Days 1 & 2, Aug. 31 & Sept 1, 2019 Northwest Mountains Expedition

Day 1, August 31, 2019 … On the Road

We’re on the road again, this time with Jack and Diane to experience the magnificent mountains in the northwestern United States and southern Canada.  We head west through Minnesota and into North Dakota, a route we have taken many times before.  But when we look again at the

amazingly diverse vistas in this country, we have a renewed appreciation for the rolling hills and valleys, the acres and acres and acres of corn all tasseled and almost ready for harvesting, the sunflower fields, the fields dotted with grazing cows, the huge bales of hay laying in numerous fields, the wind farms and grain bins waiting for its bounty. Of course there’s also the World’s Largest Holstein Cow on the butte in New Salem, the world’s largest metal sculpture of the Geese in Flight along the Enchanted Highway plus the must-see kaleidoscope of colors on the buttes of the Teddy Roosevelt National Park badlands.

As the badlands mellow into softer hills and valleys in Montana, we view the vast ranches where the cattle navigate the bluffs and deeper valleys of the grasslands, and the acres of wheat fields emerge.  This is Big Sky Country with its wide open country scattered with clumps of trees and a few homesteads.  We travel 834 miles today, spending the night in Malta, MT, where we enjoy the cowboy atmosphere with some beer and burgers (well, Diane did have wine instead!).  We made good progress today!

Day 2, September 1, 2019 … Another Day on the Road

After attending church in Dodson, MT, with 15 others, we continue west and then north into Canada, this time through the high plains, almost 3,000 feet above sea level, where the oceans of wheat fields extend as far as the eye can see. Many of the fields have already been harvested, and many other ranchers were working hard to finish up the harvest.  It is quite a process to get the grain off the fields to the numerous grain bins scattered around the countryside.

As we entered Canada at Wild Horse border crossing, Alberta, the land use changed from wheat to the high treeless grasslands, about 4,000 feet, with its numerous cattle ranches.  We drove for miles along this lonely road where one could see for miles when on top of the hills, but then it quickly dipped down into the valleys before climbing back up.  It seemed very desolate, especially when we joked about a high traffic area because there are now two cars ahead of us!   It is always a special gift, I think, when we spot some wildlife; and both yesterday and today we spotted antelope several times, a few hawks, a coyote which ran across the road right in front of us, Western Blue Jays and either badgers or raccoons and a skunk that had failed to successfully negotiate the road crossing!

At noon we stopped for a picnic lunch at beautiful little park in Elkwater.  This was quite a refreshing site of beautiful blue water in the lake surrounded by trees and green grass … quite an oasis within the surrounding gold/brown barren lands. Between the metropolis of Medicine Hat and Calgary, while the land was still as flat as a pancake, there were many, many natural gas and oil pumps with their accompanying tanks and other facilities required to make those commodities available to us consumers.  Because this too is highland grasslands, it was interesting to see many herds of cattle grazing among electric highline wires and gas and oil pumps which now have invaded their fields!

Leaving the prairie, we come to Calgary, which is a very large city with very closely-built housing, housing, housing … with more being constructed!  It’s quite a site to see.  As we enter the foothills of the mountains heading toward Canmore in the Banff National Park, the rugged peaks of the mountains come into view, with some of the clouds hanging just below the peaks … an awesome site!  We snap picture after picture of these grandiose giants, then realize that our place of residence for the next few days is right in the mist of these beauties.  It’s like a dream.   After we settle in with pizza for dinner and make plans for tomorrow, we’re calling it a day.