Notes from Montana
M. Schweitzer's Field Notes

Malta - Last Day

8/06

It was cool when we woke up this morning. The promise of rain in last night's clouds was misleading, and it was still and dry. Eggs with salsa, fruit, and LOTS of coffee, while we laid out the topo maps and tried to see where we could access the most promising bluffs. There is not as much exposure available as I had hoped. Still we have found enough evidence of bone that it is worth a more prolonged prospecting trip, I think.

We head south from the little cabin, after packing up all our gear and cleaning to remove all traces of our visit there. It is a great base camp, and I hope that we can use it again next summer to better explore the area here. There is a lot to think about for the next field season. I have learned that few who come out here are adequately warned about the dangers, discomforts, inconveniences and mosquitoes. So, I will have the winter to think over student requirements:  a basic first aid course, field safety seminars, adequate provisions, etc. But the chance to be so removed from civilization, and to watch pre-history quite literally unfold beneath your feet will appeal to some, I hope. I can't wait.

We have walked out new bluffs. Beautiful exposures that speak of massive rivers, or maybe beaches, and organic rich, swampy areas. Wind has scoured the capstone into beautiful sculptures that magnify the original cross bedding. No bone, except for some very tiny ossified tendons and a very small dromeosaur tooth. All isolated float, but still testimony to those that once inhabited the plains of Montana.

!http://blogs.lib.ncsu.edu/resources/schweitzer/last_3.jpg!
Sandstone sculptures created by wind and weather.

Then, we are on the road, 3 hours back to Lewistown, the about-half-way point, by way of the beautiful, stark and wild Missouri breaks country. Much more treed and with greater topographical relief, home to mountain lions, deer, elk, bear, eagles and other raptors. The waters of the mighty Missouri cut deep bluffs in the resistant rocks, and the canyons are steep. As we approach Lewistown, we see the first signs of the deep green that shows irrigation has made it to these plains. Water is more plentiful and available, and the land changes accordingly. Then on to Big Timber (an odd name for a town with hardly any trees!), and from there the road follows the beautiful Yellowstone River, all the way to Livingston. Livingston sits at the base of the Paradise Valley. I don't know what most people envision for Paradise, and some might say cities of gold, but for me, it is the rugged sharp mountains, peaks still snow covered most of the year and shining white against the blue big sky, and green valleys, with trees and meadows, rivers and lakes..just like this. So, it is aptly named.

Then, it is on to Bozeman, and my summer home, where my wonderful friends put up with my frequent absences and my cat. Barney is not speaking to me, whether because I have abandoned him once too often, or whether he senses his time as a mountain cat is almost ended for another year, I don't know. But, I unpack my field gear for storage, and say good bye to another great season, and summer, in the Big Sky country I know and love so well. Soon, another school year, with new students and exciting research, and the classes I love to teach.

Such a change of pace! I will have a lot of new stories and experiences to share with my students. It should be a good year.

!http://blogs.lib.ncsu.edu/resources/schweitzer/last_4.jpg!
See ya next year!

Posted at 01:20PM Aug 17, 2006 by tppeake in General  |  Comments[2]