This is the third part of my dedication to the Crazy Mountains. A couple of weeks can make a big difference.
Heading west on I-90. Yep, those are the Crazy Mountains looming on the horizen.
It was Sunday, March 24, 2019 and the University of Tennessee men’s basketball team had just defeated the University of Iowa by a 83-77 score. Now I know what you are thinking. This is basketball, not FOOTBALL, and how can I get so excited about it. And to be truthful, I have told my good friend Steve, many times, “it’s only basketball.” But, on this day, the Volunteers had just won their 31st game of the season, and that meant a trip to the Sweet Sixteen, one of the ultimate pinnacles for a collegiate basketball team. So, I decided to take a little excursion down I-90 and see some mountains. It might not have been one of the better photographic days for me as cloud cover was forming over the Crazies, but that didn’t matter. A day of viewing the Crazy Mountains beats a clear day in Billings any day of the week.
Getting closer to the Crazies.
Coming up on Big Timber.Zooming in.The Crazy Mountains; zooming in even more.
At the first Big Timber exit. At this point I’m only a mile from town.
I love trains, even if there were no mountains behind the train.
This is from the second Big Timber exit, or the main one.The Crazies!
A week later, on the 30th day of March, Doug and I took a trip up to see our Big Timber friends. Randy and Hunter took us up closer to the Crazy Mountains as we got off-road with his big pick-up truck. Although the snow had mostly melted in Billings (I told you a couple of weeks could make a big difference), there was still quite a bit of the white stuff on the mountains and even in the valleys around them.
On the way to Big Timber.Now that looks like a painting.From a rest area. Would you believe they have signs, at the Montana rest areas, to watch out for rattlesnakes.?That’s a nice view of Crazy Peak.Heading down the highway. Or as Willie Nelson would say, “On the Road Again!”That’s a really nice photo of Crazy Peak.But I like this one better.
The sign says it. Those are the Crazies behind the town.
Crazy Peak!
Crazy Peak from the other end of town.
After leaving Big Timber, it was time for the Crazy Mountains from a different vantage point. Randy knew his way around the back roads. We took a drive down the western side of the mountain range.
Randy took us out to see the Crazies from another angle.
The Crazies from the west. I would love to live in that house. How about you?Better yet, that ranch, or perhaps farm, would suit me just fine.The Crazies still had lots of snow.
Thunder Jack!
Randy and Hunter with Thunder Jack and the Crazy Mountains in the background.
The two Tennessee boys, my brother Doug and Randy!
A triumvirate of greatness!
The Shields River, where the statue called Thunder Jack resides. William Clark, of the famed Lewis & Clark Expedition, named it after John Shields, a member of his party.
I don’t remember exactly where these were taken, but it was on the west side of the Crazy Mountains.
Still lots of snow there.
I played around with my digital camera a little to get a different outcome.
