For the next few days we’ll be following Bert & Janie as they research a few spots in Montana for articles they are working on. One of the articles is actually for Airstream Life magazine’s Summer 2008 issue, about things to see and do in Montana. I’m kind of shooting photos over Bert’s shoulder, in hopes of spotting a sidebar I can write to go with his article.

Morning in West Yellowstone, MT  

As predicted, the rain last night turned to snow, and we woke up to about two inches of very wet snow. It makes great scenery and Emma loves it, but it also makes the process of breaking camp a lot slower. I keep a junky beach towel in the back of the Armada just for wiping stuff clean, and the towel got used a lot this morning to dry off things like the power cord.

With all the cold weather and snow I have to remind myself that it’s just early October. It seems like December in Vermont. The ride up into the mountains on Rt 87 and Rt 287 from West Yellowstone was stunningly beautiful at times, especially near Quake Lake, but it was just as nice to descend a little down to the relatively low town of Ennis MT and see the snow deliquesce into light rain and green grass. I would have been much more nervous about this drive if the roads were frozen, but it’s still early enough in the season that ice on the roadways is unlikely.

We are using Ennis as a base camp for the next two nights, while we make explorations into the nearby famous western town of Virginia City. (Virginia City does have a good RV park but there’s no cell phone service there and I wanted to be in touch over the weekend.) It’s 14 miles up and over some mountains to find Virginia City and the historic remains of Nevada City as well.

Boot Hill, resting place of several “road agents”

Virginia City is a true western town, perhaps the quintessential western town, and it is loaded with good examples of preserved architecture and lots of gory history. The museum, for example, includes the foot of “Clubfoot” George, but I’ll talk about that tomorrow when we go see it. Tons of westerns have been filmed in Virginia City or the nearby remains of Nevada City. There’s an amazing amount of preserved history here and it’s all fun to discover.

With the weather still fairly lousy today (light rain & snow, fog), we decided to save the intense browsing of Virginia City for Saturday. We found an old pub in town and settled in for a long lunch and some conversation with the proprietors.

Inside they were playing old big band favorites, and at one point Bert invited Emma to dance. Since we were the only customers all afternoon, the management didn’t mind our tourist antics.

Nevada City, just a mile or two down the road, is really not a town at all anymore. There were about eight original buildings remaining in the 1940s, but then others were collected from all over Montana to create a preservation site of old western rustic architecture. Now there are dozens of buildings assembled into a sort of museum, which you can tour for about eight bucks. This time of year, of course, the place is closed but there’s still a lot to be seen from the street.

Nevada City, MT  

We’ll be touring ghost towns and preserved gold mining towns for the next few days. I’m also working on plans for a visit to Banff, Alberta. The weather in Banff is potentially tricky but this time of year we have a chance of being able to get up there, as long as we watch for snowstorms. Our arrival there is still a week away, so we’ll keep an eye on things and see if it remains a possibility.