Walking in a winter wonderland

What a difference a day...or rather, night...makes! When I went to bed last night, the wind was still blowing strong in Malta, MT. I was staying at a little family-run hotel, and it was very nice! Kind of like an economy bed and breakfast. The owner even cooked breakfast...I had pancakes with homemade chokecherry syrup! Yummy! Amazingly, the weather was beautiful! Blue skies, no wind and SUN! Now, why couldn't it be like this yesterday? As I drove east on US Hwy 2, the road was bare and dry, so it was smooth sailing!

I was in good spirits when I left the highway and traveled fifteen minutes south of Chinook, MT to Bear Paw Battlefield National Historic Site. This was the second site that is part of Nez Perce National Historical Park that I visited on this trip...the first being Big Hole National Battlefield near Wisdom, MT. It was at this location that the Nez Perce Flight of 1877 came to a sad end. And, it was here that Chief Joseph uttered his famous words, "From where the sun now stands, I will fight no more forever."

 

As you can see, the area was still showing the effects of yesterday's storm. I had the place to myself as I set off to walk the 1 1/4 mile interpretive loop trail. Even though the temperature hovered around freezing, I didn't feel cold at all...the sun probably helped! The snow on the ground varied from a dusting to several inches deep due to drifting from the winds. But, it didn't hinder me at all as I enjoyed the scenery and solitude. 

The depression in the ground that you see in the next photo is where many soldiers killed in battle were initially buried. They were later interred at Custer National Cemetery in Hardin, MT. And, the following pic is the location where Chief Joseph surrendered to Colonel Miles. One thing to keep in mind...there probably wasn't any snow on the ground when these events occurred.

One cool thing about the snow was all the animal footprints! Some had a story in themselves, animals eating and maybe BEING eaten...rabbit, coyote, pheasant and who knows what else!

After finding yet another museum I planned to see still closed for the season, I decided to just travel to my pit stop in Great Falls. Actually, it gave me time to do a little grocery shopping...one eventually gets tired of eating at restaurants! Tomorrow, I'll be visiting two museums that I KNOW will be open, and I might sneak in a park, too.