More Montana and on to Yellowstone

For the benefit of avid map followers (and you know who you are!) I left the last post basically at Georgetown MT. There is a beautiful lake and what looks like a lot of retirement or vacation homes. A beautiful setting with all of the requirements, like mountains and water and relative peace and quiet.

The road goes on to Anaconda MT which was another famous mining town (There was or is a mining company Anaconda Copper) and all that remains of the mine and smelter is the smelter stack and an area around there that is totally denuded of trees and vegetation. The mining was basically done in the late 1800s and there was no knowledge of the potential consequences of spewing acid laden smoke into the atmosphere. There is a similar area of devastation near Copperhill TN on the border between GA,TN,and NC. 

It looks like there is a fair amount of activity in Anaconda but I did not tarry.

Always the one for the road less traveled  headed south towards Wisdom and on to Jackson and eventually Dillon MT. When they talk about "Big Sky Montana" this must be it. There are vast areas of range land and grazing land and irrigated fields. I maybe expected to see more sheep but have actually seen very few.

I stopped to take the photo here and there were 4 guys on motorcycles who stopped at the same turnout. They were attorneys from Texas and had rented motorcycles in Great Falls Montana and were headed to Yellowstone. They still had a good 4 hours of riding ahead of them.

After a night in Dillon I headed up to Twin Bridges and on to Ennis MT with a brief side trip up to Ruby Dam near Alder.  

There are lots of motorcycles around and it is easy to find yourself going 75-80 mph. That is kinda OK as the speed limit outside most towns is 70 during the day. I notice that people tend to observe the speed limits well in town. I have followed suit!!
I basically made a big loop around to Helena over to Garrison and back to Butte MT. 

The scenery was less interesting other than the climb up out of Helena on Rt 12 and a lake and campground that looked inviting in Canyon Ferry, just east of Helena.

At one point I stopped for gas at a truck stop near the interstate, and saw the truck in the picture below. It had this strange looking device on the rear doors and paneling along the lower sides of the trailer. The rear device folds up to the size and shape of the rear doors for unloading the truck.
I asked the driver and he confirmed my belief that they were for improving fuel efficiency. He said that the device on the back improved efficiency by about 4/10 of a mile per gallon and the combination of that and the side panels added up to about 9/10 of a mile per gallon. That is significant and he said the overall improvement took him from around 6.5 mpg to 7.5 mpg. If you drive 200,000 miles a year or so that is significant in dollars and fuel savings.
Just another random piece of learning!!