Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/1488721
Oen overshadowed by the Beartooths, this smaller range has provided food, shelter, and adventures for thousands of years. Evidence of people groups is apparent from the caverns on top to the foothills below. You don't even have to climb the highest ridges to see evidence of those who came before us. In fact, you don't even have to get into the mountains at all. Created by the same upheaving as the Beartooths, the Pryors are very geologically different. Unlike their neighbors, however, they formed without glacial activity. is variation in formation has led to incredible geology in few other areas. Much of it is visible before you even leave the highway. As the mountains lied, they tipped, with the north and northeastern parts rising higher. is uneven ground ended up causing a couple of different phenomena. On the north side of the mountains, where the cliffs are higher and steeper, the climate is entirely different than on the south. Here, there are large pine trees that soak up all the moisture. It could be called a temperate forest. On the south side, however, the slopes are arid and sparsely covered in juniper bushes. e gradual descent provides plenty of opportunities for people who came before us to live, camp, hunt, and explore. In addition to these varying microclimates around the mountain, the geology has, in essence, flipped; older layers of rock lie on top of younger rock layers. ese layers mean there are plenty of caverns etched through the Madison Limestone on the top of the mountain and canyons carved through the sandstone near the boom. Besides the incredible geology, some amazing people groups have called this place home. At any point during the last few thousand years, you could visit the Pryor Mountains and find at least one group of people living there. ese mountains became sacred grounds for many. Most recently, they are revered as the "Shoot the Rock Mountains" by the Apsáalooke tribe, or as most people know them, the Crow Indians. Many of the petroglyphs show groups of people. Petroglyphs depict activities, like hunting. Petroglyphs depict animals found in the area. SIGNATURE MONTANA | 29