Great Falls, Montana

We've never traveled NE in Montana and decided to make a day trip to Great Falls. It was an interesting and scenic drive north on I-15 from Helena. Our destination was the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center which is a National Forest Service Facility. 

 The Center sits on a high bluff overlooking the Missouri River. We take you inside on the next post, but first join us as we climb down steps and explore a portion of the bike/hike trail that follows the river.

Here are some of the sights we saw as we walked the trail as far as Giant Springs State Park. As we walk, we are following in the footsteps of Lewis and Clark.

 There are a lot of swallows around this year. This cliffside was obviously a location they enjoy.

Giant Springs State Park is a day use site that also is home to a Montana Fish & Wildlife Hatchery.

 Giant Springs was discovered by the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 as the expedition struggled to portage around the Great Falls of the Missouri, near the present-day city of Great Falls. Captain Lewis stumbled upon the natural wonder on June 18, 1805. This is also the site of the Roe River, listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the world's shortest river. Giant Springs, one of the largest freshwater springs in the world, flows at a measured 338 million gallons of water per day! The water stays at a temperature of 54 degrees.

 Really beautiful colors...and so clear!

 The little bridge marks where the spring empties into the Roe River and in a few feet, into the muddy Missouri River.

 

There is a beautiful picnic area on the hillside above the spring.

 

 After taking a break in the shade, we decided to visit the several areas of falls that prompted the indians to name the area Great Falls.

Curving Falls

 You may notice that each falls includes the addition of a hydro-electric facility to mar the view. I am sure Lewis and Clark would not appreciate the changes. Below is a sculpture that sits on a bluff above the river where it is thought the two explorers and Sacagawea might have reviewed their travel options. Although the sculpture sits along the 10-mile bike trail, we could not figure out how to access the trail and so we took the shot from above.

The day was passing too quickly and we only were able to visit one more falls. Ryan Falls is about 10 miles outside of town. While driving there, we started to feel that we had been transported to the upper plateau of Idaho.

After miles of nothing but wheat fields, we finally arrived at the steep descent down to Ryan Dam. 

The viewing area/picnic area was on a small island at the foot of the falls...accessible only by a swinging bridge.

I'll let the pictures speak for themselves....

Fortunately, we only heard the sound of rushing water.

The picnic and viewing areas were very nice. There was a small building with a display clearly intended early-on to justify the presence of the dam.

 A short walking trail brought us to the viewing area.

 

  

 

We enjoyed both the falls and the beautiful flora.

Simply peaceful beauty. We hope you enjoyed it.

Bike On Bicycles

Larry has been having good luck with bicycle repair here in Deer Lodge. There are no shops or mechanics in town and he charges much less than the nearest shops, thirty-five miles away. Here are some shots in his favorite work place.

 

SPOTTED DOG WILDLIFE REFUGE 6/5/2011

The Montana DNR opened a new wildlife refuge on May 15, just a couple miles from our campground. On our Sunday morning bike ride, we discovered an access point through some private land and returned later with our hiking gear. We covered six miles of beautiful terrain in the few hours we had available and plan to get an earlier start next time. For now, we hope you enjoy these shots!
The plants are still trying to figure out if it's time to bloom or not, but the calves aren't waiting. We hiked through a herd of angus that seemingly have never seen human beings and were mostly terrified by our presence. This baby decided that momma wasn't movin' until his belly was full!

 The flowers are coming on slowly. We hope to see more on our next visit.

 We followed a dirt road onto the DNR land and eventually came to a hiking trail that climbed upward around a mountain.

 

It's always a good idea to stop and look behind you. Sometimes the view is amazing!

 Eventually, the wide trail turned into a narrow path through the pine trees.

 When the path disintegrated, we decided to hike up the mountain side to what appeared to be the top. We moved forward leaving markers as we went...just in case. The good news, when we finally reached the top (after a climb of 200 ft! ), we found ourselves in a meadow very close to the dirt road. Although we were nowhere near the top, the view across the valley was spectacular.

 

We will be returning to explore this area as soon as the weather settles down...soon, we hope.

 

Standing... surrounded by beauty, we talked about how very special it is to have a life unfettered by "wants" that require money in order to be fulfilled.

This a precious gift!

 Until next time....

Crazy Weather

I will start with an apology for being AWOL for 6 weeks. Much of what is in Deer Lodge was blogged last year and the weather has kept us from venturing too far. I will be posting a few things we've done. 
This post will be about the most significant flooding here in 30 years. The town grew up around Cottonwood Creek starting in the 1800's and is the second oldest town in Montana. The natural creek bed follows an "S" curve right through the center of town that contributes to flooding at times of heavy rain accompanied by melting mountain snow.
About 4:30, Larry decided to go downtown to check on a bike he had seen at the local pawn shop. On the way down Main St., nothing was unusual. When he got to the shop, he noticed water flowing down a side street toward main. He was inside for just a few minutes. By the time he came out, the way back home was covered with water and he had to circle around on I-90. We decided to walk down to the grocery store because the rain was taking a break. This is what we found.

The only way to get to the store to wade. That was highly discouraged by a deputy sheriff. He pointed to the adjacent gas station

 

and said that someone had tried to cross and had received an electrical shock. It was obvious that the creek was now blocking Main St., so we decided to retrace our steps to higher ground to check on my friend, Ranger Lyndel, whose home is situated very close to the creek. Her place was still in "safe" territory and we continued to walk around the area of the creek.

This is where Cottonwood Creek passes under I-90. On the far side is ranch land where the water only impacts pasture. These culverts are huge. To us, it looked like a dam when they open the flood gates.

 We followed the creek west as it passed through town.

 

The creek goes to the right. To the left is a street. They have constructed a gravel & earth dam down the center of the street in an attempt to contain the flow.

 

A number of years ago, the city contracted the building of a retaining wall intended to keep high water within the channel. I believe they will be in contact with the contractor since he obviously failed to create an adequate foundation. The river is washing the soil from under the wall and it has mostly collapsed. Construction probably cost the city a quarter of a mil.

 This is one of several homes threatened by the water.

 

We saw huge gravel trucks bringing in loads and dumping them for dozers to push into place. Every area construction company sent operators and equipment. The local logging company sent machines to snare logs and other debris from the flow.

 

Main Street

 

In spite of everything, there are those who just wonder what's going on.