August 14 -15, 2017
Since we were staying in such a nice Great Falls hotel, the Crystal Inn, we took our time this morning. Beginning with a trip to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center here in Great Falls, MT. Fellow FL neighbors & friends, Jo & Tom had texted us when they realized we were close by and told us, that it was a must visit before leaving this area. They were so right!!!
Mike has been to another one in Omaha, NE that he enjoyed; but no way was it as good or as thorough as this one. Afterwards, we drove to see two out of the 5 total falls they had to Portage. The center is here because these falls were the biggest obstacles they encountered on their journey and really united them as a unit.
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| Getting there was wonderful since it took us by all these river parks |
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| A beautiful compass rose that depicted the journey and the fantastic interpretive center |
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| 3D diorama of the portage that took 30 days to get past 5 falls |
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| 1803 Cincinnati river view. They used this city for staging along with Pittsburgh, Philly and St Louis. |
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| I had a hard time processing this much meat...UGH! |
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| Another fabulous contemporary artist who interpreted their journey in pencil drawings. |
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| He draws in such realism, I thought it was a photograph. |
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| 3D depiction of their journey |
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| We had no idea that they created these caches for their return trip |
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| Add caption |
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| A boat? Really??? But it worked! |
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| Looking south to the Rainbow Falls |
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| Missouri River that we kept traveling alongside, along with I-15, parts of the Lewis and Clark Trail |
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| Buffalo Trout??? |
We headed back to Yellowstone today to see more of this incredible park! This time will be Mike's fifth visit there. He's been out here snowmobiling twice. Once with me, Jo & Don and another time with a group of his guys friends. I can't imagine living in the US and never seeing this spectacular park!!!
The four hour drive from Great Falls to West Yellowstone took us along the Missouri River, thru the cute western town of Ennis, along the Madison River (think fly fishing,) Prickly Pear Creek and finally the large Hebgen Lake. The clouds were really prominent, as we went in and out of small showers until we arrived into West Yellowstone to full rainstorm.
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| Lots of homes, cottages and more on the Missouri River |
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| Why they have on their license plates...Big Sky Montana |
Our West Yellowstone, Moose Creek Inn is a cute, western style,contemporary. The only weird part is no comfortable chairs? It actually has a room AC unit, but it's suppose to go down to 49 degrees tonight, with a high of 66. Quite a change from the temps we left in FL.!
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| Given how little insulation there was it was amazing how warm it stayed |
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| Some guy wanted his photo taken so I obliged...LOL |
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| We spent some time waiting in lines but overall it wasn't as busy as we expected |
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| So many gorgeous streams that fly fishing enthusiasts were enjoying |
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| He made it look easy...not so much! |
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| Exquisite |
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| Seeing those streams from the top of the canyons or mountains was a whole other experience and feeling... |
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| Mike's subtle selfie unlike the Japanese who's faces were in front of every scene...Their custom... |
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| The colors were sublime but the sulfur smells not so much! |
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| Norris Springs was immense, you could walk around them forever |
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| Hot, Hot Hot!!! |
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| When we were here in the winter, there was lots of wildlife here since it was warmer and they could find feed... |
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| In the summer these areas are so hot that they are literally cooking all the vegetation until it dies... |
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| This big ole bison had traffic stopped as he crossed the road and everyone photographed him |
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| He was almost the same height as our Ford Edge...WOW! |
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| Ravens are incredibly clever birds as we discovered the hard way... |
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Class Five Rapids if anyone wants to raft
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| At a number of the falls there would be this brilliant jade green streak at one or more points in the falling water... |
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| Purple Mountains Majestic to say the least |
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Moran was so right, even our photos couldn't do this area justice
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A familiar stop... In 2001 we were here with Jo and Don on snowmobiles. We enjoyed
a bottle of champagne to celebrate their wedding. Had to drink it fast before the ravens picked our snowmobiles apart...
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| We tried to capture it, but the sun went in and the rain came out...Sad |
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| Thought the lichen or moss was interesting on this dead branch |
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| Trying to capture the many colors and textures here |
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| The muddy flats or volcanic springs are eating away the landscape |
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| Again, you could walk forever on these boardwalks only |
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| Yellowstone Lake is mammoth and quite beautiful |
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| Waiting for Old Faithful to erupt, it is one of many holes here |
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| Suspense |
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| He's getting excited... |
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| There he blows... |
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| The Tease |
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| It is quite the spectacle, summer or winter |
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| I can't help myself, I clap when it's over and I wasn't alone |
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| You can really see the rainstorms all around us here behind Ole Faithful |
The sights here truly leaves one speechless even if you can aren't help to do a lot of hiking. The Park Service has done a wonderful job making many of the sites wheelchair accessible...
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