Saturday, May 09, 2009
Continental Divide, Snow & Sleet, Oh My!
May 7th; Billings, MT to Missoula, MT and over the Continental Divide.
This was both an exhilarating and REALLY SCARY day on the road. We lunched at the memorial to the headwaters of the Missouri.
If you wish to know more about the location; Lewis & Clark, et al...click on this picture and read away.
We drove along the Yellowstone at one point for some distance. In fact, in Billings we stayed at a campground named Yellowstone.
In the distance we began to see storm, as we climbed and climbed and climbed. The storms were fast-moving and the winds, directly broadside to "Roadhouse" rocked us across half an extra lane with each strong gust. It was quite a dance trying to steer a straight line across the roadway while passing or being passed by semi trucks.
Then, just when we thought being across the Continental Divide, and on the way down from the peaks would lessen the wind and problem, along came rain, followed by snow, and then S-L-E-E-T. All as I wound downhill and around huge curves. Trucks and cars and "Roadhouse" speed dropped to under 40 mph! As you can see in the picture, our windshield soon became ice-coated, and the temperatures dropped noticeably outside.
The weather changed rapidly. in less than 2 miles the storm passed, and we drove on into Missoula, MT in bright sun. Then we set up camp, and here came the rain again.
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This was both an exhilarating and REALLY SCARY day on the road. We lunched at the memorial to the headwaters of the Missouri.
If you wish to know more about the location; Lewis & Clark, et al...click on this picture and read away.
We drove along the Yellowstone at one point for some distance. In fact, in Billings we stayed at a campground named Yellowstone.
In the distance we began to see storm, as we climbed and climbed and climbed. The storms were fast-moving and the winds, directly broadside to "Roadhouse" rocked us across half an extra lane with each strong gust. It was quite a dance trying to steer a straight line across the roadway while passing or being passed by semi trucks.
Then, just when we thought being across the Continental Divide, and on the way down from the peaks would lessen the wind and problem, along came rain, followed by snow, and then S-L-E-E-T. All as I wound downhill and around huge curves. Trucks and cars and "Roadhouse" speed dropped to under 40 mph! As you can see in the picture, our windshield soon became ice-coated, and the temperatures dropped noticeably outside.
The weather changed rapidly. in less than 2 miles the storm passed, and we drove on into Missoula, MT in bright sun. Then we set up camp, and here came the rain again.
