Writing On Stone Park
May 19 , 2007

The May long weekend was largely a bust. We had plans to go backpacking in the Front Range but we cancelled them because of bad weather. Instead we headed to Writing On Stone Park where the weather was considerably nicer.

We drove to the town of Milk River and set up camp before driving to Writing On Stone Park. We would have preferred to camp at the park but it was full.

At the park an area is set aside for backcountry hiking. It looked interesting on the Internet and I envisioned a long hike that would include exploring coulees. In reality it was a tiny area, only five kilometres long and a third as much wide. Nonetheless it was a fascinating area and thankfully, except for two others whom we never saw, we had the area to ourselves. The river crossing undoubtedly kept the crowds away. We also delighted in the 25° weather.

Sweetgrass Hills, Montana
May 20, 2007

The following day we drove into Montana crossing the border at Coutts, Alberta. After driving down HWY 15, we turned left onto HWY 343 and headed to Sweetgrass Hills. Along the way we spotted a pronghorn but it bounded away before we could take any photos.

We had learned at the Writing On Stone interpretive centre that the Hills are accessible only with permission, but when we came to the farmhouse at the base of the Hills nobody was home!

We spotted a tent perched on a nearby hill and drove over to it. An Indian couple from Great Falls was camped there with the farm owner's permission. They were joining a vision quest with other Indians but hadn't located the group. However, he too said we should get permission from the farm owners.

We hung around for two hours but no one returned to the farmhouse. Rather than wait all day we left. It's not likely we'll return!