04-18-2013

04-18-2013

After I entered the journal entries for yesterday, I had one more pretty cool adventure.   As I was getting ready for bed about 10pm, I noticed that I was witnessing the very first clear sky of my trip. I just couldn’t resist an opportunity to see the sky better than I have ever seen it,  on a totally clear, dark night with no ambient light in Montana. I dressed warm and headed out in my truck to get away from the lights of Great Falls. I finally found a “turn out” about 45 miles North of Great Falls and when I pulled in and shut off my lights, it was like being in a cave. There was absolutely no  lights visible except the partial moon and a billion stars. Even the Milky Way welcomed me to the Big Sky country. It was truly an amazing sight. If you have never seen a totally dark sky, put that on your list. As my eyes adjusted to the darkness even better, I could see even more stars, probably about a billion and a half by now. It reminded me of the way the sky used to look when I was a young Boy Scout camping in the wilderness. Part of our routine was to lie flat on our backs and just gaze at the stars.   OK, now about today. The mountains are beginning to be a more prominent feature in the days drive. I wonder how Lewis and Clark felt as they reached this point in their journey. They have to be accepting that these mountains are not like they ones they know about in Virginia and Tennessee. These were real mountains.  ...
First Peoples Buffalo Jump

First Peoples Buffalo Jump

Buffalo jump? Who wouldn’t want to see that?   Wow, now I understand what a buffalo jump is and it is not something I want to think about too much.   This location is believed to be one of the main jump sites for several different tribes of natives over a few hundred years.   Odometer reading  29,311 N47.48809  W111.53249 Elevation 3834 feet     [alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117292386093793315084″ ualb=”5868323792095101361″ imgl=”fancybox” dltext=”Picasa” style=”floor” row=”4″ num=”150″ size=”220″ border=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center”...
Gates of the Mountains

Gates of the Mountains

A beautiful lake nestled in the mountains and getting ready for spring tourist season.   Since the season doesn’t actually start until May 1, the tour boats were not operational and no one was interested in assisting a wandering tourist like me. The lake is beautiful but the Lewis and Clark connection is the part called the  “Gates” which is not visible except by boat. While visiting with a man that was launching his fishing boat, I casually asked if I could hire him to take me to the Gates. His reply was something like “the trout are really biting and you don’t have enough money for me to waste my time taking you for a boat ride”. Well, OK then, a good day to you too. I guess I really couldn’t blame him. I saw a few trout at the boat dock and they looked to be 16 to 20 inches long.   odometer 29,382 N46.83177  W111.95298 Elevation 3612   [alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117292386093793315084″ ualb=”5868330355014851425″ imgl=”fancybox” dltext=”Picasa” style=”floor” row=”4″ num=”150″ size=”220″ border=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center”...
Helena, Montana

Helena, Montana

I took photos today in the House of Representatives in the Montana State Capitol Building. How cool is that?    I visited the capitol building to see a very famous 25 foot mural related to Lewis and Clark. The mural is on the front wall of the Chambers for the House of Representatives and they were in session.  When I explained my mission, I was allowed to enter the gallery and photograph the mural– NO FLASH and try not to disturb the session. I did exactly that. They had some kind of school drum team performing for them, how could a couple of photos disturb that?   The Montana State Museum across the street from the capitol had numerous remarkable displays for only a $5 admission fee. I was not sure I wanted to pay until the young lady mentioned a “white buffalo”. I had to see that. Again, NO FLASH photography. The white buffalo is named “Big Medicine” in recognition of his symbolic importance to Native Americans.  It is a beautiful specimen.   odometer reading 29,404 N46.58680  W112.01602 Elevation 4149 feet   [alpine-phototile-for-picasa-and-google-plus src=”user_album” uid=”117292386093793315084″ ualb=”5868333885523999073″ imgl=”fancybox” dltext=”Picasa” style=”floor” row=”4″ num=”150″ size=”220″ border=”1″ highlight=”1″ align=”center”...