I have been going to Cut Bank, Montana for years, at least since about 2000. However, this time I went to an area I didn't know existed even though it is only about 45 minutes from my brother's place....closer if I could fly!Jerusalem Rocks are located in Toole County in northwest Montana and they are breathtaking! I couldn't believe that I hadn't heard of them before. My mom grew up in the Great Falls area and she and her father did a lot of traveling across Montana....but she never mentioned these.
Hoodoos are pinnacles of sedimentary rock which are topped by a harder layer. The area erodes, leaving these great spires topped by rock much like a stone totem pole. They can be man-sized to over 100 feet tall and are often found in high plateaus which is what this country is.
I simply couldn't stop taking pictures....and I still wish I had more!One of the things which intrigued me was that there are dates and names scratched into the rock, but I couldn't find any more recent than in the 1980s. My niece Beth suggested that perhaps that's only about how long they last because of the incessant wind eroding them away.
Yes, I was bobbing around here with a broken pelvis....I tried to stay on the flat, even ground, but I really wanted to do some hiking. Fortunately, it is a very easy place to get to and you can stay pretty much on the level and not have to be a mountain goat.
The hills in the background are the Sweetgrass hills.
Can you get a sense of how high we are up? The gold is a combined grain field with a river running to the upper right side.
2 comments:
These are sooo cool! Definitely save these pictures for next year's Eye of the Quilter exhibit. The first one is particularly breathtaking.
Are these the same type of rocks that make up the Badlands?
Thanks, Vivien. Yes they are, as well as Bryce Canyon's and a few others. There are some in Turkey as well.
It was really hard to chose the shots...I have so many more and I was looking at them in thumbnails in order to prep them for web use and I couldn't remember what I had!
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