The day started with about 4 inches of new snow from the night. If it’s not blizzard conditions, I am on my way. In Montana, 4 inches of new snow isn’t even worth talking about in April. I really enjoyed this day as the sites were a good variety, the roads were not too bad, and by the afternoon, the sun started to shine a little bit. You can see the transition in the photos as the day goes on. Daily data: Beginning odometer at Super 8 in Great Falls was 29060 miles. Ending odometer back at Super 8 in Great Falls is 29,211 miles. Meals for the day were $19.00 Lodging for the night was $69.00 + April 17,...
Lewis and Clark had been warned but they really didn’t know how bad it would be. Based on information provided by the tribes on the river, Lewis and Clark were anticipating the barrier of the falls. They knew they would have to portage and they were expecting that to add an extra day of hard work to get past the falls and back on the river. The falls were much greater than they expected and it ended up taking them an extra month to get around them. As you can see in the photos, the land surrounding the falls was not conducive to hauling the boats and all the cargo. The portage was described in the journals as being very tough, with steep hills, cactus tearing the mens moccasins, and the heat was unbearable—but the men did not complain. [alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117292386093793315084″ ualb=”5867937521510664977″ imgl=”fancybox” dltext=”Picasa” style=”floor” row=”4″ num=”150″ size=”220″ border=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center”...
This little Montana town is a very interesting, intriguing place out in the middle of nowhere. Known as the birthplace of Montana. So many interesting stories in this town and they have taken the trouble to share the stories with the wandering tourist. A drowned governor, Old Shep, the Grand Hotel, The bloodiest block in the West. Just some of the stories. For details about Old Shep, see http://www.fortbenton.com/shep/story.html. The town of Fort Benton has its own website also http://www.fortbenton.com/. N47.81676 W110.66817 Elevation 2637 feet [alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117292386093793315084″ ualb=”5867943399162575089″ imgl=”fancybox” dltext=”Picasa” style=”floor” row=”4″ num=”150″ size=”220″ border=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center”...
Should we take the left river or the right river ? The Corps camped here several days and scouted each of hte streams to make sure they were going the right way. A mistake at this point probably would have resulted in failure or even worse–being totally stranded in the Bitterroot Mountains for the hardest part of the winter. They had been warned about the upcoming great falls, but not about the river choice. The Captains split up and scouted each one and then decided the South stream seemed most likely to be the one leading to the great falls. They chose correctly and the mission continued. [alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117292386093793315084″ ualb=”5867948587449576977″ imgl=”fancybox” dltext=”Picasa” style=”floor” row=”4″ num=”150″ size=”220″ border=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center”...
Spotted this off in the distance and just had to turn around and get a closer look. Looks like it may have been an old school or even a church. No signs of recent activity and no signs of critters living in it. Just an interesting site. Near Loma, Montana. N47.92003 W110.52641 Elevation 2591 feet [alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117292386093793315084″ ualb=”5867956575430699345″ imgl=”fancybox” dltext=”Picasa” style=”floor” row=”4″ num=”150″ size=”220″ border=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center”...
