from the days heat.....

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Sleep here in the prairies is blissful.....sheer pleasure in a world of total chaos.....

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tgil

Well-known member
A similar pic of Scout. This was Main St. in Breckenridge, CO. though. I don't know why my pics are sideways lately?
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Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
Tgil.....I don't know anything about your picture posting abilities but I do know that Scout sure is one beautiful dog.....



One day while walking in the prairie we came across this massive spider with baby spiders all over its back.....simply amazing stuff right there.....

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Now the locals had warned me about the insects that we'd encounter here but I was not prepared one bit for the trillions and trillions of these cannibalistic grasshoppers that were everywhere. Take one step and you'd stir up hundreds of these things.....

(The hole in this grasshoppers back is from other grasshoppers eating him. This is going on nonstop everywhere.....grasshoppers eating grasshoppers).

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And so it was that on the fourth day of our stay in the northern prairies that we moved on.....an incredible place but probably better to return another day, another month, when the grasshoppers have moved on and the sun shines a little less brightly.....August is typically best spent in the mountains.....

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Foy

Explorer
Thanks for breaking trail for us, Jerry. Been on the road ourselves for a bit, so just catching up today while in town. August in Montana can be and this year is wonderful--we've seen exactly two small wildfire smoke plumes in a week and a half, morning lows in the 40s and afternoon highs in the high 70s-low 80s at elevations between 5,500' and 7,500'. Planning a trip through the APR in a week or so. Will look for your continued posts after emerging from "off grid" territory in about a week.

Foy
 

Arjan

Fossil Overlander
Love the write up - thank you very much !

Awesome pics as usu..

Really - that book to make is around the corner..
 
Foy.....I'll be interested in your thoughts on the APR. I see the good in the organization.....lots of locals do not. They offered me a job earlier this year for the summer & fall but when I said I don't clean bathrooms they never messaged me again.....

Arjan.....thank you and I've always appreciated your support and everyone that is like you. It takes a team to build a blog.....stay safe.....



Now the question to be asked was whether we wanted to go to the bigger mountains to the west or the smaller mountains to the south.....

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When it came right down to it, I just wasn't ready to leave the area entirely.....so we chose the smaller mountains.....the mountains I'd come to love.....the Big Snowy Mountains of Central Montana were next.....

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So I came up with a new plan.....a plan that I'd thought about previously when I was hiking along that beautiful ridgeline at the top of the Big Snowy Mountains.....

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I loaded my new destination into Google Maps and then we drove south.....passed through Lewistown and Judith Gap, Montana once again.....from Judith Gap we drove east coming at the mountain range from an all new direction.....

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Google Maps misled us several times.....once we entered a ranchers property and drove right up to his front porch (he was on his tractor and he just smiled and waved). The next option took us down this road.....

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Eventually we found the base of that mountain range, and finally entered the Lewis & Clark National Forest from the south.....

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.....Swimming Woman Road finally being our chosen route.....

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Camped that night next to a babbling little brook where the temperatures were more agreeable.....walked 5 miles that evening in the forest getting ourselves ready for yet one more summit the following day.....

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