An awesome day in Eastern Montana

This morning we left Hardin heading for the Ft. Peck area.  At Terry we turned left and headed up the “Big Sky Back Country Byway” and followed that to Ft. Peck for a total trip of 306 miles.  We had a vision that eastern Montana was mostly flat ranch land.  Boy were we ever wrong!  The whole drive was beautiful with mostly rolling hills and lots and lots of farm fields.  Looks like the predominate crop is wheat followed by corn.  There were a lot of sugar beets just north of Hardin.  After we were on the Back Country Byway it was mostly ranch land with lots of hay but not very many cattle.  The whole trip today was outstanding and we are sure glad we did this eastern swing.  We did not have any luck getting a COE campground at Ft. Peck which was not surprising since it was a weekend.  However, we did get a site at the marina which is nothing special but is good for one night.  After setting up we went to the Interpretive center where they have lots if great displays of current and prehistoric animal life in the area.  We also signed up for the Powerhouse tour.  We have toured several dams over the years, most notable Hover and Glenn Canyon, but this was by far and away the best tour we have ever been on!  On all the other tours you were always keep at a distance from the generators and the other equipment but on this tour it was really different.  In the first place the tours were small with only 11 people and they took us right down to the generator floor where we could actually walk around the touch them.  Was really neat to be able to feel the vibration and heat from the rotating generator.  Later they took us below the generator to where we could see the turbine and again we were able to get up close and examine things.  We could even touch the rotating shaft from the turbine to the generator.  The whole tour was like an engineer’s field day.  Unfortunately they did not allow photos on the tour.  The whole story of the building of this dam is really amazing.  It was constructed during the depression with 10 thousand workers as a public works program.

Some of the hay fields on the Byway

One of the exhibits at the interpretive center

The spillway, currently under repair

The sun is setting on the lake

Custer’s Last Stand

Yesterday we left the Earthquake Lake area and drove about 50 miles to the Red Cliff campground in the Big Sky area.  The campground was very nice and right on the banks of the Gallatin River.  This morning we headed to the plains of eastern Montana.  After driving 261 miles we ended up in the Grandview RV park in Hardin MT.  The park is nothing special but at least it has electric to run the AC which is definitely needed today.  This afternoon we visited the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument which is the site of “Custer’s Last Stand”.  The monument is very interesting and we learned a lot about a not so great period in American history.  On this site 263 army solders were killed along with 40 to 100 Lakota and Cheyenne Indians in a battle over the right of the Indians to occupy this land.  Custer lost this battle but obviously the Indians lost the war.  Lots of interesting history here and lots of neat artifacts in the visitors center. 

Tomorrow we continue our trek east and north as we head for the Ft. Peck area.

Immediately as you enter the visitor center they have a nice tribute to Lori Piestewa who was the first female native American killed in combat.  Lori was from the Hopi tribe in northern Arizona and was killed in Iraqi in 2003.

Hill where Custer’s last stand occurred.

Memorial to the Indian’s who lost their lives in the battle.

The monument also contains a national cemetery

Rafting on Hebgen Lake

Today was the day to try out our new rubber raft.  Just a few miles from our campsite is Hebgen Lake which looked like a safe place to try it out.  The weather was a little cloudy at first but cleared off and ended up being a very nice day.  We were on the water for about two and a half hours and paddled up the shore about 3/4 miles and back.  All in all we were very pleased with the raft and with a few minor adjustments it will work fine.  Plan to take it out again on St Mary Lake in Glacier.

Tomorrow we move a few miles north the the Big Sky area just south of Bozeman.

Ready to blow up.. 

Lets see it this thing will float

Yellowstone…..WOW!

Not sure how many times we have been to Yellowstone but you always go away thinking wow!  It was a cloudy and rainy day but for the most part it didn’t limit what we were able to do and see.  We took the loop from the west entrance down to Old Faithful and then up along the banks of Yellowstone Lake and finally back toward the west entrance.  There were the typical traffic jams due to the animals but that is expected.  We did get some up close views of Elk and Bison which was a treat.

Sorry for so many photos but it was really hard to pick only the good ones!

Where the ground shook

This morning we made the short drive over to the Beaver Campground at Earthquake lake just west of Yellowstone.  The campground is fairly nice with three loops and sites that are well spaced.  There are only a handful of people staying here tonight.  The wildflowers were just outstanding throughout the campground.  After getting setup we went to the Earthquake Lake visitor center.  Unfortunately the center was closed for renovations but there we very good signs around the area to tell the story.  On Aug. 17, 1959 a 7.5 magnitude quake hit the area around 11:30 in the evening.  The quake caused the side of a mountain to slide down into a canyon creating a dam that resulted in the formation of Earthquake lake.  Unfortunately in the canyon below was a campground in which 19 people died.  All total 28 people lost their lives in this quake.  This has special meaning to Valerie who was in Great Falls at the time and remembers being awaken by the quake.

Tomorrow we plan to spend the day in Yellowstone National Park.

Some of the wildflowers in the campground

The side of this mountain slid down into the canyon below and over the campground

This bolder was on the other side of the canyon before the quake

54 years later the tops of a lot of dead trees still stick out the lake

View looking west from the visitor center.  Definitely “Big Sky” country

And now it really begins

After driving hard for two days we felt our trip really stated today after making the right turn off of I-15 at Idaho Falls.  From here on the pace will be much slower and more relaxed.  Today we drove 118 miles and are staying at the Riverside Forest campground south of West Yellowstone.  Tomorrow it will be a short hop up to Earthquake Lake where we will be for three days.  We hope to get our rubber raft in the water tomorrow!  The weather was simply beautiful this morning and the drive was very pretty with the Tetons on the horizon and the lush farm fields along the road.  The campground is really nice and is not very full.  All the sites are nestled in the forest with a few sites along the river.

Looks like a great river for some rafting..

A birder at work!

Ms Robin keeping an eye on us.

This mushroom is growing outside our door.  This thing is almost a foot across.

An I-15 kind of day

This morning we made a fairly quick trip from Kanab over to I-15 but then went miles and miles and some more miles on I-15.  We finally ended up in Pocatello ID.  The trip through Salt Lake City was actually not too bad this time.  For one thing, this is the first time in several years that there was no road construction in the area.  The traffic was light being a Saturday and with the exception of some heavy rain for a few minutes as we approached downtown it was a pleasant trip.  All in all we drove 469 miles today.  We are currently at the Bannock County Fair Grounds just north of Pocatello.  It is a really nice RV park and at only $25 is a great bargain.  If the park was full it would be a little close but as it is tonight there is only one other person staying here.  It’s really nice to be parked on freshly mowed green grass for a change!  Tomorrow we will have a much shorter day as we head up toward West Yellowstone and hopefully find a place to stay north of Ashton ID.  We have reservations at Earth Quake lake but they aren’t until Monday.