The Narrator Continues His Discussion of the Dry Lifeless Processed Of Science And Philosophical Analysis.
"There is a perennial classical question that asks which part of the motorcycle, which grain of sand in which pile, is the Buddha. Obviously to ask that question is to look in the wrong direction, for the Buddha is everywhere. But just as obviously to ask that question is to look in the right direction, for the Buddha is everywhere. About the Buddha that exists independently of any analytic thought much has been said...some would say too much, and would question any attempt to add to it. But about the Buddha that exists within analytic thought, and gives that analytic thought its direction, virtually nothing has been said, and there are historic reasons for this. But history keeps happening, and it seems no harm and maybe some positive good to add to our historical heritage with some talk in this area of discourse.“
Ten miles East of, Marmarth, ND.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0351 ...... ZMM Page = 070 ...... WayPt = 077n)

Death-Birth Continuity.
" [By the time Mark Twain} had mastered the analytic knowledge needed to pilot the Mississippi River, he discovered the river had lost its beauty. Something is always killed. But what is less noticed in the arts...something is always created too. And instead of just dwelling on what is killed it’s important also to see what’s created and to see the process as a kind of death-birth continuity that is neither good nor bad, but just is. .. We pass through a town called Marmarth but John doesn’t stop even for a rest and so we go on.“
Marmarth, ND. Notice how the town atmosphere, and evident abandonment, fit the Narrators description of the surrounding harsh terrain and the “death-birth continuity” of above passage. Also study how the lived experience of the narrator, reflects and poetically amplifies the painful telling of this terrible wrenching desolate portion of Phaedrus’ life. In the above passage, the narrator dwells on death and killing, which “fits” this harsh terrain.
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(Photo = 104-0458c ...... ZMM Page = 071 After ...... WayPt = 079`|w|' ft)

North Dakota Montana Border Country.
"More furnace heat, into some badlands, and we cross the border into Montana. A sign by the road announces it. .. Sylvia waves her arms up and down and I beep the horn in response, but when I look at the sign my feelings are not jubilant at all. For me its information causes a sudden inward tension that can’t exist for them. They’ve no way of knowing we’re now in the country where he lived. .. All this talk so far about classic and romantic understanding must seem a strangely oblique way of describing him, but to get at Phædrus, this oblique route is the only one to take.“
4Mi W of Marmarth, ND. has more Scenery and Montana Cows. Some “Badlands” are seen in distance.
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(Photo = 104-0463c ...... ZMM Page = 071 ...... WayPt = 082`|w|' 3070ft)

Cows and In the Distance Oil Tanks.
"I told Chris the other night that Phædrus spent his entire life pursuing a ghost. That was true. The ghost he pursued was the ghost that underlies all of technology, all of modern science, all of Western thought. It was the ghost of rationality itself. [In other words, this ghost is the basis of our civilization’s primary received knowledge.] I told Chris that he found the ghost and that when he found it he thrashed it good. I think in a figurative sense that is true. The things I hope to bring to light as we go along are some of the things he uncovered. Now the times are such that others may at last find them of value. No one then would see the ghost that Phædrus pursued, but I think now that more and more people see it, or get glimpses of it in bad moments, … "
)Baker, MT. is seen in distance.
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(Photo = 104-0464c ...... ZMM Page = 071 ...... WayPt = 083`|f|' 3070ft)

Giant “S” Curve Carries Rt12 Over RR Tracks.
" … a ghost [of received knowledge] which calls itself rationality but whose appearance is that of incoherence and meaninglessness, which causes the most normal of everyday acts to seem slightly mad because of their irrelevance to anything else. This is the ghost of normal everyday assumptions which declares that the ultimate purpose of life, which is to keep alive, is impossible, but that this is the ultimate purpose of life anyway, so that great minds struggle to cure diseases so that people may live longer, but only madmen ask why. One lives longer in order that he may live longer. There is no other purpose. That is what the ghost says.“
Baker, MT. in distance. Railroad Train plus Light of Diesel Locomotive is seen. Our highway here makes great “S” curve away from its former roadbed, as it over-passes grass covered railway discernable at right.
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(Photo = 104-0465c ...... ZMM Page = 071 ...... WayPt = 084`|f|'3074 ft)

Lone Café-Bar and Old Style Wooden Frame Elavator.
"At Baker, where we stop, the thermometers are reading 108 degrees in the shade. When I take my gloves off, the metal of the gas tank is so hot I can’t touch it. The engine is making ominous knick-knicking sounds from overheating. Very bad. The rear tire has worn badly too, and I feel with my hand that it’s almost as hot as the gas tank. .. "We’re going to have to slow down," I say … "What?" .. "I don’t think we should go over fifty," I say. .. John looks at Sylvia and she looks at him. Something has already been said between them about my slowness. They both look as if they’ve about had it. .. "We just want to get there fast," John says, and they both walk toward a restaurant.“
Baker, MT., East side of street where, at a glance, this seemed to be the towns only Café. But on second close look, I see it has the words Bar on upper corner. Next photo shows the opposite, (West) side of the street. When the Sutherlands and the Narrator came this way they were gruled by the heat. I was similarly oppressed but by the cold stormy weather.
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(Photo = 104-0467c ...... ZMM Page = 072 ...... WayPt = 086`|u|' 3070ft)

Real Western Towns Have Six Bars in a Row.
"They may want to go ahead fast and wait for me in some town up ahead. I’d suggest it myself except that if they go much faster they won’t be waiting for me in some town. It’ll be by the side of the road. .. "I don’t know how the people here stand this," Sylvia says. .. “Well, it’s hard country," I say with a little irritation. "They know it’s hard before they come here and are ready for it." .. I add, "If one person complains he just makes it that much harder for the others. They’ve got stamina. They know how to keep on going.“
Baker, MT. business district where are found 6 bars, all in a row, two of which are between restaurants. Another Old Style Wooden Frame Elevator Complex finishes the business district. Evidently a new cold front is coming in causing the ever darker clouds to release copious rain. Life forms in this area, including people are, no doubt, very grateful! This is an enormous contrast with what the ZMM Narrator describes. The “traveler” participates in both extremes with “Mind Control”.
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(Photo = 104-0466rc ...... ZMM Page = 072 ...... WayPt = 085`|w|' 3070ft)

I stopped to photograph the Dry Baked-out Grass and Discover a Cactus
”Before we are out of town I am sweating again. The cool drying-off period doesn’t last even half a minute. .. The heat just slams into us.” On the road after Baker MT This cactus, lower right of center is another hot dry-land survivor. Look at the grass and vegetation. Clearly this is a harsh land. br />(Photo = 104-0473 ...... ZMM Page = 073...... Photo is actually at WayPt = 088w, 20 Mi W of Baker MT)

From This Obviously Harsh Land These Curious Horses Come Over to Investigate Me
”Even with dark sunglasses I have to squint my eyes into slits. There’s nothing but burning sand and pale sky so bright it’s hard to look anywhere. It’s just become white-hot everywhere. A real inferno.” Somewhere after Baker MT Again study the grass and vegetation of this harsh land. A nearby group of horses, became curious, and as a group come over to investigate me. In this two photo composit, my camera was positioned exactly over the fence. This allows you to contrast the vegetation with (and without) the grazing pressure of the horses.
(Photo = 104-0469sc ...... ZMM Page = 073...... Photo is actually at WayPt = 088w, 20 Mi W of Baker MT)

This "Posse" Sniffs at Me Expecting a Handout
”This is the ghost [received knowledge] of normal everyday assumptions which declares that the ultimate purpose of life, which is to keep alive, is impossible, but that this is the ultimate purpose of life anyway, so that great minds struggle to cure diseases so that people may live longer, but only madmen ask why. One lives longer in order that he may live longer. There is no other purpose. That is what the [received knowledge] ghost says.…” Somewhere after Baker MT Despite their tough living conditions, these horses go on living any way, and seem both well fed and content. I did not find the sand mentioned in the above passage. I took too long talking to the horses, and missed my shot when all the horses had a good photogenic group positioning. Sorry.
(Photo = 104-0471c ...... ZMM Page = 071...... Photo is actually at WayPt = 088w, 20 Mi W of Baker MT)

The Horses Loose Interest in Me and Move Off to the Southeast ”
“John up ahead is speeding faster and faster. I give up on him and slow it down to fifty-five. Unless you’re just looking for trouble in this heat you don’t run tires at eighty-five. A blowout on this stretch would really be it. .. I suppose they took what I said as a kind of rebuke but I didn’t have that in mind. I’m no more comfortable than they are in this heat but there’s no point in dwelling on it. All day while I’ve been thinking and talking about Phædrus they must have been thinking about how bad all this is. That’s what’s really wearing them down. The thought.” Somewhere after Baker MT Here’s another opportunity to study the vegetation and think about “the will to survive” in this harsh land. Finding no sugar lump or other hand-out, these horses rapidly move away. They get this far, before my electronic camera is ready. No doubt they are responding to Quality, and can do so neither too fast …. nor … too slow! I was going to say “by definition here”, but this is not allowed as we learn in ZMM.
(Photo = 104-0472c ...... ZMM Page = 073...... Photo is actually at WayPt = 088w, 20 Mi W of Baker MT)

Spring time in Montana!
"A photograph can show a physical image in which time is static, and a mirror can show a physical image in which time is dynamic, but I think what he [Phaedrus]saw on the mountain was another kind of image altogether which was not physical and did not exist in time at all. It was an image nevertheless and that is why he felt recognition. It comes to me vividly now because I saw it again last night as the visage of Phædrus himself. .. Like that timber wolf on the mountain he had a kind of animal courage.“
20 Mi W of Plevna, MT. and 18 Mi E of Locate, MT. The rain stopped, the sky cleared, and the sun came through the clouds, so I stopped to get photos of the cows and (at left) the wooden cattle loading chute. This photo is part of a larger Panorama. View Complete Panorama for this location. (Alternate: If you have already viewed a panorama in a second (new browser window), simply switch to it and choose the seventh Gallery Panorama)
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(Photo = 104-0479c ...... ZMM Page = 079 ...... WayPt = 090`|x|' 2980ft)

Ahead We Can See the Outlines of a “Low Rimed Canyon”.
"And yet strange wisps of his [Phaedrus’] memory suddenly match and fit this road and desert bluffs and white-hot sand all around us and there is a bizarre concurrence and then I know he has seen all of this. He was here, … I’m like a clairvoyant, a spirit medium receiving messages from another world. That is how it is. I see things with my own eyes, and I see things with his eyes too. He once owned them. .. These EYES! That is the terror of it. These gloved hands I now look at, steering the motorcycle down the road, were once his! And if you can understand the feeling that comes from that, then you can understand real fear . . . the fear that comes from knowing there is nowhere you can possibly run. We enter a low-rimmed canyon.“
3MiE of Locate. MT. This picture shows the ZMM “Low Rimed Canyon”. The ZMM “Roadside Stop” shown in the next photo is just ahead on rt.
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(Photo = 104-0482c ...... ZMM Page = 077 ...... WayPt = 91`|w|' 2930ft)

The Route 12 Roadside Stop Mentioned in ZMM.
"Before long, a roadside stop I’ve been waiting for appears. A few benches, a little building and some tiny green trees with hoses running to their bases. John, so help me God, is at the exit on the other side, ready to pull out onto the highway. .. I ignore this and pull up by the building. Chris jumps off and we pull the machine back up on the stand. The heat rises from the engine as if it were on fire, throwing off waves that distort everything around it. Out of the corner of my eye I see the other cycle come back. When they arrive they are both glaring at me. .. Sylvia says, "We’re just—angry!" .. I shrug my shoulders and walk to the drinking fountain. .. John says, "Where’s all that stamina you were telling us about?" ..“
ZMM Roadside Rest Area is Two Mi E of Locate, MT.. The town of Locate, MT. and the Roadside Rest Area are both marked on my Rand-mcNally. However I did not notice any evidence of any town as I continued West on Rt12. The outdoor “drinking fountain” mentioned in the above passage was not found at this Roadside Rest Area, nor was I able to discern any evidence of an old drinking fountain or hand well-pump. The building in photo looks more recent than 1968 era.
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(Photo = 104-0483c ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 092`|e|' 2840ft)

The ZMM Route is Well Supplied With Interesting Local History Read Me’s.
"I look at him for a second and see he really is angry. "I was afraid you took that too seriously," I say, and then turn away. I drink the water and it’s alkaline, like soapy water. I drink it anyway. .. John goes into the building to soak his shirt with water. I check the oil level. The oil filler cap is so hot it burns my fingers right through the gloves. The engine hasn’t lost much oil. The back tire tread is down a little more but still serviceable. The chain is tight enough but a little dry so I oil it again to be safe. The critical bolts are all tight enough. .. John comes over dripping with water and says, "You go ahead this time, we’ll stay behind." .. "I won’t go fast," I say. .. "That’s all right," he says. "We’ll get there.“
Rest Area Two Mi E of Locate, MT. has this interesting sign.Both MT. & ID. provide the traveler along the ZMM Route, with a great number of these extensive road side explanations of local history and sights.
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(Photo = 104-0485c ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 092`|e|' 2840ft)

The Canyon and the Crest of the Ridge on the Other Side.
"So I go ahead and we take it slowly. “
Locate, MT. Note dark clouds. Our ZMM Travelers, Narrator, Sylvia, John, and Chris "enter a low-rimmed canyon" mentioned third previous photo. They cover the flat grassy area direct ahead, West. Then, in the darker trees just beyond the white building in the three building town of Locate MT, the road crosses a dry stream bed. The Narrator calls this a "low-rimmed canyon", despite the fact that it is just a broad valley as is discerned by the traveler. In addition to the fact that our Narrator is traveling in a super heat-wave, they have been descending ever since well before the soapy water rest area. As they cross the dry stream bed, they are at an elevation of 2450ft. This somewhat lower elevation also adds to the heat they feel. Clearly we have left the undulating high planes behind and are getting into that low mountain ridge ahead!
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(Photo = 104-0486sc ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 093`|x|' 2450ft)

The Road Starts To Wind Upward This Surprises the Narrator.
"The road through the canyon doesn’t straighten out into more of what we’ve been through, as I expected it would, but starts to wind upward. Surprise.“
About four miles West of Locate, MT. For 40 miles, since soon after Baker MT, the highway has been running essentially West. The Narrator expects to continue this as they head towards the mountain ridge ahead. But as he accurately reports, at the start of the climb this road does abruptly curves some 45 degrees to the Southwest, to follow a side canyon upward. After this the road curves back again to the West then several more major "meanders" as they reach the top. The Narrator is surprised by the turns of the highway. These are readily seen on a road map, and are seen in the photo above also.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0256 ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 092`|k|' 2800ft)

Then the Road Continues To Rise and As the Road Curves, They Enter the Gap Ahead.
"Now the road meanders a little, now it cuts back away from the direction in which we should be going, then returns. Soon it rises a little and then rises some more. We are moving in angular directions into narrow devil’s gaps, ...... “
All the curves mentioned (and seen) in the previous photo and this one, are also readily seen on a road map In this photo, the road passes between cliffs ahead. Is this the Narator's "narrow devil’s gaps“? Has the road been improved since 1968? At a Miles City Books, Friday Evening Amateur Hour (8 Sept 06), I happened to discuss the ZMM Route into Miles City, with a local Judge. He stated that the road had indeed been changed, and the old route is still visible. After extended study of current day Topo Maps, I can not pick up any old road beds that suggest any changes of route.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0257 ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 092`|m|' 2900ft)