medialint.com: travel :: Roadtrip 2006 :: August 16th, 2006

August 16^th, 2006
This is Nowhere

A lot of miles. Rand McNally calls it the scenic route as denoted by the green dots. From Great Falls down 89 for 90 miles and over 12 for 225 miles then hop on the Interstate 95 for 6 miles down 39 for 50 miles and about 40 more miles to a campsite I didn't quite make by sundown as planned. (That's over 400 miles).

Shared my campsite with a cat, but I didn't share my dinner. I first thought it might be a bobcat kitten but in the morning it was obviously a homeless housecat. I felt bad for kitty but what can one do? Leave scraps of meat about? No. Let the cat figure it out. I can't help. It found my bag of meat within minutes of me putting it out but I scared it off and it didn't do anything but sniff. If it took a lick it got spicy BBQ sauce. I don't think cats much like BBQ sauce but a desperate one might go for it.

Yeah that's about it. This is Nowhere, USA. I passed through the towns of Belt, Armington, Monarch, Neihart, Harlowton, Shawmut, Ryegate, Roundup, Melstone, Sumatra, Vandana, Forsyth, Colstrip, Lame Deer, and Ashland and ain't a one of 'em got more than the smallest point font McNally prints town names in.

Hey! Hay!
I actually took this photo the next day on the 17th just before leaving Montana but it seemed more appropriate here.
The Montana Landcape ...
N45°01'19.68" W104°24'22.02" elevation 3,450'

scenic viewpoint
N47°12'40.74" W110°55'53.28" elevation 4,140'

vegetate
At Memorial Falls
46°54'40.14" W110°41'42.06" elevation 6,100'

vegetate
At Memorial Falls
46°54'40.14" W110°41'42.06" elevation 6,100' (same as above reading)

Memorial Falls, Montana
At Memorial Falls
46°54'40.14" W110°41'42.06" elevation 6,100' (same as above reading)

Milwaukee Road EF1 Class Electric Engine E57B - Harlowton, Montana
This was the last boxcab on service on the Milwaukee Road. Used for shunting and local freight. Built by GE in 1915. It was replaced by diesel in 1974. This very model is reproduced in some train simulator software add-ins.
N46° 26' 12.54", -109° 50' 1.32"