Montana

July 5, 2010:
Currently, I'm at Great Falls, MT awaiting the arrival of other members of the Wandering Individuals Network (WIN's).  I've been traveling with them during the past month as we retrace the route of the Lewis & Clark Expedition from Saint Louis, MO to Astoria, OR.  When I departed Bismarck, ND I skipped a portion of the group's planned route - a week or so of boondocking in the North Unit of the Theodore Roosevelt National Park and came directly to Great Falls to avoid boondocking in high heat and humidity.  And of course, as soon as I arrived here, the weather changed to cool with intermittent rain showers.  But I'm getting out each morning at sunrise to ride on a very nice bicycle trail along the Missouri for several miles.  I was assigned here 30 years ago while in the Air Force, but never traveled, nor even heard of, this bike trail - perhaps it didn't even exist at that time.

In Lewis's solo exploration here on June 13, 1805, he came upon five waterfalls in the space of ten miles.  The first and largest at 96 vertical feet was the Great Falls of the Missouri.   While today there's a dam above the falls, the effect the falls and the depth of the canyon must have had upon the explorer is palpable. 

Compare this with a picture I found today on the Internet of the Great Falls, taken in 1880 before the dam was built.


and another picture, a painting of Lewis overlooking these falls and contemplating the prospect of the daunting task of portaging around this and four other large falls in the next 10 miles of the river.

   Meriwether Lewis at the Great Falls, by Charles Fritz

He continued hiking, and in seven miles came upon 19-foot high Crooked Falls, 19 feet high and 300 yards wide.

followed in a quarter mile by a falls about 50 feet high that he named "Beautiful Cascade", but which is today known as Rainbow Falls.

And only another quarter mile above Beautiful Cascade was another falls, but at only 6 feet height, it's now under water behind the Rainbow Falls dam, except at times of very low water levels.  Continuing his exploration, in another two and one-half miles Lewis found a fifth waterfall, 26 feet high and almost 600 yards wide.  He called it the "Upper Pitch", but today it's known as Black Eagle Falls.

On my bike trips, I pass a metalic sculpture of Lewis, Clark and Sacajawea overlooking this falls, and I always enjoy saying "hello" to them as I pass by.

July 9, 2010:  Yesterday I drove about 10 miles south of town through the town of Ulm, MT to what used to be called the Ulm Pishkun, or buffalo jump.  The name has been changed now to the First Peoples Buffalo Jump, and it's a marvelous and fascinating site, thought to have been the largest buffalo jump in the world.  Used prior to the coming of the horse, the people would drive as much of a herd as they could over the precipice, which is about 50 feet high, and men and women below would finish off the animals not killed outright by the fall, using bow & arrows, lances and clubs.  The bones are said to form a compressed layer 30 feet deep in places.  Dressing the bison, drying the hides, cutting and drying the meat, cracking the bones for marrow, making tools from the bones, drying the sinew, feasting - it all took time, and virtually everything was used: hooves, hide, horns, meat, bones, brains.  The site is quiet and peaceful today, but in the past, it was the scene both of great horror and of great rejoicing.

27 July 2010:  After leaving Great Falls, Montana about the 14th of July, I traveled north and west to Hungry Horse, MT, just past the western entrance to Glacier National Park, then turned south onto the road toward the Hungry Horse Reservoir Dam to locate a pulloff large enough for me to boondock for the night.  I found one within just a few miles and parked there, on a steep bluff overlooking the Hungry Horse River about 200 feet down.
    After a pleasant night there, I relocated to the Emery Group Campground in the Flathead National Forest, about 6 miles south of Martin City, MT.  (Martin City is just about a mile east of the town of Hungry Horse.)  Emery Group CG was the designated site for our WINs gathering near Glacier Nat’l Park. 

Overlooking the bay

    While here, some of the group went on a white water raft trip, which I passed on.  I chose, instead, to take a tour of the park on a White Motors 1930’s era Red Coach (aka “Jammer”) tour.

These coachs were built in the 30’s, seat 17 passengers, and were completely reconditioned by the Ford motor company in the 90’s and now run on propane.  I took an afternoon tour, from 4 to 9 PM, when one is more likely to see wildlife, and we did see some, but not as much as I’d hoped - we saw a very large herd of bighorn rams, right by the roadside, one mountain goat at a distance, a nice mule deer in velvet, but showing promise of a very nice 8-point rack, plus many begging chipmunks and ground squirrels. 

Lake MacDonald

MacDonald Creek, seen from the Jammer

Ground Squirrel at Logan Pass

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Mt Going-to-the-Sun

MacDonald Creek, on the way back to the Lodge

    Upon leaving this area, about 10 of us drove to Exit 16 on I-90, near the Montana-Idaho border, where we stayed at a free campground with good 30 Amp power.  My only complaint was that it was very dusty, but it was free...with E!  Here we relaxed for a day, during which I did my laundry, then the next day we drove to Exit 5, then up into the National Forest a couple miles to the trailhead of the “Route of the Hiawatha” rails-to-trails bicycle trail.  At the start of it, you enter an old RR tunnel, and after 1.66 miles, you exit the tunnel into Idaho!  And from there, it’s about 19 more miles of gently descending trail, over 7 high trestles and through 8 more (shorter!) tunnels.  The highest of these trestles is about 230 feet high!  It’s a beautiful route, traveling through beautiful forest and surrounded by verdant mountains.  Most folks travel the full route and take a shuttle bus back to the starting point, but I chose to turn around after the last tunnel and bike back up to travel through the big tunnel again.  I had first biked this route 4 years ago, and knew that in the big tunnel I’d be traveling against the main flow of bikers, and could be blinded by the oncoming headlights, even though I had one myself.  So I had tossed some tape and my big 3-D cell Mag-Lite in my backpack before setting out, and now, I stopped before the tunnel, taped the Mag-Lite onto my bike, but at a downward angle, set it to cast a very diffused light rather than a penpoint beam, and headed into the big tunnel.  Once inside, I turned the light on, and lo’!  I could see the wall to the left, I could see the wall to the right, I could see the floor of the tunnel, and I could even make out the ceiling!  And none of the on-coming riders were being blinded by my light.  All was well, and I could see so well that I was able to speed right along, passing other returning bikers like they were standing still.  I really enjoyed the return trip through the tunnel, unlike 4 years ago when I was blinded by the oncoming headlights.

Exiting the long tunnel

Looking back at the tunnel exit

You can just make out a trestle down there in the middle

Cottonwood trees reflecting the sunlight

One of the high trestles

Looking back from one trestle to another one

Another tunnel

    The next day, July 26th, we relocated to the Lumberjack Saloon and Restauant about 16 miles west of Lolo, MT, just off highway 12 which heads up toward Lolo Pass.  I took a stroll in the evening and found a fireweed in bloom near the creek.

Boondocking at the Lumberjack Saloon

Fireweed

More of our group

Read Entrance to the Saloon - through a Cedar Trunk

Just look at the size of those logs!  And the life-size carved man

Rear of the Saloon, where we met afternoons

Carved face over rear door

    The morning of the 28th, we awoke to a world of fog, but it quickly cleared off, and several of the members gathered to depart for kayaking on the Bitterroot River south of Lolo.

Another ground squirrel

   Sorry I've been so lax getting this entry out - we spent many days in areas with no cell coverage.

        - Bill -