Montana Beginnings

Tags

Americana, Billings, Bittercreek, good eats, Great Plains, happiness, hiking, horse riding, Montana, peace, Pryor Mountains, relaxation, sight seeing, tours, trail riding, Yellowstone, Yellowstone Art Museum

Arrived in Billings, Montana after two uneventful, hungry flights from Calgary. Since I didn’t plan my meals very well that day, an annoying headache lingered for some time following. By the time I could spend more than an hour on the comp researching some stuff to do here, the weekend was upon me. Quite frankly, you just can’t do Montana, particularly Billings, without a car. Sure they have a public transit bus system, but it’s not what you’d expect from public trans. Everybody’s already in their cars except for some tourists like me, a few local folks who seem hard up and a handful of unsavory characters.

After a few days, I’d seen all there was to see in downtown Billings except what you come here to do…see the mountains. Whelp, shit. Lesson learned. I did, however, get a chance to stuff my face and add in a nice horse ride and a tour!

Yellowstone River

I stayed at:

The Dude Rancher Lodge Motel –which was way cleaner than you’d expect save for some misc dust here and there and a carpet that was due for a steam clean. Carol at the front desk was super helpful throughout my stay, was Teena and a couple other folks. The shower had amazing pressure, but the flush left something to be desired. The only noise I heard was other guests who had trouble with their inside voices.

I ate at:
Raven Cafe (at Yellowstone Art Museum) –chili polenta w/veggies
Dude Rancher Lodge Resto -dude burger, club sandwich, & trout/baked potato
McCormick Cafe -Banana & cream stuffed Giant french toast with strawberries
Harper & Madison -GIANT lemon pancakes with lemon/thyme butter and rhubarb compote
Walker’s Grill -small plates: stuffed dates wrapped in bacon, duck confit salad, pork belly lettuce cups and the best ever dessert- coconut ice cream ginger soda float with caramelized pineapple and fresh whipped cream
The Burger Dive-Blackened Sabbath Burger with fries
Montana Brewery -pastrami half sandwich on mixed rye/sourdough/wheat bread w/’kraut and killer sweet potato fries
and
the local supermarket! Albertson’s supermarket is one of the larger stores in Montana with a huge selection of groceries. Definitely a money saver!

Montana Plains Trail Ride Scenery

Me and Smokey

I rode:
A super mellow, too cool for school, horse named Smokey with Bitter Creek Outfitters. My host, Teresa, called me on a Tues morning after a cancellation and I was glad to have a chance to ride on such short notice. I had the front desk at the Dude call me a cab pickup out to the ranch. The cab said it would be a half hour. After waiting 50 mins, I asked the desk to call them back. They claimed to be only 10 mins away, thus putting my total wait time at an hour. There were two other passengers already in the cab when they picked me up. The driver said that those people were waiting over an hour to get where they were going, which I’m not so sure I believe. Where could they possibly be going if it’s been an hour already?! Thankfully, I got dropped off first, but sans discount even though I asked for one. I just wanted to get out so I paid. Teresa met me once I arrived. I signed my waiver, hit the outhouse and then Teresa took me out on their beautiful land for an hour of leisurely trail riding. No tacking up required! All I had to do was get on and ride! So much more relaxing! Even her two dogs, Beau and Sadie came out for a romp. Highly recommended! Minus the crazy cab ride, of course.

Chief Plenty Coup State Park, L-R: Pryor Mtns, Chief Plenty Coup house, Offering Stream & Tree

 

I walked/hiked/awed:
Spent the whole morning with Montana Fun Adventures hostess, Renee, and had a great day! We started out with a quick stop at the Log Cabin Bakery and indulged in their bavarian cream stuffed doughnuts with maple glaze. Then we headed out towards Chief Plenty Coup State Park. Renee had the historical stories down pat and I listened with excitement. I’m terrible at remembering dates and who did what when, but Renee made the stories come to life in my mind’s eye. The park’s small museum was closed when we arrived, although they had advised Renee it would be open. Instead, we took a stroll about the park grounds to see the Chief’s house, sweat lodge, offering stream & tree and a small apple orchard. The apples were ripe and ready to eat. I’m not a fan of apples at all, but when you’re treated to a fresh picked, organic apple, grown on a tree that’s approximately 80-100 yrs old, man does it taste different–and so good! We also tasted some of the little plums, which were no bigger than a bing cherry, some chokecherries, which gave me a dry mouth, and some red currents. When we arrived back at the museum, it was still early and they were still closed. I’m not a fan of teeny historical museums and decided it was better to just move on.

After a quick pit stop a the gas station bathroom, which was actually a converted broom closet, (what a dance to pee in that small space!), we headed to the Historical Pictograph Caves. Many of the drawings on the cave walls are hard to see these days, but they are pretty neat. The easy hike up the cave & cliff walls lead to some incredible views, including the Ghost Cave, a little bunny, some butterflies and hawks/falcons.

Pictograph Historical Caves, clockwise fr top left: cliff tree, pictograph caves, pictograph cave drawings, sacrifice cliffs

Me on top of the caves

During the drives to and from the park and caves, the expanse of Montana just blew my mind. They’re called the Great Plains and Big Sky for a reason! We passed the Pryor Mountains & river, Sacrifice Cliffs, Bittercreek river  and the Yellowstone river. All so beautiful! The highlight of the drive though, was a bald eagle siting! He was perched proudly on a bare branch of a full tree high up in the sky. I snapped off a few photos and then caught him just as he took flight. Amazing.

American Bald Eagle