Moving along towards home - Montana fun

 Let me say this right off the bat.....I am officially in love with Montana.   It's wide open vistas, mountains, rivers, lakes and forests have swept me away.

Our first stop (sadly, for only one night) was in Three Forks.   As soon as we unhooked and set up we got in the Jeep and went in search of the Headwaters of the Missouri River SP.     We've never gone siteseeing on our arrival day, but we only had that night....   My pictures didn't really show the joining of three rivers into one major one, but we had lots of fun following them to their confluence.   I'd not heard of the Jefferson River, the Madison River or the Gallitan River before nor did we know their importance.   

 We did spend a half hour or so on the shore of the Madison River watching and laughing at two adolescent Bald Eagles trying to fish.   One parent was watching from above, loudly voicing either encouragement or annoyance, we don't know which one.   The pictures aren't good, but you get the idea....

They'd circle around and around before dropping into the shallow, swiftly moving water.   No luck in the fish department and instead of lifting up and flying away, they'd try to swim to the shore, flapping and waving their wings to move forward.    They'd sit together on the stony shore, commiserating probably, before trying again.   

There are a few more interesting places in the area so next time we'll spend a little more time before heading on.

Around lunchtime the following day we pulled into a rest area to eat a quick lunch.  Dave went out to perform his normal walkaround as I prepared our food.    I wondered what was taking him so long, if there was a problem with the Jeep or Beluga.   I went to the door to check and found him standing outside, waiting for me to unlock the door and let him back in.      Hmmmmm.   It wasn't locked.   I couldn't open it from the inside and he couldn't open from the  outside.    He's so calm.....he opened Beluga's outside compartment door, took out his ladder and climbed in the window!

OK...now we were both locked inside.    He fiddled and wiggled and finally got the door open.    So....now the door opened, but wouldn't latch closed.

After we ate and thought a bit, he went back out and fiddled/wiggled/greased/unscrewed/took apart/put back together and managed to get the door to latch, tentatively.

   

We didn't have very far to drive to our next stop so he was able to lock the lock and bunge the broken latch to the base of my seat (gasp) and we set off again.     It held and we made it to wonderful Henrys Lake State Park.

Due to an error on my part, a lucky error, we got the absolute perfect back in spot overlooking the slough (where moose were perported to frequent).  After all the rigamarole with the door lock earlier that day Dave kindly drove into the site instead of backing in as was intended.    I say - kindly - because it took quite a bit of back and forth to position Beluga in the site backward with enough water hose and electric cord to reach the services.     What a man he is, how lucky am I?    I'm sure he was on his last nerve by that time, but the resulting windshield view was worth it. 

my windshield view

 We had no television so the view became "moose tv" as we spent a fair amount of time in Beluga's front seats watching for one while enjoying the swans, ducks, herons, Sandhill cranes, etc. and the light playing over the mountains.

One afternoon we took the Jeep to investigate nearby Earthquake Lake.    We were both blown away by what we saw and the fact that we'd never heard of it.    In August of 1959 a 7.5  earthquake caused an 80 million ton landslide to race down hill at 100 mph and and completely block the flow of the Madison River in a mere 20 seconds.  The water rose behind the blockage at a rate of 9 feet a day until it formed a 190 foot deep lake.   Twenty eight people were buried under the rubble, unable to get out in time.    I guess the News broadcasts of the day weren't as far reaching as they are today because we, in the east, didn't hear about what was the second largest earthquake in the continental United States in the 20th century.     It's a fascinating story, read more about it and the management that was necessary to keep this lake in it's bounds - if you're interested.

the slide

looking down at the Madison river from the landslide

Quake Lake with the landslide scar and dam

"ghost trees" standing in the lake

We enjoyed stopping to read the plaques placed at different point around the lake and in the surrounding area.    They were so very well done, giving pertinent facts and figures but also telling a very real and emotional story.    

 We saw a sign for the earthquake scarp and turned down a dirt path to investigate.

scarp where the ground dropped almost 22 feet during the quake

Another day we followed  Jodee and Bill's footsteps and took dirt Red Rock Pass Road over the continental divide and into the broad Centennial Valley.    I'm so glad we took their advice - it was a fabulous drive,  even if we did make a wrong move at the end.    (alright, we did ignore a tiny little "dead end sign" but it turned out ok).

so wonderful to see blue sky again

We stopped for lunch alongside pretty Widgeon Pond.   It was absolutely silent and beautiful.   We explored a bit before moving along toward Elk Lake and Hidden Lake.

our lunchtime visitor

driving along Elk Lake

   It was beginning to get late and we had a long drive back the way we came so I thought I'd see if there was a cut across route to shorten it up.   I consulted the Jeep's GPS and saw that there was a perfect road, Culver, that would take us past the other end of Widgen Lake and bring us back out on Red Rock Pass Road - just what I wanted.      Half way along there was this tiny little sign - dead end it said.   Ah well, lets just see, we could always turn around.

Yep, it was a dead end.     Not so much as a dead end as a "bridge out" end.    The little bridge was out (submerged really) about 200 feet away from Red Rock Pass Road!

but the GPS says the road continues!

Dave didn't want to chance this water crossing.....

Back we went.

But, if we had not ignored that little tiny sign, we wouldn't have seen beautiful Picnic Spring.....and a Bald Eagle!

Picnic spring tumbling down from the forest

it's hard to actually see the water....it's that clear

On our last day we didn't want to go far, so we went looking for two nearby lakes.    Wade and Cliff lakes sit on a geologic fault that split and filled with water from deep springs.   Their color is unbelievable, unlike any other fresh water lake we've seen.    They're cold and clear and ringed by evergreen forests.    There are a couple small Forest Service campgrounds on the shores.

On the way there we encountered a formidable road block.    We stood still for at least 5 minutes, waiting for the girls to break up and move on.    One, with a particularly charming nose ring, waddled slowly toward us,  keeping eye contact all the way.   Everyone else walked off, looking over their ample shoulders, but she was curious about our bumper mounted winch.    She carefully sniffed and touched it before satisfying herself that it wasn't all that interesting.    I couldn't get a picture because she was too close!

Cliff Lake

Wade Lake

On our last morning we just hung around, watching for a moose.   It was very windy for our second cup outside and Lewis finally had to turn around and face the wind in order to see anything at all.

he wanted a hair net......

And, finally, on our last day, a huge bull moose sauntered into view - right in front of us.    Here he is!

We're in Trementon, Utah tonight - goodbye beautiful Montana!