Ringing Rocks of Montana

Oh what a fun day yesterday. We drove way out into the boondocks to see the Ringing Rocks of Montana, and that was our main reason for coming to Butte in the first place. The Ringing Rocks were so remote that the navigation unit on our truck couldn't find them, but Google Maps could! It's magic, I'm telling you. This, from a woman who has considered everything a magical marvel since FAX machines came on the scene sometime in the early 1970's. Yes, I'm very old. And when you consider that FAX machines have pretty much gone extinct, it kind of makes you wonder, doesn't it? Next, I'll be telling you about the pet dinosaur I had as a child.

So anyway...we wound our way over increasingly rugged terrain to find them...

One wouldn't want to try this without a high clearance four-wheel drive vehicle of some kind. It's actually an OHV (Off Highway Vehicle) recreation area located on BLM land. Dirt bikes or ATV's would be perfect, but we were out there with Mike's new truck, which handled it well. There were many ATV trails, which had us wishing this was an ATV trip. We might return to this area on a future trip with the truck camper and the ATV's. And being on BLM land, camping is free.

We reached a point where we were out of cell phone range, and miraculously, Google Maps was still hard at work. Even the voice giving us directions worked right up to where the rocks were located.

When we reached this point, we grew nervous about those sharp, jagged rocks poking up from the surface of the trail. It would have been a bummer to get a flat tire. It was just short of a mile to our destination, and so we got out and hiked the rest of the way.

The place was pretty much abandoned on this Tuesday afternoon, and so we left the truck parked just off the trail. Bye-bye, Truck.

The trail was gravelly and mostly up hill. It was an easy enough hike, but after about half an hour, we were pretty happy to see this sign.

Just about 500 yards farther, they came into view.

We'd brought our own hammer to tap on them, but we wouldn't have needed to. There were plenty supplied right at the site.

Mike was like a kid in a candy store, and he took off to test out their musicality.

So...wanna hear what they sound like? Here's a video of Mike playing them. If you can't see the video, then click right here.

We spent about half an hour there, eating our Clif bars and enjoying the scenery. This image below is the first entry into my sketchbook for The Sketchbook Project. You can click on that badge in my right sidebar to read more about it. My thanks go to my friend, Sandra, for putting me onto this.

My sketchbook will be made up of images from our trip. I'm calling it "One Word Wonders." My one word to describe the Ringing Rocks is "Melodious."

While we sat there, this little critter came along looking for a handout.

Got any Fritos? Cheetos? Doritos? Oh, wow, Clif bars! My favorite!

This part of Montana is really very beautiful. It's high desert, and it reminds us of Bend, Oregon, although it's quite a bit rockier. It was a cloudy day, but we did see the sun at times. Also, it rained in the morning, and I know Montanans are as happy to see the rain right now as Oregonians are. It will help with the fires that are burning. It is still smoky in Butte, but not as bad as it was farther west.

Here's a panorama of the area. You can see the Ringing Rocks on the right side of the image. Remember that you can make the image larger by clicking on it.

After that, we made our way back to the truck. At one point, we crossed a cattle guard. This was something new for us. No wonder those bovine don't want to walk across these. I didn't want to much myself. And, hey, check out my new waterproof hiking shoes...worn for the first time. Stylish, no? Who says old lady quilters can't be fashionistas?

Along the way, I paused to take a picture of these juniper berries. Juniper berries are used to make gin. If you crack them open, they have that perfumy gin smell. Of course, I can never resist cracking one open and sniffing it when I am in their presence.

We found the truck right where we left it...always a welcome sight.

And then we headed for the quilt shop...back out over that rugged terrain we'd come in on. Along the way, we crossed over some abandoned railroad tracks. Off in the distance, the tracks crossed over what appeared to be an earthen dam.

Here's a less-zoomed-in view so you can see it in the context of its surroundings.

I've already posted about the quilt shop where I made a significant "donation." Thanks to all of you who've pointed out the error in my ways in thinking I actually have to "store" my fabric purchases. Silly me...now why didn't I think of the flat-rate box? Our mail is actually being forwarded to a mail service. We aren't asking Holly, the housesitter, to monitor the mail, but Good Sam (an RV club) has a mail monitoring service. We have a physical address in Florida (closed during the hurricane, by the way) where someone opens our mail and then scans it into email for us. Pretty nifty, huh? Anyway...I can always ship parcels to our kids, but their space is not unlimited either. Still, I don't imagine I'll purchase more fabric than will fill two or three rooms of their house. They won't mind, will they?

As I mentioned it rained here yesterday morning. Smitty has staked his claim to the back of Mike's chair where the largest window in the RV is located. From there, he monitors all woofies and other human activities out of doors.

Neither kitty has been out for a walk yet, but we're hoping we'll get them out in the next day or two. We're spending tonight in Billings, Montana, and we're trying out another service where we can find free camping for one night. This second service is called Overnight RV Parking. It's less glamorous than Harvest Hosts since the spaces are located in parking lots of truck stops, Cracker Barrels, Cabela's, Wal-Marts, and others. I haven't read the welcome message yet, and so I can't say much about our obligation to the business in question. There are six located in Billings, and so we'll scope them out when we arrive and see which one we like best.

By the way, thank you to my friend, Jean, who informed me that the KOA in Billings is a nice one. We're looking to save some money this time around, but if none of these free spots looks good to us, we'll definitely give it a shot. And thank you to all of you who have sent me recommendations about restaurants, trails, quilt shops, and other places of interest. Your recommendations are welcome and appreciated.

As for Harvest Hosts, we were able to find accommodations at a winery up the road for Friday. We're asked not to name the host publicly, and so I won't say more about it than that, but I will take pictures while we're there. It will be there that we're hoping to get the kitties out of the trailer for a walk. I've spoken to the hosts on the phone now, and they were very friendly and seemed delighted that we were coming. They asked for no more information from me except to say that we should call when we're about five miles away so that they can "greet us properly." I like the sound of that! Kind of makes you wonder if they'll be throwing a big welcome party, doesn't it? I should probably take a shower, or something.

So that brings you up to date. Today's journey is a relatively short 200 miles, and we'll be getting underway in a few hours.