West Simms Road to Benchmark-Willow Creek/Beaver Creek junction

(Teaser photos, click to see the entire photo shoot.
West Simms Road Photo Shoot
We left home and decided to turn to the left... Each time we came to a gravel road, we'd shake our heads and say, "Nope, doesn't feel right!" We kept that up until we'd gone through Simms, Mt and climbed the hill west of town, heading toward Lincoln, Mt on Highway 200. Suddenly, we saw this little road branch off the highway, and new we'd found our trail for the day!

We didn't know this ahead of time but this road wound around the prairie, and came out on Highway 21, headed for Augusta, Mt.

When we arrived on 21, we decided to keep going, through Augusta, and up onto the mountain side, driving along the road to Benchmark. At some point during the day, it began to snow- those huge floating flakes that dim the landscape-it was wonderful, like driving on silence.

At the end of our trail, the drifts were deep enough to stop our four wheel drive. We'd gone down part of the Beaver-Willow Creek road but had to turn round and head back to civilization.

We include survival gear when we take these photo shoot trips. We have water, food, sleeping bags, heavy winter clothing, material to start a fire and whatever else we might need. I can power the computer for downloading from power inverters, and charge camera batteries as we go. If we should get stuck, or held up, we figure we can do just fine until we get ourselves going again. It's good to be prepared.

Now I'll let the photos tell you what kind of trip this was!
Donna Ridgway

Email me at artistreferencephotos@gmail.com
Nature of Montana Photo blog.
Photos and art studio blog.