Week 37-Lewis and Clark Expedition, first week - September 12 -September 18, 2022
MONDAY We finally left at 8 AM. Initially our departure time was to to be 6 am, but we thought we could call Glacier National Park at 7:00 and get clarification on campsite availability. But that call was a bust as we could only listen to a recorded message from which we deduced that reservations were no longer being taken (after Sept 11) and campsites were on a first come first serve (FF) basis. So we left and went by Warren's to get our "Lewis and Clark" photo.
Our goal was to get to Troy, MT and spend the night in a rest area - 8 hours drive time. Trip was pretty uneventful. Sky was very brown and hazy. Eastern Washington was very boring with rolling hills covered with yellow grass. Our recollection from last year when we drove through Coeur d'Alene was that upper Idaho and Montana was beautiful. But the hazy sky made it so dreary and uninviting.
Looked for an found a geocache at a rest stop (every rest stop has at least one geocache hidden).
Drove through the little town of Sandpoint, Idaho ...mainly because there was a sign saying "Historic Downtown Sandpoint" It was definitely a cute town. Imagined that Bev and Jessica would love to walk around it and find a good doughnuts or cookies somewhere. Then on to Bonner's Ferry which is a gateway city to Canada. Historically it was a gold rush town. Here is a blurb from Wikipedia.
When gold was discovered in the East Kootenays of British Columbia in 1863, thousands of prospectors from all over the West surged northward over a route that became known as the Wildhorse Trail. Edwin Bonner, a merchant from Walla Walla, Washington, established a ferry in 1864 where the trail crossed the broad Kootenai River. In 1875, Richard Fry, and his Sinixtwife, Justine Su-steel Fry, leased the business,[6] but the location retained the name of the original founder and later became the town of Bonners Ferry.
Our first night in Montana
TUESDAY - We headed east toward Glacier Natl Park and noticed a sign on the road which sounded very interesting.
So we stopped and spent about two hours exploring Kootenai Falls. This was a great bridge we had to use to get over the train tracks.
A very cool swinging suspension bridge to the other side and the river.
And Dad walked on it!!
We walked up the river a bit and came to the falls which were fantabulous.
Finally got to the national park - but we did have a misstep. I must have be sleeping and dad must have been inattentive, because suddenly, we saw a sign that said East Glacier. I said, "I don't care about East Glacier where is West Glacier?" Dad says.....uhhhh,..we passed that about 15 miles ago. So back we went. After Sept 11 all campsites are FF (First come First served). When we got to Apgar Campground, there were only about 8 spots left and we got A4.
We got orientated at the Visitors Center (the gift shop had no stuffed rabbits) and got an idea of things to do (mostly hikes). We did the Oxbow Hike which goes along McDonald River which we didn't complete because it was very boring....after all we had just recently spent a couple of outings on the Molalla River. (Photo shows boring river...)
We wandered over to Apgar Village, had a look at McDonald lake which was so hazy, it was difficult to see the other side.
Found some really great ice cream....we will be back.
Met at the Amphitheater for a Ranger Talk. It was really good - about raptors. The ranger really seemed to know what she was talking about. In her other life she works at raptor rescue center.
WEDNESDAY
Decided to head up Going to the Sun highway ,with our first stop being Lake McDonald Lodge which was built in...maybe 1928...in a Swiss style.
It is right on the edge of the lake and was an destination for people in the early 1900's. They'd arrive by train at West Glacier and then take a boat up the lake to the lodge. It was pretty.....probably expensive. There was a fire going in the big fireplace and a chess set on a table for anyone to use, should they want to. People were sitting on the big porch reading books.....very congenial, indeed. A scenic boat ride was available, and we checked it our, but we'd be on a waiting list and so headed back to the truck. With all of the smokey haze, I didn't know how "scenic it would be"
The ranger who 'oriented' us yesterday had circled a bunch of places that would be nice to hike to..little lakes, waterfalls. We thought that'd be nice to do and so we were off. The only problem was that at each spot he hand mentioned...in fact at any wide spot in the road suitable for parking a vehicle.....was already full of parked cars. The thought of trying to park the camper was too much. We decided to just do the drive and enjoy that part of the trip.
We at lunch along the way at a wide spot which we entered, miraculously, before anyone else.
Its too bad that the sky was so cloudy and the result was that the photos are not very colorful and are a bit hazy. You can get an idea of "what could have been".
What was really amazing was the road construction. So narrow. So steep. So many bricks/blocks that were placed by hand.
The scenery at the continental divide at and around Logan Pass was magnificent. We were up high enough that much of the haze was below us in the valleys.
Continuing downhill past Logan Pass, we decided we go as far as we needed to find a big enough place to turn around and head back. The return trip was great too, because we saw everything from a different point of view.
Back at Apgar Campsite we suddenly found ourselves at the ice cream shop where we repeated the cup of ice cream order from yesterday. We enjoyed the treat at a picnic table in the sun, then went through gift shops....and bought some fudge. Back to our campsite, took a rest, ate dinner then headed back to the amphitheater for the last Ranger Talk of the season. It was about various women, who over the years have made significant contributions to glacier Park.
Tomorrow we head to Great Falls to meet up with Meriweather and William.
THURSDAY
We left Glacier early and headed for Great Falls, Montana. We drove on US Highway 2 along the southern border of the national park and suddenly we were on the vast plains that go forever.
Off to the side of the road we saw a herd of buffalo. They were not roaming but only standing and lying on the ground.
Eventually made it to Great Falls and headed immediately the the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center. We got a lot of good information there.....maps that showed the L and C trail on a modern map and an official Montana map which had little markings for L and C sites....which the AAA map had omitted.
We decided, first, to drive to all the water falls which had so amazed L and C and which had caused them to undertake a mighty portage. Right away we learned that dams had been built on the river back in the early 1900's. We were surprised that of the five falls, only one was submerged by water backed up from a dam. Each dam had been built on top of the falls which provided a lake of water for hydroelectric power but left the falls visible.
We went to Rainbow Falls first.
Coulter Falls is (sniff) under water from another dam.
We could not get to Laolh Fall except by taking a long foot pate.
The last one we went for was the biggest, the first that L and C say....Great Falls. It was amazing. There is an island just below the falls which is now a big park.....it closed on Labor Day for the season so we couldn't get a perfect photo of the falls.
Here is a "before the dam was built" picture of Great Falls.
We went to our campsite for the evening-the parking lot of a Town Pump truck stop. Truck stops, especially ones with a casino, are good spots for free overnight parking. We parked on the edge and later found ourselves between two other big truck.
At about nine one truck driver started changing the tires on his truck and we cold hear all of his goings on. We spent the evening going over our new maps and making a list of all the interpretive centers and state parks we wanted to visit.
FRIDAY
We headed to the L&C Interpretive Center to be there when it opened at 9:00. We were there for four hours. Here are some things that I learned: 1- how they made a cache and left it alongside the trail and how they recovered it when they returned a year later. 2`On the return trip, the group split up into 4 or five groups. Lewis went up along the Missouri, Clark went south along the Yellowstone River. The other groups did similar but shorter routs. But they all ended up at the spot where the Yellowstone flows into the Missouri and they all got there within 4 days of each other. 3-I clarified in my mind which rivers they tried to follow while crossing Idaho....not the Salmon as it was too rough. 5-Lewis' dog was purchased specifically to go on the trip. 6-other tings too. We really enjoyed the visit.
These pictures of the rivers in the west really helped me! A AAA map hardly shows rivers - as it is a road map.
Since we were in Great Falls a visit to the CM Russell museum and gallery was a must. We'd never heard of him before, but in Great Falls, he is big stuff.....a local boy did well! He was a preeminent American artist in the early 1900's who specialized in western art - cowboys, Indians, horses, buffalo, wildlife. He was truly great, but after awhile I was overwhelmed by it all and everything was a blur. I mean you can only look at so many paintings of a cowboy on a running horse. I did see a statue of two beautiful rabbits but the cost was $1200 and Dad wouldn't buy it for me.
After a boring lunch we went to the Great Springs State Park where we bought an annual Montana State Park Pass which we'll use for the rest of our trip. There is a fish hatchery there where we could see lots of little and then some humongous trout. Also there was a big spring that continually bubbled up and flowed into the river.
On our way back to the truck stop we decided to go through Historic Downtown Great Falls. We did and decided to walk around the block.
Walked by a restaurant called the Burger Bunker where I ordered a Churchill Burger (chicken) and Dad got a Mustang. Well, it was better that a noodle something that I would have made back at the truck stop.
So a good day
SATURDAY.
Today we needed to drive from Great Falls south towards Helena on I15. We stopped first at First Peoples Buffalo Jump. We hadn't planned to, but now we had an annual Montana State Park Pass.
Now - you may wonder what a buffalo Jump is. In the olden days Indians lived because they could kill and eat buffalos. But how did they do that before they had horses which they got in the 1700's from the Spanish. They traveled and hunted on foot......over time the Indians discovered places where there were cliffs adjacent to stretches of the plains. with the cooperation of the whole tribe and careful and stealthy planning, the Indians were able to drive the buffalos on the plains....toward the cliff, the fop off of which was hidden by the incline. As the buffalos ran at full speed toward the cliff, the lead buffalos would try to stop, but the the animals behind them wouldn't and ended up pushing many buffs over the cliff and to either their death below or to their bodies being broken by the fall. The Indians would then kill the buffs and skin them and prepare the meat and hides for eating and for everything else. Everything on the buffalo was used.
We went to the visitors Center first and immediately found a new member for our rabbit family. His name is Meriweather.
The displays at the Visitors Center were really quite good. I thought theses two plaques were interesting.
On the way up the hill from the Visitors Center to the cliff we passed a prairie dog town on a hillside. They were everywhere - running (away from me) and popping their heads out of their holes.
After the buffalo jump we headed further south and saw Square Butte in the distance. "He saw a singular formation, a round, fortress like mountain rising at the perpendicular on thousand feet above the plain with an extensive flat top. Lewis called it Fort Mountain (today's Square Butte, and one of Charley Russell's favorite subjects."
Further south on I15 we stopped at Tower Rock where Lewis had made a camp and then climbed to the summit. We didn't climb it because we had previously read Lewis' description -"there is a most pleasing view of the country and I saw immense herds of buffalo below."
We had to keep moving south because at 3:00 we had reservation to take a boat tour on the Missouri River through a section of the river Lewis called the Gates of the Mountains. The boat tour was two hours long and went up and down between the tall perpendicular mountains.
We actually had a nice lunch while we waited for our boat to come in.
The boat totally full of people! At this point the Missouri is dammed up and our cruise was on a lake so we were not traveling on the Mighty Missouri as L & C had done. Actually, most of the Missouri is blockaded by concrete barriers. We saw lots of wildlife-like this eagle.
And pictographs
And interesting rock formations - like this rhino head.
This is what Meriweather Lewis wrote:
These next three photos sort show a gate closing off the canyon - possible what Lewis was referring to.
Now....where to spend the night. Consulting our brochure from Montana State Parks, we realized that the Black Sandy State Park was just to the south....the lake there being behind yet another dam. It's an interesting campground - definitely intended for people with boats. Right along the shore the boats are moored on their own little spot; then there is a sidewalk; then spots for campers and trailer to park; the the road. Very utilitarian. This is the view from the back of our camper.
And our camper parked along the dock.
SUNDAY
We left our happy and cozy camp spot on Lake Hauser and headed south to the Missouri Headwaters State Park. Finding the headwaters of the Missouri was one of the main goals that Jefferson had given them.
This was a trying time for L and C because suddenly the Missouri turned into three rivers, and they didn't know which one to follow. They had to go upstream and explore all three and then make the choice of which one to follow. To the south there was the Gallatin named after the Sec of the Treasury; to west was the one they named the Madison after the Sec of State; and to the north-ish was the Jefferson named after some important person in Washington DC. Eventually they chose the Jefferson because the water was warmer which made L and C figure the water had traveled a further distance and so was warmer. They followed the Jefferson.....they chose wisely. The USGS (silly mapmakers) say that the confluence of these three rivers constitute the head of the Missouri. Others (like Dad and I.... and Lewis and Clark) feel/felt the river they called Jefferson was the actual source of the Missouri.
The sate park was a bit of a disappointment as I expected a magnificent visitors center and movies and maps and everything. Nope. There was a trail to where you could see where the Madison flows into the Jefferson - - okay I was happy. This is where the trail took us. It was hard to see where we were...where is the Madison,....where is the Jefferson?
Fortunately the GAIA on my phone showed us exactly where we were - on the shore of the Madison which flows into the Jefferson on the left and thus starting the Missouri.
There was a trail, described in Lewis' journal, where he said he went to the top of a high rock where he had a beautiful view. Of course we followed it so we could see exactly what Lewis saw....just 217 years later.
What to do next? Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park!! We hadn't planned on it - in fact had never even heard of it - but it was the next point of interest noted on the map.
We had to wait a bit for a guided tour and then walked about a half mile to the opening of the cave system.
We've been to a lot of caves. This one was pretty much like all the others - no, the one in Bulgaria was much weirder. Our tour guide was young and interesting. There were three Indians on the tour and the comments of the Grandpa (he referred to himself as an elder) were interesting. So it was good.
Our next goal was to get to the little town of Two Bridges where the map showed a Montana Highway Rest Area where we planned so spend the night. The drive was gorgeous. The road passed right alongside the Missouri (or the Jefferson), and I marveled that L and C were here back in 1805.
T
The city of Two Bridges is tiny....like super tiny. We found only one market and bought some ice cream to celebrate the successes of our fellow explorers, L and C.
Breakfast the next day - pancake with Oregon boysenberry topping.
And, thus ended our first week in Montana!
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