The location was east of the mountains and a long way to drive but Tammy was game. Or actually, I was game as I was the one who drove. Besides it would be nice to get out of the Valley and the overcast skies and see some blue sky for a change.
It had snowed in the morning and the weather had turned to rain by the time we left. I had concerns the rain would turn to snow by the time we crossed Marias Pass but it was rain all the way to the pass. After we reached the pass the rain stopped and we drove into blue skies as the clouds would go no further east than the mountains.
With the blue skies we also got wind. The wind blew hard. I could feel it pushing the vehicle as I drove.
I had thought the party was being held at a house on the north side of Browning. North side was right. Only it was 28 miles north of Browning.
There isn't much east of the mountains and we drove out into less than even that.
After over twenty miles on a paved highway we turned off onto a county gravel road. It was another four to five miles on this road to the house. Even with binoculars I doubt one could see any houses. Even the power line poles looked out of place and few and far between.
Before we got to the house we came to a gash of a large valley that one didn't see until they came up on it. The house - and ranch - was down in this Valley. Anything to reduce the wind. The following photo doesn't capture the width and depth of this valley. At the top of the hill, as one started to go down, it caught a person's breath as one initially didn't see the road beyond the initial drop. Then one could see where the road went down the hill. *whew!* The woman holding the party said their Fed Ex driver often won't drive down the hill to get to their house, especially if there was any snow or even a thought of snow.
Along the gravel road were good fences. Instead of boards or wire, the fence was made up of long thin flexible pipe threaded through the wood and steel fence posts. I think the pipe is from well drilling. Earlier along the gravel road it looked like a group of yearling buffaloes were around a hay stack. I asked one of the owners if they also had buffalo as the fence looked sturdy enough for these animals. Nope. Just horses and cattle. How many cattle? They planned to calve 800 hundred head.
I don't remember driving over potholes on the gravel road but once we arrived at the party I noticed that Tammy's side of the vehicle was really dirty - even the windows - while my side of the vehicle was only slightly dirty.
After two and a half hours for the party it was time to drive home. The drive back and forth was two hours each way.
The sun was setting as we left.
It was dark by the time we were back into the mountain crossing. The clouds were dissipating. The rain had quit and the roads were drying except for the snow melt. We went into and out of fog over and over as we twisted, curved and wound our way through the mountains. At one point we came upon a very large mule deer standing in the road. Even in the minivan the deer's body looked to be window height. I was able to quickly slow down and the deer trotted back off the road as I slowed. Just another thing to keep a person awake and alert. No cruise control driving or zoning off as one drove here.
On our drive back home we saw very few vehicles on our sixty or so mile journey through the mountains.
The next photo was taken west of Marias Pass on our journey to the party.
The following photo is of Elk Mountain. I had climbed it this past August: http://tallpineshiker.blogspot.com/2011/08/elk-mountain-in-glacier-park.html
At Marias Pass.
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| Plenty of snow at Marias Pass. |
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