Thursday, August 9, 2012

We're off to Rosebud FAS

Tuesday August 7, 2012

The sun (and Monty) wake us up at 5:45 today.  That and the sound of cows. Did we tell you this free state park looks like it's part of a farm?
We can't trust that program!

As we leave we take a look at the end of that road we chose not to take yesterday (see picture).  It would have been another adventure!!  Streets has lost all credibility with us!

We are on the road by 7 am and off to Rosebud FAS.  We'll see what that means! We think it means Fishing Access Site but are not sure.

Route 87 is really easy.  A few trucks but not a lot of traffic for the first two hours.  We're listening to NPR and the news came on.  They are talking about the fires in Rosebud.....and that's where we are heading!  Wish we had gotten NPR earlier since we never saw this mentioned either in the newspapers in Glacier or on the lame stations we were able to get while camping up to this point.

Then we turn onto Route 12 which we are supposed to be on for another hour.  There are NOOOOOOO cars on this road. It is the width of Herringbrook road--two lanes and it has culverts on either side so if we wanted to turn around we probably couldn't. 

We're within 40 minutes of where we are heading and still no sign of forest fires....actually still no sign of forests!  Just loads of rolling hills with grasslands on either side and free range cattle here or there..

While on this road, there were 2 cars coming from the other direction---on over 100 miles.  Then we come across a road repair project.  Can you say 'make work project'? Amazing!  I guess the bridge (over the dry creek) really was rotted.  But who would know?  There must be a minimum number of cars per month on a road before a project should be considered!


Can I keep this one, Dad?
As we travel a little longer there are more road repairs.  We come upon a stop sign and a person holding that sign that told us we would have a wait of about 15 minutes, so we turn off the car and let Monty out for a little stretch.  Within a couple of minutes he brings us a HUGH deer bone!  That little bugger can find bones in an instant!  GROSS!
We start back up the car and get to Rosebud, MT in pretty good time.  The history of the town is interesting.  This area was explored by fur trappers and traders, with nearby Rosebud Creek (after which the town of Rosebud takes its name) especially popular for beaver. On July 28, 1806 William Clark & Company passed this area.  Buffalo Hunters took over 40,000 robes from this area alone during the 1860's and '70's shipping them out by river boat. The slaughter disrupted eastern Montana's Indian culture and precipitated several years of bloody confrontation, culminating in the Battle of the Rosebud on June 17, 1876, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn eight days later.

Rosebud FAS turns out out to be a pretty nice campground right in the middle of the city.  There were about 15 sites and they were all empty.  We would have had the place to ourselves!  However, it was 95 degrees and it was only 11:30 am, so we decided to take a gamble and move on the Devil's Tower...another 5 hours away.  Air conditioning was a big draw for us at that time. 

We start following the map program and after about 45 minutes we come along to a large (hundreds!) encampment of tents on the side of the road that were filled with firemen fighting the forest fires (that we still haven't seen!).  We decide it was prudent to stop and ask if there were any road closures ahead due to the fire.  We were assured that there were no closures today and that we should be able to drive thru without a problem. 

That was fine for another 20 minutes or so.  Then the pavement ended and the road got more narrow.  He forgot to tell us that!

We have already had more adventures then we need,  so we decide to go to the Devil's Tower another way. We turn around and go back to the highway, consult the other GPS and try again. 

We go down the highway a few more exits, turn on what looks like a more utilized road and continue.  The GPS said it would be another 65 miles on this road.  After traveling another 10 miles or so with no businesses around, Ed realizes that we won't make it since we are low on gas.  So we turn around for a second time in this attempt and head back to the highway intersection where we know there is gas.  It's 2 pm so we decide to have a fast food lunch.  It's not possible to leave Monty in the car while we go to a restaurant since the temps are in the high 90's, so we keep the car running while Ed runs in to McDonald's to get lunch.

As we're eating, I suggest that the powers that be are trying to tell us something.  I suggest we skip Devil's Tower and head right to Makoshika State Park in Glendive, MT.  I'm disappointed.  I really did want to see "the number 1 National Park campground in the country"  but I'm really frustrated with constantly making changes....and who knows how many more times we would have to turn around!

So we head to Makoshia State Park instead.  We've been here before. It's a really odd, eerie type of park and we'll probably be able to stay a few days to explore before moving on. 


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