A General West View, of Montana Harsh Dry Landscape, From Atop A High Bluff of Road Cut For US-12.

As He Travels Through This Area of Montana, The ZMM Narrator Explains About The Mysterious Phaedrus. =>
…. "This account of him must sound unworldly, but the most unworldly part of it all is yet to come. This is my own relationship to him. This has been forestalled and obscured until now, but nevertheless must be known.
….I first discovered him by inference from a strange series of events many years ago. …
[When I awaked in what seemed a hospital.] It took me more than a week to deduce from the evidence around me that everything before my waking up was a dream and everything afterward was reality. There was no basis for distinguishing the two other than the growing pile of new events that seemed to argue against the drunk experience. Little things appeared, like the locked door, the outside of which I could never remember seeing. And a slip of paper from the probate court telling me that some person was committed as insane. Did they mean me?
….It was explained to me finally that "You have a new personality now." But this statement was no explanation at all. It puzzled me more than ever since I had no awareness at all of any "old" personality. ….But who was the old personality whom they had known and presumed I was a continuation of?
….This was my first inkling of the existence of Phædrus, many years ago. In the days and weeks and years that have followed, I’ve learned much more. " (Continued next photo.)

On US-12 => 22.2 Miles W of Plevna, MT, and 16.4 Miles E of Powder River, MT.
.
….The Previous Springtime Photo was ~11 June 2002, and shows lots of Green! … However The /\ Above /\ Photo (and 2 other Summer 2006 photos), was taken 8 Sept 2006 after long dry Montana Summer, resulting the Harsh Dry Burnt to A Crisp you see.
…. The Photo /\ Above /\ Is Part Of A Larger Panorama. Send an Email, if you want me to hurry up to Panorama Stitch and post it.
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(Photo = Summer 2006 0371 ...... ZMM Page = 075 ...... WayPt = Approx 1.2 Mile West of 2002 WayPt = 90 )

Ahead We Can Start To Perceive The Outlines of a “Low Rimmed Canyon” => The Distant Horizon Is A Ridge Which (To the West Beyond), Overlooks Miles City, MT. The Lower Area Ahead, BEFORE This Ridge, Is The Valley of Montana’s Powder River, 13.6 Miles West From Here. And In Essence Is The ZMM Narrators “Low Rimmed Canyon” .

….As He Travels Through This Area of Montana, The ZMM Narrator’s Continued. Explanation Of => (After he " awaked in what seemed a hospital. “). =>
….." In the days and weeks and years that have followed, I’ve learned much more. He [Phaedrus] was dead. Destroyed by order of the court, enforced by the transmission of high-voltage alternating current through the lobes of his brain. Approximately 800 mills of amperage at durations of 0.5 to 1.5 seconds had been applied on twenty-eight consecutive occasions, in a process known technologically as "Annihilation ECS." A whole personality had been liquidated without a trace in a technologically faultless act that has defined our relationship ever since. I have never met him. Never will.
….And yet strange wisps of his [Phaedrus’] memory suddenly match and fit this road and desert bluffs and white-hot sand all around us and there is a bizarre concurrence and then I know he has seen all of this. He was here, … I’m like a clairvoyant, a spirit medium receiving messages from another world. That is how it is. I see things with my own eyes, and I see things with his eyes too. He once owned them. .. These EYES! That is the terror of it. These gloved hands I now look at, steering the motorcycle down the road, were once his! And if you can understand the feeling that comes from that, then you can understand real fear . . . the fear that comes from knowing there is nowhere you can possibly run.
….We enter a low-rimmed canyon.“

Along US-12 => 25.0 Miles W of Plevna, MT, and 13.6 Miles E of Powder River, MT. This picture shows the ZMM “Low Rimmed Canyon”. The ZMM “Roadside Stop” shown in the next photo is 1.8 mile ahead on rt.
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(Photo = 104-0482c ...... ZMM Page = 077 ...... WayPt = 91`|w|' 2930ft)

The Route 12 Roadside Stop Mentioned in ZMM.
… "Before long, a roadside stop I’ve been waiting for appears. A few benches, a little building and some tiny green trees with hoses running to their bases. John, so help me God, is at the exit on the other side, ready to pull out onto the highway. .. I ignore this and pull up by the building. Chris jumps off and we pull the machine back up on the stand. The heat rises from the engine as if it were on fire, throwing off waves that distort everything around it. Out of the corner of my eye I see the other cycle come back. When they arrive they are both glaring at me. .. Sylvia says, "We’re just—angry!" .. I shrug my shoulders and walk to the drinking fountain. .. John says, "Where’s all that stamina you were telling us about?" ..“ (Continued Next Photo.)

Along US-12 => 26.8 Miles W of Plevna, MT, and 11.8 Miles E of Powder River, MT.

….************** ….
…DATE-LINE: January 17, 2021. by Henry Gurr.
(ChangesSinceRobertPirsig1968Trip), As Seen By HSG in 2002, 2006, & 2019.)
….In the ZMM discussion of this Roadside Stop, The Narrator mentions “an outdoor drinking fountain” and a “hand well-pump” .Upon all three of my visits to this Locate MT Rest Area, I was NOT able to find what the ZMM Narrator mentioned, nor was I able to discern any residual evidence of where an old drinking fountain or Water Well, may have been.
…. On my August 2019 trip through here, there were 3 buildings (seen in this Panorama Click Here) , which looked fairly recent, and much more recent than my photo which you see /\ Above /\. And the buildings in /\ Above /\ Photo, look in turn more recent, than could have been for the 1968 ZMM Narrator reports in on their travel there July 1968.

….Concerning The Very Small Town Of Locate, MT. It is marked on my 1978 Rand-McNally Road Atlas, as from here ~ 12 miles West on US 12. Confirming this in 2002, as I went through this part of US 12, I noticed only two houses near US 12, but no other evidence of a town. => Google Street View (GSV} at Powder River, says this Area is at Ismay, MT, rather than Locate, MT.. …. This is a puzzle, since This Satellite View Shows Ismay, MT (Population 19), As Some 25 Miles East And A Bit North Of Where US 12 crosses The Powder River. Click Here.
… ALSO THIS SAME SATELLITE SHOWS
..A) All the ZMM Book Towns along US 12, from Miles City, MT to Baker, ND,
..B) AND can see at Center of Satellite View, The Map’s Location of => The ZMM Narrator's “A Roadside Stop”, which in the Satellite View, is ~5 Miles South Of Ismay, Mt, at the center of the Upward (North) Hump Of US 12, seen.
..C) You can also see => The “Dark Green Hi Ridge Area” at the “10 Miles East of Miles City, MT" AND seen also is the “Low Elevation Powder River”, mentioned in many 2019 Gallery Album Photos. Zoom-In on this Satellite, and you can see there are Ranch Buildings, just North of US 12, on East side of The Powder River.
The FOURTH NEXT Photo Has A Long Explanation, About The Very Small Town of Locate, MT,
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(Photo = 104-0483c ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 092`|e|' 2840ft)

The ZMM Route is Well Supplied With Interesting Local History "Read Me’s".

.... "I look at him for a second and see he really is angry. "I was afraid you took that too seriously," I say, and then turn away. I drink the water and it’s alkaline, like soapy water. I drink it anyway. .. John goes into the building to soak his shirt with water. I check the oil level. The oil filler cap is so hot it burns my fingers right through the gloves. The engine hasn’t lost much oil. The back tire tread is down a little more but still serviceable. The chain is tight enough but a little dry so I oil it again to be safe. The critical bolts are all tight enough. .. John comes over dripping with water and says, "You go ahead this time, we’ll stay behind." .. "I won’t go fast," I say. .. "That’s all right," he says. "We’ll get there.“
Rest Area Two Mi E of Locate, MT. has this interesting sign.Both MT. & ID. provide the traveler along the ZMM Route, with a great number of these extensive road side explanations of local history and sights.
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(Photo = 104-0485c ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 092`|e|' 2840ft)

Here US-12 Goes Down Into The Dry Stream Channel Ahead, Then Does A Dramatic “S-Curve” To Cross It Perpendicularly, and Then Goes Up And Over A Road Crest Ahead.
….[ “.. John comes over dripping with water and says, "You go ahead this time, we’ll stay behind." .. "I won’t go fast," I say. .. "That’s all right," he says. "We’ll get there.“ ]
..****************..

Along US-12, Mile Post 35: Just Over A Mile East of Powder River & Locate, MT. And ~37.6 Miles West of Plevna, MT.

…A) In /\ Above /\ Photo, Notice The Road Cut At Left.
….Here you see another example of multi-colored layers of volcanic dust, giving evidence of very long history of eruptions, through eons of time, likely from Yellowstone National Park. These YNP massive volcanic eruptions were some 350 miles away to Southwest. All along US 12, you will see more examples of these light grey layers, sometimes multi-colored, in the roadside scenery or rode cuts,
… In /\ Above /\ Photo, Notice TYellow Flowers, Whth Red Center, At Right.Please Email Henry Gurr, if you know the name of these, or send your Favorite Link Explaining Their Biology.
….

The Next Photo Shows The Road, “On The Way Down”, The After the Above Mention “Crest in the Road”, And Shows =>A Grand View of The Powder River Valley.

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(Photo = Summer 2006 0390 ...... ZMM Page = 077 ...... WayPt = Approx 0.6 miles East of 2002 WayPt =093`)

A Grand View Of The Powder River Valley, AND The Distant Horizon Shows Crest Of A Major Ridge. ((Click Photo Several Times, To Get The Largest View.))

….THEN PLEASE IMAGINE => A Person Standing Upon This Major Ridge, Can Then Overlook => To The West Beyond => And See The Valley of The Yellowstone River, & The Full Spread of Miles City, MT.

…. "So I go ahead and we take it slowly. “

Locate, MT
…. In the /\ Above /\ View => Note Dark Clouds, Which Serve To Foretell Of The Clouds & Cool Rain That, Our ZMM Travelers, Narrator, Sylvia, John, And Chris Will Experience.

….EXPLANATION => As has been mentioned in the fourth, third, & second previous Photos, our ZMM Travelers, Narrator, Sylvia, John, and Chris have "entered a low-rimmed canyon" and then after 2 miles, turned into the "road side stop". ,,,, Then they are back on US-12 again.
… After some 11 miles West from the "road side stop", the road goes down into a Dry Stream Channel, does a Somewhat Dramatic “S-Curve” to cross it. (This was seen in the Previous Photo)
….Then after going over the next road crest, the road starts down a long grade, to The Powder River. (This is shown in the /\ Above /\ Photo.)

…. In /\ Above /\ Photo => Look Close.=> Beyond The Flat Grassy Area Direct Ahead, You See IN The Darker Trees, A Small White Building. This marks the location of the The Once-Upon-A-Time Town Of Locate MT , and just beyond, at the base, the line of dark green, marks trees growing at The Powder River.

WE MUST BE SURE TO NOTICE => How Robert Pirsig Uses Change In Elevation (725 Ft),=> To Build A Narrative Dramatic Climax, In The Last Half Of His ZMM Chapter 7. =>
….The /\ Above /\ Photo View, the Narrator calls a "low-rimmed canyon", despite the fact that it is just a broad river valley as is discerned by the traveler. In addition to the fact that our Narrator is traveling in a super heat-wave, they have been descending ever since well before the soapy water rest area. As they cross the dry stream bed, they are at an elevation of 2450ft. As is always associated with Elevation Changes => This somewhat lower elevation ALSO adds to the heat they feel. Clearly we have left the undulating high plains behind and are getting ready to climb up ONTO that into that above mentioned “Major Ridge” ahead!
>

..A) All day our ZMM Travelers have had to endure =>
…. the heat is just ferocious… The heat just slams into us. Even with dark sunglasses I have to squint my eyes into slits. There’s nothing but burning sand and pale sky so bright it’s hard to look anywhere. It’s just become white-hot everywhere. A real inferno. …
..B) This …Ferocious Heat… Continues Thru Their Crossing The Powder River.
…However with the slowly increasing elevation (725 Ft), to The Crest of The Major Ridge shown in the /\ Above /\ Photo, things surprisingly change => To where the ZMM Narrator will say => "Overhead a small cloud appears. Rain perhaps? Perhaps. Meadows must have rain. And these now have flowers in them. Strange how all this has changed.
..C) Things surprisingly change => To where the ZMM Narrator will say =>
…. "Overhead a small cloud appears. Rain perhaps? Perhaps. Meadows must have rain. And these now have flowers in them. Strange how all this has changed.

>
TO FURTHER STUDY => About How Robert Pirsig Uses Change In Elevation (725 Ft),=> To Build A Narrative Dramatic Climax, In The Last Half Of His ZMM Chapter 7. =>
..A) FROM >> …Ferocious Heat… at the Powder River (2392 Ft),
..B) TO >> …Rain & A Cool Walk In The Woods… at Main Ridge Road (3117 Ft.).
ARRANGED SO YOU WILL UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU ARE LOOKING AT =>
….Please Complete The Following Series of Somewhat Complex Steps, =>
C) => RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT “NEW TAB”… Will Come-Up Showing => FIVE Album Descriptions. Please Scroll Down to THIRD Album Down, Read Its Description, THEN Click On The Small Photo.
D) At this point, you should be looking at a Page Of 6 Small Photos, with a full description of each. Please look over these to see the General Ideas Presented => About How Landscape Scenery Changes With Elevation, AND Correlated To Persons Comfort Level. .
E) At this point, you are ready to look at specifics => Please > Do > Edit > Find > Landscape …>
F) THEN > For the EACH of The FOUR Caption So Found, =>.Please Read the ENTIRE Caption For => How The Stated Change In Elevation, is quite enough, to CHANGE from HOT & DRY, to COOLER & FORESTS.
….AND Understand How Elevation Increase (725 Ft), Is Quite & For Enough Extra Rain, Thus Creating Forested Meadows, Which The ZMM Narrator Delightfully Reports!!
>
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(Photo = 104-0486sc ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 093`|x|' 2450ft)

A Forties Era Postcard Of Bill's Powder River Standard Oil Gas And Service Station In Locate, Montana, About Half Mile East Of The US-12 Crossing The Powder River.
…Notice “CAFÉ” Over Doorway. And => “That’s Ben Herzog In The White Tee Shirt, Next To Dark Pickup.”

…[In the canyon of the Powder River, we go by the crossroad at Locate MT, and go over the Powder River.] “The road through the canyon doesn’t straighten out into more of what we’ve been through, as I expected it would, but starts to wind upward. Surprise.”.

Along US-12 => 38.6 Miles W of Plevna, MT, and 0.5 Miles E of Powder River, MT.

Once-Upon-A-Time => And And Half Mile Before The River Ahead , Was, The Very Small Town of Locate, MT, Which Seems Now To Exist Only In Human Memories, & Old Documents, & A Few Scattered Trees!

…. DATE-LINE 27 May 2022 By Henry S Gurr.
My big project for the last several days, has been to find a way to save good copy of all pages of our Facebook.com WebPage, Which Is On Topic => “Zen and Art Of motorcycle Maintenance.” Click Here AND Scroll Down to Mid 2021 Posts. And in process of doing this, I noticed the Facebook Post by David Matos April 8, 2021, which included the /\ Above /\ Photo, s: The text of this post and 11 amazing Reader Comment, are duplicated as follows =>

…Facebook.con/ZMMQuality: On Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert Pirsig, Published by David Matos · July 30, 2021, about the /\ Above /\ Post Card Photo:
…Forties era postcard of Bill's Powder River Standard Oil gas and service station in Locate, Montana, just east of the US-12 crossing the Powder River. Both Bill's and Locate, MT have disappeared... ironically, you can't locate Locate, MT anymore, as ZMMQuality's Henry Gurr found out trying to document the Zen route, the motorcycle trip described in Robert M. Pirsig's novel "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance."

COMMENTS:
Glenda Lowry
I grew up there with all my brothers! We had a lot of fun in Locate Montana. Miss it so much!
Larry Dunbar
Worked there one summer in the 60s for my uncle Glenn Lowry.
Randy Moullet
No McKinley this is before we lived there we had a trailer house in the back
Gary Coffrin
· It is nearly impossible to locate LOCATE using online maps.
Rita Mulkey George
That’s Ben Herzog in the white tee shirt, next to dark pickup.
Ed Acey
Been there many time that brings back memories. Thanks
Tom Masa
Was a well known spot for minors to buy beer in the mid 60s
Ladd Hooks
https://goo.gl/maps/hdGWnyeoxb4xnvaM9
46°25'51.1"N 105°18'28.7"W · Cottonwood Elementary, MT
Cynthia Stallard Jessee
Great country dances.
Rocky Lowry
I miss the catfish haha
Glenda Lowry
Me to brother! Got some nice catfish out of the Powder River.

McKinley Sparks-Lowry
Is this the house you all grew up in?

FISHING IN THE POWDER RIVER & HUMAN CAUSED ENVIRONMENTAL DEGRADATION =>
…The Powder River headwaters are in the unpopulated mountainous regions of Wyoming, East of Yellowstone National Park. As Seen In This Google Satellite View, the visible channel of the Powder River flows NE out of Wyoming through Brodus, MT (bottom center), turns North to go by Locate, MT (not shown), goes under US-12, which goes West to Miles City. The Powder then turning somewhat to NNW, continues approx. North to flow into the Yellowstone River NE of Saugus, MT.
…Because the Powder River has relatively low surrounding human population, especially in Wyoming, it does not have many of the environmental pressures many rivers often receive from sewer systems, lawn care chemicals, agriculture fertilizer + manure runoff, and other byproducts of human land use.
…Good enough to be among “The 11 Best Catfish Fishing Rivers & Lakes in Montana”. But nevertheless, the Powder River, like most of the rivers in the world, will need all the help they can get to protect them, and its wild life, from human encroachment and degradation. Each of us must be aware, and actively do our part to protect our precious earth!

FINAL CONCLUSION: CAN’T LOCATE, LOCATE, MT. =>
…On my ZMM Route Research Trips (2002, 2006, 2019), as I continued through here traveling along on US-12. I did NOT NOTICE ANY evidence of any town, or buildings, or any trace of there having been a town here!
…But as the above Facebook Comments (really fond memories) attest, there was a thriving happy community here that affected many lives. But => Now-A-Days, Google Maps Does NOT Show Locate, MT, NOR Can Google Searches Much Find Where It Is! All that remains are memories! These are effectively the ZMM Narrator’s Ghosts!!!
…And, if you happen go to the Crossroads at US-12, and then read the above comments … these Ghosts will living again … in you!
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(Photo = Found by Google Search for Locate MT. ...... ZMM Page = 077 ...... WayPt = Some 12 miles West of 2002 WayPt 93 )
File = PowderRivSvcBillsStandardOilLocateMT=St927b6d991ae1849ad2a9daa7aef1c2d4-800

As Is Discerned By The Traveler, The Broad Valley Of Montana’s Powder River => This Is The ZMM Narrator’s “Low Rimed Canyon”
…..((Click Photo Several Times, To Get The Largest DRAMATIC View.)

….AND At The Horizon Beyond, Is The Crest of The Major Ridge, Where Chris, The Sutherlands, and The Narrator, Over-Look Miles City MT.

….Moreover => In Photo /\ Above /\, Looking Along the Pavement & Continue Straight, You See Some Light Brown Grass, Then at Lowest Level, A Horizontal Dark Line Of Trees=> These Trees Grow With Water From, & Thus Mark, The Powder River, Which Over Eons Of Time, Created This “Low Rimed Canyon”.


Along US-12 => 38.1 Miles W of Plevna, MT, and 0.6 Miles E of Powder River, MT.

Once-Upon-A-Time => And AT The River Ahead , Was, The Very Small Town of Locate, MT, Which Seems Now To Exist Only In Human Memories & Old Documents!

…. DATE-LINE 16 JAN 2021 By Henry S Gurr.
Many of My Photos Of This Album (and Others), Mention The Town of Locate, MT. This is because back in 2002 when this album was originally created, this town was marked on my old 1978 Rand- McNally Road Atlas, as being close to East Side of The Powder River and close to US-12. And back in 2002 I seem to remember other references to it. However, on my ZMM Route Research Trips (2002, 2006, 2019), I did not notice any evidence of any town or buildings, as I continued through here traveling along on US-12.

Now-A-Days, Google Maps Does NOT Show Locate, MT, NOR Can Google Searches Find Where It Is.
… A) When I Google “Locate Montana” (with quotes) Mostly all I can find with is => 1) Powder River Water Quality & Quantity of Flow Reports near Locate MT, and 2) 1940’s Post Cards with Photos of Bill’s Powder River Standard Oil Gas Station. at Locate, MT, which is shown NEXT Photo 3) The mention of a Highway History Sign saying => “ Montana Highway 12 West side of Powder River Near what once was Locate, Montana, 4) A Person’s Testimony => “Turn off from Montana Highway 12 East side of Powder River Near what once was Locate, Montana. [Cluster County Road 403] Goes to Campbell Ranch, homesteaded by my great-grandfather Edward Campbell; operated today by my cousin and her husband, Cassie & Bill Erickson.”
… When I Google “Locate MT” (with quotes) Mostly all I can find with is => Weather & Maps, such as => 1) “Hourly Weather-Locate, MT,” 2) “USGS US Topo 7.5-minute map for Locate, MT 2017”, 3) Similar Map from FrugalNavagator.com.
…. B) AND looking very close at Internet Google Satellite Map (Link Below), All Around Where US-12 Crosses The Powder River => There are shown several Ranch Operation Centers (House, Barns, Feed Lots). One of these, which is by US-12, ~500 feet NE of the current day Bridge over the Powder River, might have traces of an old town.
…. FINAL CONCLUSION =>As Is Shown In This (Click Here) Satellite View => The Town of Locate, MT, VERY Likely Was, At The NW and SW Corners of US-12 and Mizpah Road, Click Here. (This road is also labeled Powder River Road and likely also is Cluster County Road 403), => After the above link comes up, you will see at the NW and SW Corners Respectively => 3) What looks like a rather modern home (with a rectangular outline of a small yard,) and 4) Just South of US-12, there are 3 trees and other faint traces of human activity. Trees here, had to have been planted by humans, AND compatible with where Cross-Road Businesses might have been (Such as the above-mentioned Bill’s Powder River Standard Oil Gas Station,) there are more faint traces of human activity!
… C) AND just now (to complete the job), I looked at => My other collected old Rand- McNally Road Atlas (2002, 2005, 2006), AND AS WELL => Looked for Locate, MT in the most recent Montana Department of Transportation’s Highway Map, to find on all of these that => Locate is NOT shown. However (with the + magnified to max) the Montana Highway Map 1963. Click Here. , Does YES show Locate, MT as ~halfway between the Powder River, and the Next Major Crossroad East.

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(Photo = Summer 2006 0391 ...... ZMM Page = 077 ...... WayPt = A bit East of 2002 WayPt 93 )

The Road Starts To Wind Upward This Surprises the Narrator.
…."The road through the canyon doesn’t straighten out into more of what we’ve been through, as I expected it would, but starts to wind upward. Surprise.“

About four miles West of Locate, MT. For 40 miles, since soon after Baker MT, the highway has been running essentially West. The Narrator expects to continue this as they head towards the Major Mountain Ridge ahead. But as he accurately reports, at the start of the climb this road does abruptly curves some 45 degrees to the Southwest, to follow a side canyon upward. After this the road curves back again to the West then several more major "meanders" as they reach the top. The Narrator is surprised by the turns of the highway. These are readily seen on a road map, and are also seen in the Photo /\ Above. /\

A SUDDEN ADDITIONAL AFTER THOUGHT =>
…. The Demise Of The Widely Dispersed, Small One Room Rural Country Stores, With Pumps For Kerosene and Later Gasoline. .
….Widely Dispersed, Small One Room Rural Country Stores were an adaption to the realities of the Days when we Walked, Rode Horse Back, or owned Horse & Buggy, … With the advent of the $ Affordable Modern Automobile (1930’s), which was a comfortable easy to drive longer distances, the demise of Small One Room Rural Country Stores, was inevitable. … People wanted the bigger stores, with their larger selection & higher quality merchandise, and lower prices, and didn’t mind driving the longer distance.
…. Thus where I (Henry Gurr) live in Aiken SC: We could see where the Small One Room Rural Country Stores, once were (At a cross-road at a RR Whistle Stop, or At a Rural Swimming Lake.), or A still remaining cross-road, boarded up, ivy-covered, rotting hulks, closed once and forever, long ago.
…. Similarly it was that the 1940’s => Bill’s Powder River Standard Oil Gas Station. (And With It, Locate, MT), became a “Thing-Of-The-Past”

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(Photo = Summer2006 0256 ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 092`|k|' 2800ft)

Then the Road Continues To Rise and As the Road Curves, They Enter the Gap Ahead.
…."Now the road meanders a little, now it cuts back away from the direction in which we should be going, then returns. Soon it rises a little and then rises some more. We are moving in angular directions into narrow devil’s gaps, ...... “
…. All the curves mentioned (and seen) in the previous photo and this one, are also readily seen on a road map In this photo, the road passes between cliffs ahead. Is this the Narrator's "narrow devil’s gaps“?

Has the road been improved since 1968?
….At a Miles City Books, Friday Evening Amateur Hour (8 Sept 06), I happened to discuss the ZMM Route into Miles City, with a local Judge. He stated that the road had indeed been changed, and the old route is still visible. After extended study of current day Topo Maps, I can not pick up any old road beds that suggest any changes of route.

…DATE-LINE: January 19, 2021. by Henry Gurr.
(ChangesSinceRobertPirsig1968Trip), Changes In US-12, As Seen By HSG in Study Of Current Day Satellite Maps.
….To the traveler,, two minor hardly noticeable changes in the path of US-12 (and by looks very old) are see seen respectively 0.8 mile East of the Powder River, MT, and 5.0 miles West of the Powder River, MT.
… Although a closer more careful scan is needed for of US-12 West of the Powder River, thru to Miles City MT, my first quick scan finds => A ~1 mile old narrow twisty (possibly dirt) segment replaced by wider hi-speed paved short cut. Click Here To View. .

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(Photo = Summer2006 0257 ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 092`|m|' 2900ft)

The Narrator Is Surprised To Be Moving Steadily Upward!

… " .. then upward again higher and a little higher each time. .. Some shrubs appear. Then small trees. The road goes higher still into grass, and then fenced meadows. “

Twenty miles East of Miles City, MT. Clearly we have left the high plains behind and are getting into mountains! I remember a relatively straight long climb which is somewhat at variance with the Narrators description above. Has the road been improved since 1968?

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(Photo = 104-0488 ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 095`|w|' 3000ft)

Suddenly Everything Has Changed.
…."Overhead a small cloud appears. Rain perhaps? Perhaps. Meadows must have rain. And these now have flowers in them. Strange how all this has changed. Nothing to show it on the map. And the consciousness of memory has disappeared too. Phædrus must not have come this way. But there was no other road. Strange. It keeps rising upward.“

Eighteen miles East of Miles City, MT. The Narrator has been surprised by the turns of the highway and says it is strange and has no memory of this. Ahead in Miles City, he answers this puzzle and his lack of memory of the park: "On the way out we pass a city park which I noticed last night, and which produced a memory concurrence. Just a vision of looking up into some trees. He had slept on that park bench one night on his way through to Bozeman. That’s why I didn’t recognize that forest yesterday. He’d come through at night, on his way to the college at Bozeman."

"
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(Photo = Summer2006 0368 Clouds near Baker MT. ...... ZMM Page = 078 & 091 ...... WayPt = 093`|k|' ~2900ft)

Finally Delightful Relief, After Their Day of Torturing Heat! Also a Wonderful Ending For Part I: The Turn Of The Weather Tells Us That Things Will Be Better, Especially Since the Narrator Has Got Some Confessions Off His Chest!
" The sun angles toward the cloud, which now has grown downward to touch the horizon above us, in which there are trees, pines, and a cold wind comes down with pine smells from the trees. The flowers in the meadow blow in the wind and the cycle leans a little and we are suddenly cool. .. I look at Chris and he is smiling. I am smiling too. .. Then the rain comes hard on the road with a gust of earth-smell from the dust that has waited for too long and the dust beside the road is pocked with the first raindrops. .. This is all so new. And we are so in need of it, a new rain. My clothes become wet, and goggles are spattered, and chills start and feel delicious. “
Sixteen miles East of Mile City, MT. Of course the rain has delightfully cooled off everything, but they have also come up 620ft in elevation. Even small elevation changes, also help in providing more cooling. New topic: The Narrator told us in the previous photos how he doesn't remember and how strange. He has similar loss of memory various other parts of the trip, and how unsettling this is. He is probably telling us this so we understand just how bad his condition is. And this probably is also true, but typically the Narrator usually has additional reasons to tell us things like this. This kind of un-certainty, helps to heighten the readers tension, thus creating additional awareness and involvement. Properties of a good novel! They keep wondering what is wrong with the Narrator and what's going to happen with all this strangeness.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0359 Rain at Baker MT ...... ZMM Page = 078 ...... WayPt = 095`|m|' 3000ft)

After the Top of the Pass, The Highway Follows The Cut Of The Canyon, With a Few More Twists, Steeply Down .

…You Are Looking Into The Distant Yellowstone River Valley, And The ZMM Narrator’s "Promised Land.”

…"The cloud passes from beneath the sun and the forest of pines and small meadows gleams again, sparkling where the sunlight catches small drops from the rain.
... We reach the top of the climb dry again but cool now and stop, overlooking a huge valley and river below. .. "I think we have arrived," John says.
…Sylvia and Chris have walked into the meadow among the flowers under pines through which I can see the far side of the valley, away and below.
…I am a pioneer now, looking onto a promised land. ”

Ten miles East of Miles City, MT.
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… Here we need to remember the Narrator’s => "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. .. "We’re going to have to slow down," I say ”
… And then, after traveling all day, and especially the last 80 miles in the grueling, torture of traveling at lower elevation in bright sun and triple digit heat, there is such a sense of relief while climbing 620 feet in elevation out of the Powder River Canyon.
…Chris, the Sutherlands & the Narrator are elated with the change in landscape. And the prospect of cool rain as voiced by the Narrator and sense of arrival as voiced by John Sutherland. Their sense of accomplishment is underscored by the Pioneer/Promised Land metaphor and literary allusion that ends the passage. Sylvia and Chris celebrate by venturing into the '' “meadows among the flowers under the pines” The mood is euphoric, relieved and resheded.” ''
…Of course, Author Robert Pirsig expects us as readers to expect (Metaphoric Bridge Connection) that things will be vastly better in this "Promised Land.”
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(Photo = DSC_0266 ...... ZMM Page = 079 ...... WayPt = 096`|w|' 3127ft)

We Have Arrived.
"Sylvia and Chris have walked into the meadow among the flowers under pines through which .... “
Ten miles East of Miles City, MT. From here the Pilgrim can turn away from his walk in the pines, and look back into the Yellowstone River Valley. On the way up and just prior to the top, the Pilgrim has a grand view of the barren land back to the East.
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(Photo = Summer2006 0267 ...... ZMM Page = 079 ...... WayPt = 096`|w|' 3127ft)

The Promised Land.

…." I can see the far side of the valley, away and below. I am a pioneer now, looking onto a promised land.“

2 Mi East of Miles City, MT. where Rt12 goes over I-94. You are looking over Miles City into the Yellowstone River Valley which flows towards the Northeast (right in photo) to the Missouri River in the Northern Montana.

…DATE-LINE: February 26, 2021, by Henry Gurr.
….The last 14 Photos you have just viewed in this Album, cover the ZMM Book Narrative From the US-12 “Road Side Stop, To Miles City, MT.
….In August 2019 I Re-traveled this same ZMM Route Segment, and took more detailed photos, many of which were 360 Degree Panoramas. These Photos have extensive added Analysis (and Illustration), of the ZMM Narrative Re Elevation
..1) From the Powder River
..2) To The Major Ridge Overlooking ZMM Narrator’s “Promised Land & Miles City, MT.

To See The Above Mentioned 2019 Photos => Please Complete The Following Series of Somewhat Complex Steps, =>
..A) => RIGHT CLICK AND SELECT “NEW TAB”… Will Come-Up Showing => FIVE Album Descriptions. Please Scroll Down to SECOND Album Down, Read Its Description, THEN Click On The Small Photo.
..B) At this point, you should be looking at a Page Of 18 Small Photos, with a full Description of Each.
..C) Scroll down the 15 th Small Photo, Read its caption for General Idea of the NEXT 14 Photos.
..D) Now you can view these NEXT 14 Photos as you do normally.
..F) Please see email how you like these, to => henryg__USCA.edu.

….Thus Ends ZMM Part I, At The End Of Chapter 7.
….To Continue to Viewing the NEXT Album For ZMM Part 2, Click Here …. And Then Click-On Photo For Part 2.

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(Photo = 104-0489c ...... ZMM Page = 079 ...... WayPt = 096`|w|' 3047ft)