7/2 Little Bighorn Battlefield, MT & the Bighorn Mountains, WY

This morning, I drove west on I-90 in Wyoming with the intention of going straight to Billings, MT for the night, my staging place for tomorrow's drive of the scenic Beartooth Parkway into Yellowstone. When I realized I had tons of time and would make it up there by noon, I decided to go to the Little Bighorn Battlefield, site of "Custer's Last Stand", about 30 miles into Montana. But on my way up, when I was still in Wyoming, I noticed a beatiful set of mountains to the west, the Bighorn Mountains. I recalled reading about a scenic route across, so I decided that I would double back down into Wyoming immediately after the Battlefield, to cross those Mountains... then drive back up to Billings from the west side of the mountain range. It took much longer than I thought, but I thoroughly enjoyed it.

The drive up north:

I gotta wonder who this creek was named after.

THE LITTLE BIGHORN BATTLEFIELD:

The "Last Stand Hill"

"Last Stand Hill". The gravestones indicate where each individual died. In the background to the right, where the trees are, you can see "Custer National Cemetery", where numerous servicemen over the years have been buried.

This is only Custer's marker. His body originally was buried here, but was since exhumed and transferred to the cemetery at West Point.

A Native American memorial.

I didn't see many of these. But I'm glad they have representation. They have done a great job at representing both sides of the battle.

The grave markers, showing where the bodies of the soldiers were found, are scattered all across these fields, giving a good idea of where the action in the Battle took place.

Visiting the Battlefield was a somber experience. One thing that was pointed out... not only was this "Custer's Last Stand", but this was, for the most part, the Native American's last stand as well, being that it was last time they successfully unified the tribal nations to fight back against their outsiders.

THE BIGHORN MOUNTAINS SCENIC DRIVE:

Doubling back into Wyoming again.

Not sure what happened here. Almost looks like the mountain was extra brittle and just gave way.

The strange pattern of downed trees on the mountain was the result of a tornado 50 years ago.

On my way up to Billngs, I noticed the interesting clouds. I suppose with the high elevation, we're that much closer to them. And from this angle, it almost looks like I could reach up and touch the clouds.