In “The Dakotas” Now, .A Field Of Sunflowers Was Seen 15 Miles After Breckenridge, MN.
….Note Open Flat Landscape, In Background. It’s Like This, As Far As The Eye Can See, All The Way Around (360 Degrees), For Mile After Mile!

…" I thought maybe in this endless grass and wind she [Sylvia] would see a thing that sometimes comes when monotony and boredom are accepted. It’s here, but I have no names for it. ”

In North Dakota, On Rt-13, ~15 Miles West Of Breckenridge, MN.
…The common sunflower (Helianthus annuus) is a large annual forb of the genus Helianthus. It is commonly grown as a crop for its edible oily seeds. Apart from cooking oil production, it is also used as livestock forage (as a meal or a silage plant), as bird food,

LEARN MORE =>
Click Here For Complete Wikipedia Article And One Photo.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0206 ...... ZMM Page = 018 ...... WayPt = 014k.)

Humid-Hazy Skies Over Lone Windmill.
…The Endless Prairie, With Nary A Flower To Be Seen. ~20 Miles West of the Red River, Which Is the MN - ND Border. …. Approximately June 16, 2002.

… " Also, to arrive in the Rocky Mountains by plane would be to see them in one kind of context, as pretty scenery. But to arrive after days of hard travel across the prairies would be to see them in another way, as a goal, a promised land. If John and I and Chris arrived with this feeling and Sylvia arrived seeing them as "nice" and "pretty," there would be more disharmony among us than we would get from the heat and monotony of the Dakotas. Anyway, I like to talk to her and I’m thinking of myself too. ” [Cont next]

Some ~20 Miles West of Breckenridge, MN. Here I discover my first windmill! This brings to mind page 26 in ZMM where (on this same road) the Narrator reports " ...then in the brilliance of the next flash that farmhouse . . . that windmill . . . oh, my God, he’s been here! ..." So I stop to photograph this windmill, which is along this same stretch of road.
…The landscape & hazy, humid sky seen here fits passage above => "after days of hard travel across the prairies ”
…However, this is opposite of Mr. Pirsig's own photos (Blue Link Below) of this same area, wherein you will note the perfectly blue sky! This fits Mr. Pirsig's recent confession that the storm and high-speed run to escape the rain was fictional. Right Click Here: Open In New Browser. And AFTER this Albums Page Comes Up => Scroll Down To The SECOND Down Album & Chick On => Pirsig 1968 Photos.
… Look at first 3 photos. THEN compare t /\ Above /\ Photo, of landscape & hazy, humid sky, with that seen Pirsig’s photos of his original 1968 trip..
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(Photo = 102-0304_IMG.JPG...... ZMM Page = 018 ...... WayPt = 016w)

When I Saw This Example Of The ZMM Narrator’s " Red-Winged Blackbirds On A Marsh With Cattails”, I Braked To A Stop To Get A Photograph.

…However, As I Opened My Car Door, Two Of These Ever Cautious, Were Already On The Wing, As You Can See.

… But, If You Look Closely, You Can See Up To 8 Bird-Sized Black Objects Perched On Short Stalks Over The Water.

…ALSO, Notice The Nice Cattail At Top Of Tall Stalk, Lower Right.

…"I have seen these marshes a thousand times, yet each time they’re new. It’s wrong to call them benign. You could just as well call them cruel and senseless, they are all of those things, but the reality of them overwhelms halfway conceptions. There! A huge flock of red-winged blackbirds ascends from nests in the cattails, startled by our sound. I swat Chris’s knee a second time . . . then I remember he has seen them before.”

16 Miles East & A Bit North Of Oakes, ND.
(Photo = 103-0313_IMG.JPG ...... ZMM Page = NA ...... WayPt = 026 1369ft)

In A North Dakota Field, The Yellow Flowers Are Most Likely Mustard Weed.
…Seeing This Yellow Field Reminds Henry Gurr Of This Springtime Weed In Our Farm’s Hay Fields When I Was A Youth On Our Wooster Ohio Farm..

Some 14 Miles East of Ellendale, ND.
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(Photo = 103-0336 ...... ZMM Page = NA ...... WayPt = 37)

At The Ellendale, ND Town Center, The Town Temperature And A Very Nice Flower Bed Of Blooming Roses, Greets The ZMM Traveler!
…Just As The ZMM Narrator Says => "Clean and Fresh”.

…"…now that I think of it, I’ve never been cycling with them [John & Sylvia] before one or two o’clock in the afternoon, although for me dawn and early morning is always the greatest time for riding. .. The town is clean and fresh and unlike the one we woke up in this morning. Some people are on the street and are opening stores and saying, "Good morning" and talking and commenting about how cold it is. Two thermometers on the shady side of the street read 42 and 46 degrees. One in the sun reads 65 degrees.“

At Major North-South Crossroad, Main Street Ellendale, ND. Showing the front of the Nodak Hotel Brick Building. The Center Door Entrance leads to the ZMM Narrator's Restaurant, here in Ellendale.
…Now-a-days, the "clean and fresh" includes a park and flowers and the large bank sign, showing the temperature.

IN /\ ABOVE /\ PHOTO SEE THE FOLLOWING =>

…Above the Lady In Blue, note the Big Sign Attached to the right side of the Brick Nodak Hotel Building. On the sign’s white background, the Light Blue Letters say => “NODAK Café’ home cooking:”

…Above and to left of the Red Fire-Hydrant, note the Entrance Door at bottom center of Brick Nodak Hotel Building.=> And See Sign over the Restaurant Entrance Door, Which on the sign’s white background, the Light Blue Letters say => “NODAK:. And in Grey a CurvedEndsScrollShape followed by word > Café’.
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(Photo = 103-0342r ...... ZMM Page = 040 ...... WayPt = 041`|m|' 1456ft)

I Stopped Here To Photograph A Red-Winged Blackbird On The Green Road Marker Sign.

…A Few Moments Later, Mr. Vern Gebhardt and His Case-International Disk Harrow Rig Arrived & Stopped, For A Friendly Chat.

…"Roads with little traffic are more enjoyable, … where kids wave to you when you ride by, where people look from their porches to see who it is, where when you stop to ask directions or information the answer tends to be longer than you want rather than short, where people ask where you’re from and how long you’ve been riding.“

Luden, ND. After Oakes, ND, I also get back on the road the next morning. I stop to photograph a Red-Winged Blackbird on the green road marker sign.
…BUT, Red-Wing Blackbirds are very cautious. Just try to get a good close up photo. As long as my car was moving, even slowly, they would remain perched. But just stop the car for 5 seconds and hold camera steady. They get suspicious and start to crouch for take off as this one is doing.
…After studying my maps 30 minutes, a huge Case-International tractor rig with disk comes up this side read and stops. Vern Gebhardt (Gephardt? Gephart?), shuts off the engine, and comes over to my car to see if I need help. We have a long & good conversation about the wildlife population cycles here. Mr. Gephardt explained his observations on the population increases and disease related population crashes in the fox vs coyote.
… Click Here To See Photo Of => Vern Gebhardt And His Huge Case-International Tractor Rig With Disk
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(Photo = 103-103-0334 ...... ZMM Page = 005 ...... WayPt = 037`|w|' 1384ft)

In Northcentral South Dakota Are Found, Two Milkweed Plants. The Larger Is Just Starting To Bloom. … Approximately June 17, 2002 .

US-12 about 3 miles East of Mobridge, SD. I had stopped along US-12, on the eastern edge of the Missouri River Valley, to photograph the beautiful sight of a huge body of water in a water starved land.
…On the way back to the car I found these Milkweeds. (Asclepias species, probably Asclepias Syriaca called Common Milkweed). They are just like the ones on our Ohio farm of my youth.
…All over South Carolina, there is a (related species), called the Sandhill Milkweed (Asclepias humistrata). Although it has parts that look similar, it is a distinctly different species.

LEARN MORE …=>
Common Milkweed (Asclepias syriaca)

Sandhill Milkweed (Asclepias humistrata)

Wild Flower Information
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(Photo = 103-0376 ...... ZMM Page = NA ...... WayPt = 055)

A White Blossoming Plant By US-12.

…Beyond the Highway, No Evidence of Human Activity.

…"It all has a natural tidiness. If it were abandoned land there would be a chewed-up, scruffy look, with chunks of old foundation concrete, scraps of painted sheet metal and wire, weeds that had gotten in where the sod was broken up for whatever little enterprise was attempted. None of that here. Not kept up, just never messed up in the first place. It’s just the way it always must have been. Reservation land. .. There’s no friendly motorcycle mechanic on the other side of those rocks and I’m wondering if we’re ready for this. If anything goes wrong now we’re in real trouble. .. I check the engine temperature with my hand. It’s reassuringly cool. I put in the clutch and let it coast for a second in order to hear it idling. Something sounds funny and I do it again. It takes a while to figure out that it’s not the engine at all. There’s an echo from the bluff ahead that lingers after the throttle is closed. Funny. I do this two or three times. Chris wonders what’s wrong.”

18 Miles Southeast of McLaughlin, SD. Starting at the Missouri River, I searched for “bluffs” that could create an echo, but found none along Rt-12.

WHITE ROAD SIDE FLOWER?
White Sweetclover (Melilotus alba)
White Meadowsweet (Spiraea alba)
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(Photo = 103-0391c ZMM Page = 045 ...... WayPt = 061`|w|' 1825ft)

Scrawny Thistle Plant Ready To Bloom, Found Among A Very Thin Stand Of Even Scrawnier Grass.
…How Can Plants Survive The Very Dry And Super Heat Of This Tortured Land?

…"… it’s already too hot to sleep. … Beyond the pines are burned grass and clumps of earth and sand so bright they are hard to look at. The heat, silence, and barren hills and blank sky give a feeling of great, intense space. .. Not a bit of moisture in the sky. Today’s going to be a scorcher. …”

Shadehill Reservoir, SD. The ZMM Narrator emphasizes again and again in ZMM. He repeatedly says how desolate, and dry, and burnt-up this landscape is, especially from Shadehill Reservoir, SD (South of Lemmon, SD), through the super awful badlands at Marmarth, ND, to Locate, MT (at the Powder River), a distance of some 160 miles.
…However, this is a considerable contrast to most of my photos, which generally show lots of green vegetation, in this area of the Dakotas and Eastern Montana.
…We must remember that Pirsig came through nearly a month later, well after the complete exhaustion of water from winter snow and spring rain
…Yes, “burnt to a crisp” landscape would be the finishing result of the “duesey of a heat wave” they experienced as they traveled from here into Eastern Montana.
…Moreover, the actual recorded Weather Facts actually well fit Pirsig’s writing concerning the narrator’s “scorcher” heat wave. An 108 Degree Fahrenheit Heat Wave actually did happen, in EXACTLY this same area, and IS CONFIRMED in the 9 July 1968 weather record!

LEARN MORE …In Western Dakotas, The Thistles Will Be Similar to Montana. =>

Ten native thistles and five exotic invasive thistles grow in Montana. The Montana State University Extension published a guide to identify thistles in Montana in 2015.

A Guide to Montana Thistles.PDF:
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(Photo = 103-0442_IMG.JPG ...... ZMM Page = 057 ...... WayPt = 068 2210ft. Photo at 075x 2820ft near Cascoyne ND. HSG stopped here, 20 miles East of Bowman, ND at a slightly higher rise in Rt-12, to take 8 photos for a 360 degree panorama. )

A Cactus With What Looks Like Four Redis-Brown Blossom Heads, Is Nearly Hidden In The Dense, Corse, Neary, Dry Grass. In Southeastern Montana. …. Approximately June 18, 2002.

…"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.
…"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. …”

20 Miles West Of Baker, MT. Some 40 miles West ot the South Dakota border into Montana, I had stopped along highway US-12, to photograph a posse of horses. When I got close to the fence, they came over and sniffed through the fence to see if I had any candy. On the way back to the car I found this near to blooming cactus, hidden in the tall grass.

Cactus Native To South Dakota---Montana Border Area.
…The cactus in the grass here is probably the most common in Montana and South Dakota… the Prickly Pear (Opuntia species). “Six species of cactus, call Montana & South Dakota their home. The most common are the prickly pears, which grow with jointed segments shaped like mice ears.
…The other species are rather small, rounded balls or columns. There are two kinds of the aptly named pincushion cactus — if you can imagine a pincushion with the points sticking out. The rarest one is the hedgehog cactus, which ranges into the southwest corner of the state and is unique for having green flowers.” From “The Joys of Cactus” by Michael Melius, South Dakota Magazine.

LEARN MORE SOUTH DAKOTA …=>
Click Here For “The Joys Of Cactus”.
Click Here For Wikipedia: Prickly Pear Cactus
LEARN MORE MONTANA …=>
Click Here For “Montana Field Guide ”: 5 Varieties Of Cactus, With Map Natural Range..
Click Here For “Montana Field Guide ”: Prickly Pear Cactus, With 10 Very Nice Color Photos.
LEARN MORE WIKIPEDIA ALL VARIETIES CACTUS DETAI.S …=>
Click Here For Wikipedia On Cactus
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(Photo = 104-0473_IMG.JPG ...... ZMM Page = 071 ...... WayPt = 088`|w|' 2715f)

Is This Stretch Of Highway With These Fragrant Russian Olive Shrubs
….The Scene Of Chris and the Narrator's Brush With Death?

….[The Narrator is deep in thought as he explains the hierarchies of the mechanics mind as he seeks the underlying form. Then suddenly, the horror of a head-on collision! => ]
….".... A car with a trailer coming our way is passing and having trouble getting back into his lane. I flash my headlight to make sure he sees us. He sees us but he can’t get back in. "

US-10, seven miles East of Hysham, MT . In my ZMM Route West Research, I started to look for possible locations for the above “horror scene” Thus soon after Miles City, MT and well before Forsyth MT, I started look road clues that could fit the Narrators description above.
….My task was to find a straight section of road where the Narrator can look ahead to see => ".... A car with a trailer coming our way …. " on a "narrow road" bad drop-off, where he may have been "forced off the pavement" and the subsequent "had the shakes" and fairly soon a "small town " where they "order every kind of snack they’ve got".

…. From Forsyth, MT to Hysham, MT, the 8 mile straight stretch of road running East of Hysham, MT, is one of the few places that US-10 has the above combination of ‘clues”.

The /\ Above /\ Photo Was Taken On This Stretch Of Highway, Because As You Can See This Location Has A Safe Place To Pull Of The Highway And Park.
But, once stopped at this particular place, I rested and re-viewed again the ZMM passages, so I would not miss any Narrator’s scenery clues. And since this was a good candidate highway section for the Narrators above “horror scene”, I walked around taking photos. And then, and only then, did I became aware of these fragrant bushes!.
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These, Wonderfully Fragrant, Lighter Green Trees (As Suggested By ZMMQ Editor David Matos) Are “Russian Olive”. Elaeagnus Angustifolia, Common Name Russian Olive,
….In the /\ Above /\ Photo, the lighter green trees, were wonderfully fragrant during my time here!
….“This Russian Olive Plant is an invasive species in North Carolina”
It is a deciduous shrub in the oleander family that is native to Asia, Russia and India. It is a large thorny shrub or small tree, that has a rounded form but can get leggy with a loose and irregular form. It can grow up to 30 feet tall. The species was introduced into North America in the late 19th century as an ornamental but quickly spread over a large area due to an aggressive root system, fast growth rate and spread of the seeds by birds.
Flower Color => Gold/Yellow, Gray/Silver, White
Flower Value To Gardener => Fragrant.
Flower Description => Small, Tubular fragrant, silvery-white to yellow tubular flowers in late spring to early summer April-June.
LEARN MORE AND See 22 Color Photos, Of Flowers, and Plant Close-Ups. AFTER this WebPage comes up, just above the 22 small photos, click on the tiny > to advance photo viewed.
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…. To See My ZMM Route, Summer 2006 Photos, Of These, Wonderfully Fragrant, Lighter Green Trees, Which ZMMQ Editor David Matos identified as Russian Olive”. => Right Click And Select “New Tab” =>
… And after you are finished viewing, you can => Click The >> Upper Right, To see 2) A closer view, and then AGAIN => Click The >> Upper Right, To see 3) A very much closer, 6 inch away, close up photo of the Leaves & Seed Berries.
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(Photo = 105-0546cfz1.5.jpg ….. ZMM Page = 096 ...... WayPt = 105w)

Just Before Crossing The Yellowstone River At Myers Bridge =>

…. A White Flowering Shrub Is Seen, Along Entrance Drive To A Nature Preserve Adjacent To The Yellowstone River. … Approximately June 20. 2002.

Beginning Chapter 10:
…. “Outside in the valley again the sky is still limited by the bluffs on either side of the river, but they are closer together and closer to us than they were this morning. The valley is narrowing as we move toward the river’s source.
We’re also at a kind of beginning point in the things I’m discussing at which one can at last start to talk about Phædrus’ break from the mainstream of rational thought in pursuit of the ghost of rationality itself.”

Southeast River Side, ~500 Feet SE Of Myers Bridge, Myers, MT. The entrance to this Nature Preserve is a gravel driveway trending NE. As shown in a Satellite View, you drive over a Cattle Guard, and on by some buildings on the right, and continue to the river edge, where there might be a boat landing.
….A website for Montana Fishing says => This is called “Myers Bridge Fishing Access Site”. The Site Visit.com, says => “Myers Bridge Fishing Access Site is on the Yellowstone River. Primitive campsite camping. There is a boat launch. Open all season and a maximum stay of seven days.”
….Although there were was no mosquito problem at nearby Myers Bridge, the beasts in this nature preserve fit the Narrator’s descriptions at their camping experience near Lemmon, ND: ….These highly persistent dive-bombers will carry you away!! No amount of swatting or running will yield relief.
….In typing up this Photo Caption, I remember that there had been recent flooding, from rain, and now realize => This Nature Preserve & River Access is likely free of this ”flood” of beasts on wing, most times of the year.
….To See My 2nd Photo Taken Here, Showing Flowering Bush Left Of Drivewayr, Click Here.

….************** …

…DATE-LINE: July 28, 2021. by Henry Gurr.
MONTANA ZMM ROUTE RESEARCH PART TWO: An Update From That => As Was Seen By HSG Back In 2002.)
….Back in July 2002, after I finished my ZMM Route Research in Hysham, MT, I wanted to find & continue toward Laurel, MT, on roads likely used by Robert Pirsig in 1968. .…
….At the time, I thought I was following the Old Rt 10: But, somehow a wrong turn took me away from the any hint of Old Rt 10, and unfortunately I followed Rt-311 = Myers Road, which went over the Yellowstone River, onto a maze of back country dirt roads.
….These formed a labyrinth of scattered road forks, in every which-a-way- nonsense. In sum, this turned into a long and anxious detour, and away from any recognizable road on my mapl! Even my GPS was limited help!!!
….As you can see in 4) below (on a Satellite Map), the trace of Myers Road, is clear & easy to follow. However, back in July 2002, driving on the dirt road was anything but clear. I just kept going and following the largest most traveled track, and finally, at last gasp, tired, hot, and about out of gas, got back over the Yellowstone River, and finally arrive at Intersection with I-94 at Custer, MT.
….And now (July 28, 2021) as I type up this paragraph, I clearly remember => My frantic, near panic, attempts to get back to “civilization and find a gas station, before car ran out of gas!!.
….But, In Retrospect, For The Adventurous ZMM Traveler, Myers Road Qualifies As A ZMM Quality Road.
….Once you have the proper Maps, and Enough Gas, give it a try! For ~15 miles you’ll see the REAL Back Country Montana!
….This is a valid alternative to US-10 from Hysham, MT to Custer, MT. AND for sure far higher ZMM Quality than I-94!
….Also, you will go by where I found my first view of actual "Yellow Stone” (my WayPt = 112), which you will see the THIRD Photo Next.
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This Satellite View Was Discussed In The Previous Photo:
….Here You Can Continue To Study This Satellite View To See The Above Roads AND The Continued Discussion Below. Right Click & Select New Tab: Satellite View Centered Red Pinpoint ,on Myers Bridge over Yellowstone River, ~6 Miles SW of Hysham, MT.

AFTER This Satellite View Comes Up, Zoom & ClickDrag, So You Can See =>
..1) Center Screen At Red Pinpoint = Myers Bridge over Yellowstone River.
..2) Approximately 500 Feet SE Of Myers Bridge, see a gravel driveway, which is the location where /\ Above /\ Photo was taken.:
..3) This gravel road is the entrance to a Nature Preserve where, as is seen in Satellite View, you drive over a Cattle Guard, and on by some buildings on the right, and continue to the river edge, where there might be a boat landing. (As stated above =>.An Internet Sites for Montana Fishing says this is called “Myers Bridge Fishing Access Site”.
..4) Faintly Upper Right See => Hysham, MT, the small town much discussed in previous photos:… Look close => As you can see, this small town is about 6 miles (somewhat NE) from Myers Bridge (Red Pinpoint), following Rt-311 = Myers Road,
..5) NW Of Myers Bridge, see Myers Road = Rt-311. Zoom & ClickDrag, So You Can See Myers Road, go North, then West, Then South and then keep following it, trending SW somewhat parallel to the Yellowstone River, some 15 miles, to then cross back over the Yellowstone River, and Intersect with I-94 at Custer, MT.
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(Photo = 105 0549_IMG.JPG...... ZMM Page = 098 ...... WayPt = 109i …… Photo at WayPt = 108w)