After a glorious three days and nights in Glacier National Park near the Canadian border it was necessary to travel the north-south length of the state of Montana to reach our next destination in Yellowstone National Park. Leaving Glacier, in a way, took a very long time, as the jewels of the park were visible in our rear view mirrors for a couple of hours. Eastward, out onto the yellow grassy horizon of Montana and highway 89 and then highway 2, provided a dramatic change of scenery. The Great Plains spread out before us like a golden carpet and the misty foggy skies ahead created an ethereal splendor. We passed through little towns like St. Mary, Kiowa, Browning, Meriwether, and Cut Bank. The tiny town of Meriwether obviously named after Meriwether Lewis of Lewis and Clark fame, who traveled nearby in their historic westward exploration of the newly purchased Louisiana Territory. Cut Bank, I remembered as the smallish municipality where Christopher McCandless worked for a summer at McDonalds, hiding out from his hideous parents, as portrayed in the Book and subsequent movie “Into the Wild.” McCandless eventually died in a deserted bus in the wilds of Alaska, starved to death, in an almost suicidal effort. It was a bit strange to pump gas into the van and shop in the Albertsons grocery store in the same complex as the very same McDonald’s where he worked.
The journey to Yellowstone National Park continued with brushes past Great Falls and Helena (the state capital) and other non-notable locations, but we found the town of Bozeman to our liking and checked into a Hotel for two nights to catch up on shopping and laundry. We even filled up the adventure van with gasoline again at the really cheap price of $3.49 a gallon (half of what the price was in California just before we left.)
Bozeman, Montana
Bozeman is a city located in the southwestern part of Montana, United States. It is the county seat of Gallatin County and has a population of 53,293 as of 2020. The city was founded on August 9, 1864, and named after John Bozeman, a pioneer and frontiersman from Pickens County, Georgia 1. The city is situated at an elevation of 4,817 feet (1,468 meters) above sea level. The city has a rich history and was primarily within the territory of the Crow people. For many years, indigenous people of the United States, including the Shoshone, Nez Perce, Blackfeet, Flathead, Crow Nation and Sioux traveled through the area, called the “Valley of the Flowers”. In 1863, John Bozeman opened the Bozeman Trail, a new northern trail off the Oregon Trail leading to the mining town of Virginia City through the Gallatin Valley and the future location of the city. Bozeman has been one of Montana’s fastest-growing cities from 1990 into the new millennium. At the rate of three percent, Bozeman could surpass Great Falls as Montana’s third-largest city by 2025. The city is known for its nearby recreation, scenery, and quality of life. When we arrived in Bozeman it was even a balmy 74 degrees and the colors on the mountains were in full form.
We were so impressed with the beauty, the people, the charming old ( but functioning ) downtown, the amazing place we ate for two consecutive nights called the Montana Ale Works, and just the general vibe we experienced. In fact, we put some thoughts to maybe moving here one day…. then the weather turned… and we remembered that there may also be some nasty and cold months here.
South to Yellowstone National Park
Our original route to Yellowstone was leaving Bozeman on Interstate 90 to Highway 89, where we could enter through the North Gate and see the Albright visitor’s center. Heavy snow began to fall outside of Bozeman and we redirected to a safer weather route and went to the West Yellowstone entrance instead. We checked in to Madison Campground for two nights. It would be the last few days anyone would be here, as all the Campgrounds would be closing for the winter. The ranger joked with us that the “place is shutting down, We close the campgrounds, lodges, roads… turn off the geysers and lock up all the animals.” We soon realized that we were getting our visits in just before the lid was closed up on both Glacier National Park and Yellowstone National Park.
Left Coast Footprints 