Since There Was No A & W Root Beer Place In Mobridge, So You Must Not Pass Up This One Located In Western Montana!
“We have lunch of hamburgers and malteds at an A & W place “
White Hall, MT This is what the A & W Root Beer Place probably looked like back in Mobridge, SD. If you had a late morning start from Bozeman, you would get here for an early lunch.
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(Photo = 109-0954 ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 236i. Photo at WayPt = 237w 4365ft BM)

A Western Montana A & W Root Beer Place. Interior View
“We have lunch of hamburgers and malteds at an A & W place … “
White Hall, MT This is what the A & W Root Beer Place probably looked like back in Mobridge, SD, so don’t forget to pull into this one here.
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(Photo = 109-0955 +109-0956sc ...... ZMM Page = 044 ...... WayPt = 236i. Photo at = 237w 4365ft BM)

Getting Near the Top.
“East of Butte we go up a long hard grade, …. “(Cont.next)
Pipestone Pass, MT Elevation 3453 ft On Rand McNally Map, which also says this is the Continental Divide. My GPS gives elevation as 6455 ft. A rail road comes through here also, but the tracks are not seen hereabouts, so there must be a tunnel way below this pass.www.TopoZone.com shows 6453ft and indeed also a tunnel.
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(Photo = 109-0957c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 238w 6455ft)

The Western Continental Divide. Water on this side of the Crest Runs To the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic. Water on the Far Side of the Crest Runs to the Pacific.
“ …. [go up a long hard grade], cross the Continental Divide, …. “(Cont.next)
Pipestone Pass, MT Elevation 3453 ft On Rand McNally Map, which also says this is the Continental Divide. My GPS gives elevation as 6455 ft. A rail road comes through here also, but the tracks are not seen hereabouts, so there must be a tunnel way below this pass. www.TopoZone.com shows 6453ft and indeed also a tunnel.
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(Photo = 109-0958c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 238w 6455ft)

Does the Road Cut at the Crest Expose “Pipestone” Rocks?
“ …. [cross the Continental Divide,] then go down …. “(Cont.next)
Pipestone Pass, MT Elevation 3453 ft On Rand McNally Map, which also says this is the Continental Divide. My GPS gives elevation as 6455 ft. A rail road comes through here also, but the tracks are not seen hereabouts, so there must be a tunnel way below this pass.
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(Photo = 109-0959c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 238w 6455ft)

Looking Down Into The Valley After Pipestone Pass.
“ …. then go down …. “(Cont.next)

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(Photo = 109-0961 ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 239w 6248ft)

Butte, Montana Airport Is in a Wide Flat Dry Valley.
“ …. into a valley.“
Near airport, several miles East & South of Butte, MT Although the ZMM Route necessarily goes through Butte, MT, it is not mentioned by the narrator. The narrator often avoids mentioning big,noisy,congested cities, which he doesn’t like. This lack of mention also seems to hold for anything else along the ZMM Route that he happens to dislike!
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(Photo = 109-0962 + 109-0963sc ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 240w 5601ft

Evidence of Many Years of Copper Mining.
“ Later we pass the great stack of the Anaconda smelter, …. “(Cont.next)
Approach to Anaconda, MT Most of the green hills are “copper mining waste dumps” that have recently been reclaimed. To take this photo, I climbed up to the top of the dump on the north side of highway. When I stopped to take this photo, there were copper green colored rocks in the ditch long the road. The green may have been a deposit from water run-off from the dump piles, or actual pieces of copper ore.
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(Photo = 109-0971c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 241x 5486ft)

For Me the Rain Clouds Clear At Sunset.
“ …. [we] turn into the town of Anaconda and find a good restaurant with steak and coffee.“(Cont.next)
Approach to Anaconda, MT Rt 1 here is a huge, like an interstate. It goes straight thru Anaconda, MT, where you can observe that a favorite color for the houses is copper green! Since night was rapidly upon me, and time to start looking for my next campground in the mountains ahead, I did not stop here to research restaurants. Does any one have information (or photos) to contribute?
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(Photo = 109-0965c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 241x 5486ft)

After Anaconda, the Road Heads Back Up Into the Mountains.
“We go up a long grade that leads to a lake surrounded by pine forests and past some fishermen who push a small boat into the water.“(Cont.next)
The valleys are level enough here so Cable Creek can form this lake and associated swamps. This lake is several miles Northeast of and may possibly have its waters raised by the Dam for Silver Lake, MT.
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(Photo = 109-0973 ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 242w 6387ft)

A Huge Steel Banded Wooden Water Pipe, the Stream, and the Road Wind Together Down the Narrow Canyon.
“ …. and I see by the angle of the sun …. “(Cont.next)
Just West of Georgetown Lake, MT Look closely in the center of the picture. Just below the bare earth, is the cut for the water pipe. This will be seen more clearly in next photo.

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(Photo = 109-0976 ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 245w 6312ft)

Looking Back, We See the Huge Steel Banded Wooden Water Pipe, the Stream, and the Road.
“ …. that the morning is almost ended.“(Cont.next)
A bit more West of Georgetown Lake, MT The dam in the distance provides water for the pipe which I assume is for irrigation and city water for the towns west. By appearances, the pipe is ~50 years old and no longer seems to be carrying water.
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(Photo = 109-0977 ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 246w~ 6312ft)

Three Minutes Later We See That We Must Go Thru a Deep Road Cut In Order to Continue On Down the Mountain Side.
“[ …. morning is almost ended.]“(Cont.next)
Just West of Georgetown Lake, MT Flint Creek drops precipitously here into a very narrow and deep canyon. The road, needing a lesser rate of drop, winds down the steep sides of the canyon, until it again reaches the riverside, at an elevation ~1000 feet lower. All the way down, the dense trees block any view of the creek. At the bottom of the grade, the road and river, although still in a very narrow and deep canyon, now travel practically level until the canyon opens to a wide flat fertile valley. Note 45 degree slope of the strata on the rocks both sides of the road. This rock is likely part is the same tough resistant geological formation that has prevented the creek here from eroding down to the same level as the valley below. Saying it differently, this strong rock has kept the valley up stream and all its beautiful lakes just the way it is. Note also the wide parking lot at right of highway. This is a good place to stop, rest, and review notes for ZMM Reading/Research.
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(Photo = 109-0980 ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 245w 6312ft)

Forty Minutes Later, Redwinged Blackbirds Welcome Me To a Storm Filled Lush Green Valley.
“ We pass through Phillipsburg …. “(Cont.next)
Philipsburg, MT Ever since Pipestone Pass, the road stays within two miles of Flint Creek (now more like a river) all the way to Drummond, MT and I-90. This is approximately 40 miles. There the creek water joins Clarks Fork River, and with I-90 goes West. Both eventually reach the Pacific Ocean by way of Missoula, MT. The water, perhaps by way of the Columbia River, flows long the Oregon/Washington border and gets to Portland, OR. By contrast, Interstate-90, using a variety of river channels and mountain passes, heads more or less directly west to Seattle, WA. The ZMM Route separates from the Clarks Fork River at Missoula, MT, goes generally southwest to cross the Bitterroot Range at Lolo Pass, into Idaho. It travels through Oregon, then Northern California, and soon thereafter also reaching the Pacific Ocean at Crescent City CA. Notice how again the ZMM Route encounters Lewis and Clark Territory.
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(Photo = 109-0981c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 247w 5317ft)

Despite the Approaching Storm, Redwinged Blackbirds Stay On the Electric Wires and Ever Cautious, Cry Alarm At My Presence.
“(Cont.next) …. and are off into valley meadows. “
Philipsburg, MT As you can see in the photos the narrator again accurately captures the change in scenery. And like the narrator, I experienced strong wind here!
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(Photo = 109-0983c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 247w 5317ft)

b>Heavy Rain Is Needed To Make Everything Green.
“The head wind becomes more gusty here, ….“(Cont.next)
Maxville, MT Note square sign by road supporting a giant round saw blade. The saw blade, at least 7 feet in diameter, has the sign’s message is painted on it. There must be plenty of timber for sawing, to require such a large saw blade in these parts. Since it was raining so hard, I doubled back on the opposite side of the highway and positioned my car so I could take this photo out the car window! Caution: The ZMM Traveler will actually see the saw blade on the right side of the highway.
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(Photo = 109-0984c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 248w 4880ft)

I Too Have to Slow Down, But For Me It Is Some Really Heavy Rain!!
“ …. so I slow down to fifty-five to lessen it a little. We go through Maxville …. “(Cont.next)
Maxville, MT Like the narrator, I had to slow down!
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(Photo = 109-0985c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 248w 4880ft)

Trees in the Distance Signal and Signify the Next Town.
“ …. by the time we reach Hall are badly in need of a rest.“(Cont.next)
A mile Southeast of Hall, MT
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(Photo = 109-0987c ...... ZMM Page = 236 ...... WayPt = 249w 4262ft)