06-06-11 - I fear rivers over flowing.

06-06-11
I hear hurricanes ablowing.
I know the end is coming soon.
I fear rivers over flowing.
I hear the voice of rage and ruin.
295.5 miles
Gillette, Wy - left there about 1 pm determined to get into Montana. Walked Mischa in the town war memorial park where they honored those who fought in every conflict since World War I. By far the most this town lost was in WWII. The momorial reminded me of the veterans meorila in the town circle in the City of Orange, California that I grew up in. It didn’t look the same, it just had the same sort of solemn reverence . Listing by name, the lost potential of those men, that war took the lives of. I always wondered what their lives would have been like had they lived. The contributions they’d have made, the lives they’d have influenced.
Finishing my posts, I set the Garmin for Little Big Horn Battlefield and drove -
Past Buffalo - I see, of to the west, snow capped mountain ridges. Am I seeing views of Yellowstone Park’s snowcapped mountain ranges? The Grand Tetons? Bighorn National Forest?
Sheridan is the last big city before the Montana Border. Maybe I’ll make it in and be able to actually sleep in Montana tonight!
I drive past small towns and Finally! Littler Big Horn Battlefield up ahead. I cross over the Little Big Horn River before I have a chance to grab my camera and take a picture (It’s okay, I’ll pass back over it three or four more times - missing a good shot each time.
What? They charge to enter the Battlefield? Or Well. That was a lot of waised driving for nothing.
Into Hardin. The town is small, but nice. Gas prices are lower than I’d expected. I get on the internet and find that a few friends have responded to my “Pledge Drive” funding request. I hope it gts me thru Montana. I’m already tired of the state. The land is beautiful and to be fare, my resources will not allow me to see much of it (and it’s a REALLY Big State!)
As I leave Hardin to settle in to my camp spot just a few miles up the road I have know Idea what I’m in for.
The listed campsites at:
Grant Marsh FWP - Custer FWP - Minus - Hysham - Forsyth are ALL closed.
And from Custer FWP just 13 or so miles north of Hardin I’m seeing the wide front of an approaching Monster of a storm wall.
I’m racing daylight all along the way, trying to find ONE of the campgrounds advertised in the Montana Visitors guide to Actually be open for business…or at least camping! Their FWP (Fish,Wildlife, Parks) department sites were all closed down! 5 of them! I presume it's over concerns of flooding, but some of the sites were still good for camping.
I end up going to a place in Forsyth called Wagon Wheel Campground. I get direction there . And when I arrive, Betty greets me and starts to check me in. It’s only $15 but they don’t take cards. But she says, take that place down on the end, I won’t turn you away with this storm coming.
I just got the tent up (among flashes of lightning - that helped actually) and loaded in when the storm passed overhead. The rain was light and minor...but the lightning and thunder was celestial! From inside the tent it looked like god was taking ex-rays of my tent every 7 seconds! The air was warm and I was lying on top of my mattress and covers in my shorts and with Mischa lying next to me, I relaxed like I hadn't in weeks!
The Storm passed over in about 30 minutes and it brought colder air. I put a t-shirt on and got under the comforter and had a great night's rest.
I found out that morning there had been tornados in that storm. But it missed me.