PART 3: Lewis & Clark RV Caravan - Bismarck, South Dakota, through Great Falls, Montana -- preceded this post if you are interested in hearing about days 13 through 26 of the Lewis & Clark RV caravan.
6/26 - 6/27/21: Helena, MT
This turned out to be quite the day of unusual transportation. It started with a train (aka trolley) tour of Helena. The weather was absolutely beautiful and so was the Helena architecture.
Our chariot!
Montana State Capitol
Helena library (gotta love it's name)
Cathedral of St. Helena
There was also a stuffed white bison named Big Medicine. He was very rare, revered by the Indians, and lived well past the average age of a wild bison. The decision was made to preserve him after his natural death, but he was so old by that time that his hide/fur was in pretty poor condition.
Big Medicine
Though I didn't get a picture of it, a yellow school bus picked us up in the campground late afternoon to take us to the Last Chance Ranch Wagonride dinner experience. The bus by itself was quite the adventure as it was taking us into the mountains, so the ride was bouncy and steep in some places. A normal tour bus would never have made it. Even with shorter legs, my knees were crammed into the seatback in front of me. Thank goodness the outside temperature wasn't too hot as there was no A/C -- so we lowered all of the windows (like we'd done as kids) to get a good breeze.
At the end of the bus ride were horse drawn wagons waiting to take us the rest of the way. It wasn't far but it was steep terrain so we had to stop twice to let the draft horses rest.
We then dined on delicious prime rib and were serenaded by Bruce Anfinson, the Last Chance Ranch's owner. He is a talented musician who has traveled the world sharing his Montana-born songs and it was a real treat to get a private performance. It was a faster trip home after dinner, made too exciting by a disagreement between a pair of the draft horses, but we all made it safely home (bus windows closed this time!).
To complete our 24 hours of "different" transportation, we carpooled a short distance to take a "Gates of the Mountain" morning boat ride. This section of the Missouri river was given the name "Gates of the Rocky Mountains" by Lewis & Clark who first traversed it in July 1805 when going west, and again by part of the group when going east in July 1806 the next year. Back then the river was 20 feet lower. The actual "Gates" (near left side of picture). When you approach it is difficult to see there is an actual passage.
Mule Deer on the shore
Another lovely view of the passage through
the rocky passage than it is now.
We also saw several bald eagles, one practically doing a "fly by" of our boat (of course we missed getting a picture). No black bear sightings.
We had a campground fish fry in the evening and we all brought a side dish. The meal was fantastic and we applauded our cooks, RVers in our group who were experts at frying both fresh and salt water fish. There is no lack of yummy food on this trip. We will all need to drop a few pounds at is conclusion. 🙄
6/28 - 6/29/21: Dillon, MT
After driving Max to the campground in Dillon, we drove the car to Beaverhead Rock. This large rock structure is one of the things that Sacagawea recognized as being near her birth tribe, the Shoshone. Having chosen to drive the shorter route today, we skipped the other big landmark she recognized, Three Forks. This is the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison, and the Gallatin rivers -- forming the official "headwaters" of the Missouri river.
Beaverhead Rock
After we returned to the campground, we contributed our donation to the Hobo Stew, a can of peas. This was added to a huge pot already cooking with everyone else's donations. We were both quite skeptical that this meal would be edible and Jeffrey actually asked me to bring an alternate option as he generally doesn't like soups. To our surprise, it was delicious, plus a lot extra so we all brought leftovers home.
The next morning we all boarded a school bus for the day's sites -- minus Jeffrey and a small number of others from our group. Jeffrey had a persistent headache develop overnight and decided he wanted a "down" day so it is up to me to capture decent photos. I think the lack of air conditioning on the bus and flaky "only" 30amp electric service in the campground were the reason the others stayed home. Note that the reason we are in a school bus is that nicer tour buses won't drive on the dirt roads we'll be using!
Camp Fortunate was our first stop -- the place where the expedition finally ran out of navigable water going west and had to find another way to portage the Rocky Mountains. Lewis and Clark hoped to find indians who would sell them horses to carry all of the supplies until they could get to the Columbia river. They would leave their canoes for the return trip and make new ones once they had navigable water again.
. A dugout canoe similar to what what used on the expedition
The Camp Fortunate site, now underwater
Our second stop was Lemhi Pass National Historic Landmark. It represents the location where Sacagawea reunited with her original tribe. She became instrumental in establishing trust with them as they recognized her (she had been kidnapped by another Indian tribe when she was 12) and she could speak their language. The expedition got the horses they needed and started the long trek over the Rockies. Lemhi Pass is also on the Continental Divide and it's the border of Idaho and Montana in present day.
Lovely view at Lemhi Pass
Next up was Sacagawea's Memorial Area. This park contains a small natural spring aptly named Sacagawea Spring, which flows into Trail Creek which flows into Horse Prairie creek which flows into Beaverhead river which flows into Jefferson river which turns into the Missouri river at Three Forks. Given it's close proximity to the Continental Divide, Sacagawea's Spring is thus fondly thought of as the beginning of the Missouri's water source. Large rocks straddle the little stream it forms so visitors can stand across it and get a good photo. Voila!
The spring is running out between my feet
On the way to our next stop we got a quick photo of a restored Stagecoach hosed at a family farm. From 1866 to 1910, six horses pulled it 125 miles daily all year round between Red Rock, Montana, and Salmon, Idaho.
After a fried chicken picnic lunch, we explored the abandoned ghost town of Bannock (named after the local Bannock indians), founded in 1862 (long after Lewis & Clark's time) when gold was found nearby. It got quite a reputation, not because of the gold rush, but due to its high number of executions (several dozen in less than 2 months, the sheriff among them). Bannock continued as a mining town with a dwindling population for over a century. The last resident left on the 1970s and it is now a National Historic Landmark.
Hotel center, saloon to the left
1 room schoolhouse
Family home
6/30 - 7/1/21: Missoula, MT
Enroute to our campground in Missoula we all diverted to the Big Hole National Battlefield. At this location in 1877, U.S. soldiers attacked a Nez Perce tribe that was not under a treaty. 90 indians were killed, many of them women and children -- either shot or burned alive in their tipis. Those that survived were chased over 1100 miles. 30 soldiers also died in the initial attack, but it is recognized as a horrible response to indians who refused to accept the rules of the white man and be regulated to a small reservation.
This occurred over 70 years after Lewis and Clark met the Nez Perce Indians who were very kind and helpful to them.
Tipi skeletons marking the attack's site
There was a post-dinner "living history" presentation in the campground pavilion and we gave serious thought to skipping it and staying in the air conditioned RV. Thankfully we didn't as it was very interesting, plus the watermelon, iced tea, and twizzlers were a nice surprise. Tomorrow night they are bribing us back outside for the driver's meeting with root beer floats 👍
The next morning we all car-pooled to Travelers Rest State Park, the only confirmed campsite of Lewis & Clark. They were brought here by indian Toby, a Shoshoni guide. Our own guide, Francis Weigand, did a very thorough job of helping us appreciate the life the expedition was experiencing at this point in their journey.
Our guide sharing the story of Travelers Rest
This confirmation of the campsite was done using special equipment that measured mercury vapor in the soil. This area of Montana has no natural mercury, but apparently many of the medicines used 200+ years ago did, which were then voided into the camp latrine pit by the expedition members. The adjoining field also had chemical markers such as carbon deposits that dated back to that time period. Luckily this field had never been farmed or used in any other way that would have disturbed this evidence.
The latrine
The camp area
Overlooking these areas from the nearby hill was a 350 year old Douglas Fir tree. It is amazing to me that this tree witnessed the expedition camping in this location and is still alive today to witness our tour of the same ground.
The huge Douglas Fir
Before we left, we got a photo taken of the 4 Florida Gators in the caravan, us plus another couple (Estella and Jim DuPont) who met by chance on this caravan. Of course we both have Gator license plates on our rigs. We'll submit this Lewis & Clark themed picture to the University of Florida alumni magazine and maybe they'll publish it in the section showing Gators on the move!
After this tour was over, a group of us enjoyed pizza on the way to errands at Walmart and Costco. After we settled back in at our own campground, Facebook friends reminded us that there was a good local brewery nearby, so we took the opportunity to continue our quest to refine our beer tastes by doing a sampling. My favorite was an American Brown Ale named Moose Drool. Tested much better than it sounded, I assure you!
We returned home just in time to remove our window Magneshades and RV tire covers before a strong storm blew in, dropping our outside temperature almost 30 degrees. We got just enough rain to make our dirty RVs and cars spotty instead of just dusty. The wind dislodged pine cones from nearby trees and pelted RVs close to them (thankfully not us). We delayed our driver's meeting an hour while it all calmed down and then gathered for the promised root beer floats and discussion about the hilly transit tomorrow.
Lovely sunset peeking under the retreating
storm clouds.
7/2 - 7/3/21: Kamiah/Orofina, IDT
Today we drove route 12 covering the Lolo Pass. While we were on the road in the valley next to the river, Lewis & Clark traversed this pass on foot (the river is not yet navigable) high along the mountain ridge with horses carrying their supplies and led by indian guide, Toby. It was a difficult journey with little food and they almost failed.
For us, this pass was a very very long and gently curvy downhill that started as soon as we entered Idaho and went on almost 100 miles. It was very picturesque for me and lots of steering for Jeffrey, but we made it safely -- greeted again with almost 100 degree temperature and only a 30 amp electrical connection at our new campground. This will only safely run 1 of our 3 air conditioners, so we opted to use our built-in generator for awhile to better to cool off the interior as it provides over 60 amps.
Saw this bench at the Lolo Pass Visitor's Center
and wondered why there was a log permanently
attached in the middle 🧐
Road sign saying "Winding Road Next 99
Miles"
One of the lovely views on our drive
After settling in, we car-pooled to the High Country Inn in Orofina for a terrific private group dinner, ending with the excitement of a small rattlesnake found outside when it was time to return home. We also saw a Hoary Marmot on our drive today, so that makes several new species we've seen in the wild on this caravan.
The next day we drove to Nez Perce National Historic Site Canoe Camp, party of the Nez Perce reservation. Ranger Jared shared how Lewis and Clark camped here on the way to the Columbia River and on the return trip to St Louis. The Nez Perce took pity on the starving Corps members as they headed west and not only gave them food after their trek through the mountains but also took care of their horses while they continued to the Pacific in 5 newly built canoes, this transitioning back to water-based travel.
7/4 - 7/5/21: Clarkston, WA
Our drive into Washington today was only 73 miles, with a stop aling the way at the Nez Perce National Historical Park Visitor Center. Even though it is Independence Day, there were rangers waiting for us who showed us a film about the history of this Indian tribe, which included how they are trying to keep their traditions and language alive in their children. A Nez Perce indian ranger then explained the various structures the tribe created and lived in, from caves, pit houses, and various tipi designs to present day wood homes.
We finished the drive and pulled into a lovely RV park adjacent to a marina. We all have "full hookups" with ample electricity, a good thing since it will be 100+ degrees for the two days we are here.
We are seeing many of these "Lewis & Clark
Trail" signs this summer!
Our group celebrated Independence Day by sharing a homemade lasagna dinner (courtesy of our fearless Fantasy leaders), singing a few patriotic songs, and ending off with ice cream sundaes!
We spent our final day in Clarkston by going on an amazing jet boat ride of Hell's Canyon on the Snake river. In addition to traveling 55 miles up (and then back), we stopped midway for a delicious private BBQ lunch and many in the group cooled off by jumping in the river for a quick swim at our two stops along the way. Heading upriver, Washington State and then Oregon was on the right and Idaho on our left.
View of Hell's Canyon
Cliff in the canyon that looks (to me) like a
motorhome nose
Deeper in the canyon
Columnar Basalt Volcanic rock cliffs
Our boat at one stop on the way back
They were able to pull the jet boat right up to some rocky formations so we could see petroglyphs created by natives before horses lived in this part of the world. We were also lucky enough to see several groups of Rocky Mountain Bighorn sheep.
Petroglyphs of people (and bighorn sheep at
the bottom)
Bighorn ram
Bighorn doe
7/6/21: Boardman, OR
Today was just an overnight transit day. The first 2/3 of the drive was past "amber waves of grain", a rather awesome view when it's the only thing you see for miles in every direction.
The final third was entering Oregon and finally seeing the Columbia river. So hard to capture a good photo of this pretty area, but here are a few.
We ended the day with grilled hotdogs and sides we all contributed, making a toast in hope that this is our last day of hot hot temperatures. Sadly we had several rig tragedies today. Our TailGunners were in an accident in a construction zone and have severe damage to their left front end. Remarkably they can still drive the RV. One of the other rigs sustained several air pressure leaks that locked up their brakes only 20 miles into the drive. They were luckily able to find mechanics each time who found a leak and repaired it, but they were sidelined most of the day and didn't get to the new campground for 12 hours.
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This concludes Part 4 of our Lewis & Clark caravan, June 26 through July 6, 2021. I will finish the story in Part 5!
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