I awoke to a beautiful sunrise and lots of blue in the sky — hooray! So I decided to revisit Going to the Sun Road. Along the way, a mama bear and two cubs once again were right next to the road, finding some breakfast as people stopped and looked and snapped pictures. Fortunately, everyone I’ve seen in a bear jam in Glacier has been wiser than some of the idiots I saw in the Canadian Rockies, who started walking towards two grizzly cubs who appeared to be looking across the highway for their mother.

I took advantage of the beautiful weather to take the hike to Hidden Lake, and it was spectacular. A lovely blue lake at the end, surrounded by majestic mountain peaks, fascinating colors in the rock of the mountains, mountain goats, bighorn sheep, wildflowers… just a visual feast.

I did the rest of the highway, stopping for little hikes and photo explorations (more stream patterns — the colors in Glacier were a wonderful surprise!), and returned by going back the way I came, which is actually really cool because you see completely different views coming from opposite directions.

I returned to St. Mary and again had a fantastic dinner at the Park Cafe before crashing, exhausted and happy, into my camper bed.

I was greeted in the morning with a sky that hinted of nicer weather to come, so I set out for the northern portions of Glacier National Park. I took a quick trip to the Many Glacier area, and then, since I actually had the foresight to bring my passport, continued on to the Waterton Lakes National Park in Canada.

It was September 11, and as I listened to the radio, the 9-11 memorial coverage made me feel a little moody. My car also had a little episode in which it didn’t seem to want to take gasoline even though the tank was not full. Fortunately, I got it working again with the help of a guy from the gas station. The hard rain of the day before also let some water in the doors of my camper, so I was having some stress over car and camper issues, but all in all, I figured if this was the worst trouble I have on this trip, I’m doing okay.

But I think the solitude was starting to get to me a bit. As part of the journaling process, I’ve been babbling a bit to the voice recorder on my iPhone, because I have no cell phone signal to call anyone, and I’m feeling a little lonely and unsettled as I pass the three week mark of my trip. I’m also really missing Jamie because Glacier is making me think of our honeymoon in the Canadian Rockies. So my day started off a little emotional. I felt better after talking it out, even if it was just to a machine.

I also felt better as I got out to see the spectacular scenery. Red Canyon was my favorite part. I hiked along the very popular canyon, even though a bear had just been spotted in the area. There were so many people on that trail, I felt pretty safe and think it scared the bear off. I took lots and lots of photos of spectacular colors and patterns in the stream of Red Canyon. The colors are amazing — I’ve never seen anything quite like it.

On the way back, I was treated to the roadside appearance of a beautiful, huge black bear, who unhurriedly scratched around the rocks and plants for some tasty morsels, as traffic stacked up on the roadside and spectators took pictures and gawked. I later saw elk in the distance (too far for good photos). All in all, a very full and fulfilling day.

I woke up to a few patches of blue in an otherwise cloudy sky, but as I started out on Going to the Sun Road, it became obvious that the day’s forecast was not going to be conducive to seeing mountain peaks. Nevertheless, Glacier is a beautiful place, and the highway is quite an experience, even with the road construction and delays at Logan Pass. The vintage red Ford tour buses are kind of cool, but I’d still rather be in my own car than on a tour bus.

After a day of sightseeing and some short hikes and photographs, I went back to St. Mary and enjoyed dinner at the deservedly popular Park Cafe.

I had breakfast in Bozeman at the Frontier Cafe, at the suggestion of my Uncle David, and was happy I did. Cinnamon french toast and hash browns — yum!

Back on the road, the clouds continued to chase me northward. I passed through country of barns sagging into the hillsides and fallow fields. It felt very remote. In the town of White Sulphur Springs, I stopped and took pictures of some old train cars and chatted with a local who was on his way to a company cookout. I like these rough-edged little towns with the mom and pop shops and worn out signs so much better than the tourist trap towns with their tour buses and crowds.

Late in the day, I arrived in St. Mary, the tiny eastern gateway to Glacier National Park. The rain and clouds surrounded me the whole way there, obscuring my view of the mountains to the west, so I really had little idea of what lay outside.

I left Cooke City on an overcast morning and entered Yellowstone National Park via the northeast entrance, an area of the park I didn’t get to visit on my trip to the area last fall. I saw lots of bison in the Lamar Valley, and revisited the Mammoth Terraces area, which I enjoyed as much as I did the first time.

From there, I headed north on Hwy 89 for the long trip towards Glacier. It’s a pretty highway, but the weather once again was turning ugly. The rainclouds chased me north, eventually catching up with me. At least I got some photos of some dramatic skies over the highway. I stopped for the night in Bozeman, Montana, which seems like a pretty cool little town.

I left Sheridan and headed toward the Big Horn Mountains by way of Chief Joseph Hwy (Hwy 14). These mountains were surprisingly beautiful. Approaching from the east at a distance, the hills appear as a large, green rumpled blanket, but on some slopes you can see the occasional rock outcroppings. On the west side, the layers in the rock show the upheaval of the earth, in a way that reminded me of the southern Utah desert along the San Rafael Swell, and there are red rock blanket patterns in the mountains that remind me of Mexican Hat, Utah. There’s even an area of canyon along Shell Creek that reminds me of Burr Trail. I would love to revisit this area in more depth some time.

It was a beautiful drive, but definitely taxing on vehicles. Climbing one of the steep inclines, I noticed that my car was getting 18 mpg and wondered what kind of mileage the huge RVs were getting — something like 5 mpg?

Behind a large, very slow truck that appeared to be carrying potatoes, I passed through the town of Emblem, population 10. Who updates those signs, and when? Annually? When the census comes out? When someone dies or is born? It doesn’t seem like it would make much of a difference when you’re talking about a population of thousands of people, but any change in population that potentially takes you from single to double digits seems much more significant.

After passing through Greybull, I encountered a defunct airport that purported to be an aircraft museum, but it didn’t look like it had been open for visitors in some time. A couple from Australia was also checking out the place, trying to get a closer look. There was a break in the fence, and the man and I agreed that there was at least some safety in numbers while trespassing, so we walked in a little ways and got some photographs of some of the old planes.

A short while later, at a mountain pass, I encountered a real life cattle drive. Maybe this isn’t so unique for someone from Big Sky country, but for a Baltimore girl it’s something to see. The next pullout from the road was just beyond the action, so I didn’t get great photographs, but I managed to grab a couple of quick shots.

As I approached Yellowstone, I checked out a campground only to find a notice that it was closed due to a bear attack which had made news headlines. That made me uneasy enough to find a motel in the tiny but welcoming town of Cooke City. It was a nice little treat on a chilly night to get a room with a fireplace.

I got a late start from my hotel in Spearfish, since the weather was rainy and I wanted to relax and read a book while I had some coffee. So, once I was suitably caffeined-up and ready to move on, I hit the road.

Devil’s Tower is more impressive than I expected. Even from about 20 miles away, I got my first glimpse of it in the distance when I rounded a curve in the highway. Once I arrived at Devil’s Tower, I took the short hike around the base of the formation, which was worthwhile even though the conditions were maddening — very windy, and intermittent sun and rain showers. Once again, I couldn’t resist stopping to watch the prairie dogs for a while.

Back on the road towards Cody, WY, it was nice to see that people out in the prairie have a sense of humor — in the middle of a field of prairie grass and sagebrush, someone planted a huge metal palm tree. Later on, I passed through the town of Spotted Horse, elevation: 3890, population: 2.

I found a campground near the town of Sheridan, WY and got a good night’s rest before another day on the road.

Today is the day of large men in stone — first Crazy Horse, then Rushmore.

Crazy Horse is interesting, even if it is only about 5% finished. I wonder if it will ever be done. Looking at the juxtaposition of what is planned and what already exists, it seems unlikely. I was reminded of my trip to Barcelona last year, when I marveled at the scale of what is planned for Gaudi’s Sagrada Familia, which is due to be complete in 2026. I guess patience is necessary for any kind of project of this scale. Mount Rushmore was also a bit more interesting than I expected, but there were lots of people and plenty of traffic.

It’s a good thing I actually like driving. Even the twisty mountain roads, although they’re best in small doses. Needles Highway was beautiful. There were lots of people out because of the holiday weekend, so some of the pullouts and overlook spots were full, but it was still a beautiful drive. I noticed tons of motorcycles, but very few helmets. There seems to be a thriving motorcycle culture out here. For instance, the town of Hull, SD, population 780, has a Harley-Davidson store.

Like in some other parts of the country, there are large swaths of pine trees in the Black Hills that have turned brown because of beetle infestation — it’s really a shame. I hope it recovers.

This morning when I woke up, the pressure I put on myself had started to get to me. My mind was filled with questions and doubts: where should I go next, I’m not blogging enough, I’m not taking good enough pictures, etc. I think that passing the two-week mark of the trip pushed me into a little loneliness and self-doubt. But once I get out and see things, I start getting into what I’m doing and my brain shuts up. Amazing how our brains, which should be so helpful, can sometimes get in our way.

After visiting Rushmore and Crazy Horse, I had been thinking of checking out the old gunslinger gold rush towns of Lead and Deadwood, but they were filled with tourists and tour buses. I wasn’t feeling it, so I kept moving after passing through town, wondering what was next. Along the roads in the Black Hills, there are numerous little rock and jewelry shops, but one in particular pulled me in — K&M Jewelers. Actually, in all honesty, I was drawn in by the 1937 Packard sitting out front. I think its appeal is usually meant for the male half of the traveling couples who come through the area, but it worked for me — I wanted to photograph the hood ornament in particular.

While I was there, I decided to at least have the courtesy to go into the shop and check out the wares, and I’m so glad I did. I ended up hanging out for a long time, talking with Mark and Kathy, the owners, and I bought a very cool necklace Mark made. In addition to the shop, they have a bit of an animal menagerie: 10 wolves (I met two of them), a couple of raccoons, and some other stray animals they took in. Since I come from a family of animal lovers, I’m pretty sympathetic to anyone who has a makeshift animal sanctuary. I gave Mark and Kathy some of my note cards, and they gave me a beautiful large quartz stone. It was so much fun to meet them and talk about all kinds of stuff, from travel to politics to animals… It just goes to show what you sometimes gain by passing up the obvious tourist areas and letting chance meetings take the day in a new direction.

By the time we finished chatting, the sun was down, and the town of Spearfish was nearby, so I gave the camper a rest and stayed at a Fairfield Suites.

I left Badlands National Park with the intention of heading into the Black Hills of South Dakota, but I decided to take a bit of a detour with the slightly crazy intention of checking another state off my list of states I’ve visited. By the end of this trip, I think the only states I will not have visited are Alaska, Alabama, and Iowa. Unless I make some other detour later on.

So, I decided to head south into the northwestern corner of Nebraska, just for the sake of seeing Nebraska. Along the way, I marveled once again at the range of states of maintenance or disrepair of America’s highways. I drove down a highway in South Dakota that was grooved and worn so deeply that the road surface was shiny, and there were actual tire ruts even though it was a solidly paved road.

I ended up in Nebraska via the little town of Gordon and headed west. As I entered the town of Rush Mill, traffic was being detoured by a policeman, and he told me the detour was due to a parade — I had forgotten it was Labor Day! I found a place to park my car, grabbed my camera, and hurried to catch up with the front of the parade to take some pictures. It was a great slice of Americana — floats with waving kids, smiling big-haired ladies, people on horseback and riding vintage vehicles, Shriners racing about in the little cars, kids in the crowds grabbing candy out of the street — all of the typical parade scenes. I was having a blast, getting great shots of all the action, and I looked down at my camera…

At the little [E] in the window, indicating there was no memory card in the camera.

Crap. The only time I’ve done that before, I was only maybe eight frames into my non-existent memory card. So I shoved a new card into the camera and resumed shooting. Most of the parade was over by then, so I was pretty bummed out. I did, however, join the fun at a cookout at the town park after the parade, where I chatted with a couple of people and had some lunch, and took pictures of the classic cars on display and the people checking them out.

After I left Rush Mill, I made my way up to Wind Cave National Park in time to find a campsite and catch the last cave tour of the day. It was a very cool experience, although very challenging to photograph well without a tripod. Even so, it’s definitely a worthwhile visit.

As the day dawned sunny and cool but warming quickly, I revisited the scenic highway through Badlands National Park, and I took a series of little hikes. When the sun got high and the light got flat, I took a break for some lunch and decided to head up to the town of Wall and the notorious Wall Drug. I gotta say, it’s kind of an odd place. I wandered around a bit and took a few pictures, but all in all, it’s not a place in which I felt inspired to linger for long.

That evening, I was driving through the Badlands just after the sun went down and enjoying the blue-pink-lavender gradient in the sky, and I thought about why I made the decision not to chase the photo op of sunset. On this trip, I knew that I needed time to enjoy and experience certain things without having to photograph them. After I photograph for days on end, I need to give my eyes and mind a rest. Sometimes I need to see without searching, to put the search in the back of my mind. If I don’t do this, I start to feel burned out and overwhelmed.