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Martyman
Super Nomad
Posts: 1904
Registered: 9-10-2004
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In Idaho law forbids a citizen to give another citizen a box of candy that weighs more than 50 pounds.
I will fight with sawed off shotguns to change this law!
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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Pompano, Jeez, Your travel log get's better and mo better! And you throw in the history lesson for free. Thanks.
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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GLACIER NATL. PARK
MONTANA
Just the drive through Montana to get to Glacier Park is breathtaking..and full of trout water.
Not to mention Huckleberry Pie..yummm. Boat rides on clear lakes and pristine RV parks everywhere.
You are never at a loss for a pretty scene.
Or huckleberry pie..followed by a boat ride! We also had no problem finding lots of nice RV parks near Glacier. The horse statue is in Kalispell.
Lots of river action for trout. Did I mention there are dozens of great fishing rivers in Montana?
Alberta hosts this nice tourist center at the West Glacier entrance. We toured thru many interesting exhibits and met very nice attendants.
We enter the park....west side.
Glacier National Park
One of the best kept secrets in America, Glacier Park is possibly the most beautiful, awe-inspiring natural wonder in the United States. Designated as
a national park in 1910, Glacier is comprised of 1,600 square miles with elevations ranging from 3,150 to 10,466 feet (Mount Cleveland).
Open daily, year-round, but some visitor services such as hotels, tours and restaurants, are only open from late May through September. Every road or
hiking trail offers spectacular scenery and abundant wildlife viewing.
You do have to drive carefully..and keep your eyes open for animals on the road.
And have your camera ready!
This is a borrowed bighorn shot, but was so pretty I couldn't resist including it in this photo report.
(I somehow 'lost' or deleted about 100-plus of my photos of bighorn sheep, goats, our hike, and the Going to the Sun. ....arrgghhhh. I had some real
beauts of 5 bighorns herding Co-Pilot through a parking lot in the Park!)
Glacier National Park is located in the northwest corner of Montana, just north of Columbia Falls. The park encompasses more than one million acres
and is home to grizzly bear, moose, elk, along with 63 varieties of wild mammals. While most of the roads in Glacier National Park are closed off
during the winter, this provides miles and miles of tracks for snowshoeing and cross country skiing. Visitors are seldom around in the dead of winter,
so the muffled hush of the snow covered woods is especially enticing and serene.
Glacier National Park is known as a "World Heritage Site" with natural majestic beauty. It's beautiful lakes are calming, and show the picture of snow
capped mountains high above.
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Going To The Sun Road
St. Mary's Lake is located on the East side of the park. The famous "Going To The Sun Road " runs parallel to it's north shore. The lake is seven
miles long and hundreds of feet deep. Being so high up and so deep,means it can freeze up to several feet thick of ice in the winter. The altitude is
4,484 feet and these lake waters are extremely cold. St. Mary's Lake sits 1,500 feet higher than Lake Mc Donald (The largest lake in the park) which
is on the west side of the Continental Divide.
In July of 2007 they introduced the new shuttle service in Glacier National park. You can now enjoy all of the sites without driving the road
yourself. For those of us who would rather be watching the wildlife and scenery rather than watching the road. This is a very convenient way of
traveling over the Going To The Sun Road and is what we did ..twice.
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[
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AVALANCES ARE COMMON
See the path of this avalance?
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History Of Glacier National Park
The Blackfeet Indians, lived in what was called "The Backbone Of The World", long before any white man started exploring the Rocky Mountains.
These Native Americans, were very protective of their beloved and sacred lands. The buffalo hunting grounds fed their people, and other more southern
tribes were driven out if possible. The passes through these mountains were used for their hunting expeditions, and to chase away
unwelcome neighbors.
Native American beliefs are strong in their love of all forms of creation. They are taught that all animals and birds have a voice to speak with, if
we would only listen. The earth, sky, and weather give them lessons to live by. The mountains have a special meaning to Native Americans, in that,
they feel they draw wisdom and knowledge from them.
Chief Mountain in the northeast corner of Glacier is a very special area with history. This beautiful mountain stands alone in a
prairie away from the other mountains. It has been described as a Warrior Chief, leading his tribe toward the rising sun. Still to this day, this
mountain is visited by the Plains Indians for vision quests and Prayer ceremonies.
The first white man to see this beautiful place, may have been Hugh Monroe, a fur trapper. The Indians named him Rising Wolf. He came in about
1815 and was soon married to an Indian girl from the Piegan Tribe. Father De Smet came in 1846 and named two mountain lakes St.
Mary's.
For many years, the search was on to find a passage through the Continental Divide. The idea was to run a railroad over the Rockies. Native Americans
knew about Marias Pass but were not willing to share this information. Marias is the lowest pass between Canada and Mexico, and would
be the ideal route. History now tells us that it was finally discovered in 1889.
The Great Northern Railroad was completed in 1892. This rail way around the Park was to be used by many tourists.
In 1895 a trail was built from Belton to Lake Mc Donald. A steamboat was brought to the lake and the beautiful Lodge was built. In 1895 it was thought
that there were valuable minerals in the area we now know as Glacier National Park. The federal Government bought the land from the Blackfeet Indians,
and later discovered there were no minerals to be found, so the land was made a National Park by congress.
Adios to the Park and the mountains....
...now it's time to head further east..away from Glacier Park and into Eastern Montana. God knows what's is store for us there...
[Edited on 9-5-2010 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sling time!
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wow!! nice beaver, pompano!
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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Montana's High-Line Highway
Coming east off the Rocky Mountain continental divide, we descend onto...
More historic and famous trails of the Old West.....this statue of John Stevens depicts his early achievements and discoveries.
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..and then we rejoin that other almost-famous trail...
THE HIGH-LINE
U.S. Route 2 (US 2) is an east–west U.S. Highway spanning 2,579 miles (4,150 km) across the northern continental United States.
Montana's portion of the HIGH-LINE HIGHWAY (I've highlighted our route in green)
Note: There isn’t a whole heck of a lot along Montana’s portion of The High-Line.
This suits us just fine.
The photos above show the RUSH HOUR ON THE HIGH-LINE. (just joking, naturally...)
You will pass hay fields and prairie, and are more likely to see trains along the old Great Northern Railway tracks than cars on the road. Hundreds
of pothole lakes host migrating waterfowl and shorebirds. The terrain is mostly flat, dissected with shallow coulees and topped with low buttes. This
country sees lots of waterfowl as they make their migrations north and south along the flyway.
If you insist on doing something constructive along the High-Line, you can always give these a try:
- Black Coulee National Wildlife Refuge
- Bears Paw Battleground
- Fort Assiniboine
- Wahkpa Chu’gn Archeological Site
- Havre Beneath the Streets
- hiking, mountain biking, fishing, and camping
..but just being lazy and letting the miles drift by is not bad, either.......
A word of warning, though. It doesn't pay to get too complacent and lose your edge..the traffic can pick up at any time.
This is....THE REAL RUSH HOUR ON THE HIGH-LINE
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As you travel/wander further you might venture into The Missouri Breaks. One of my favorite hunting grounds.
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And photo-op places for wildlife.
Things get a little hectic Co-Pilot insists on stopping to take a photo of some buffalo.
Ahem..actually they are North American bison. Buffalo are in Africa. 
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Okay..can I go back to daydreaming now?... 
"...on the road again, I can't wait to get on the rrrroooad again..."
[Edited on 9-5-2010 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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RnR
Senior Nomad
Posts: 836
Registered: 5-1-2010
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You do have to drive carefully..and keep your eyes open for animals on the road.
Pompano: Are those WHITE MOOSE ?? 
(A little cross-breeding with the Rocky Mountain Goats.....???)
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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RnR...No, not cross-bred from mountain goats! those two albino (white) moose are a joke...glad to see you caught it!!
note: not true albinos, but they are real and not that unusual. Sightings of white-colored moose, deer, elk, bison have been made from eastern to
western USA and Canada.
[Edited on 9-5-2010 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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capt. mike
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8085
Registered: 11-26-2002
Location: Bat Cave
Member Is Offline
Mood: Sling time!
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seems he should have been named Bison Bill??
used to get Bison hybrid burgers in western KS, Hoxie (famous Pheasant hunting resort area) to be exact at a restaurant called the Beefalo Hut.
yummmm. lean texture from the bison and flavor from prime steer fat.
formerly Ordained in Rev. Ewing\'s Church by Mail - busted on tax fraud.......
Now joined L. Ron Hoover\'s church of Appliantology
\"Remember there is a big difference between kneeling down and bending over....\"
www.facebook.com/michael.l.goering |
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
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Mood: Optimistic
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HIGH-LINE HWY -- PART II
Running east along The High-Line in Montana.
We had several great rivers to pick from...for trout and campsite ambiance.
See those ducks and geese? In about 2 more weeks, we'll have some great dinners!
Ahhhh...Remington Roast Mallard...be still, stomach!....yummmm.
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At a Walmart near Havre, Mt. we were asked by this young hitchhiker to give her and her dog a ride east. We certainly would not suggest
hitching across the country to any young girl, but she seemed to be doing okay with her chosen mode of travel. She told us she was actually more of a
'professional train rider - a Hobo' than a highway hitchhiker, but the 'yard bulls' had been a little tough on her in this area...so
hence the lift with us.
I was about to suggest she was a little too young to be a 'professional' of anything, but then I remembered my own youth and decided to keep my
opinions to myself. Hells bells, there's all manner of people on the move these days...young and old...looking for some improvement in the nation's
condition. I certainly will not judge her..but we did kind of poke our nose's in a bit...for which I am glad.
She told us her 'hobo name' was Echo...
and I think the dog was named ..Broke???
We made up a bed for them both on the motorhome's sofa-bed that night. Kind of nice to have them as guests..and reminded me of other times long ago.
We talked to her quite a bit about her situation and how she came to be a train rider...a hobo. And..we also got her parent's home phone number.
Before we dropped her off in Glasgow, Mt. we phoned her mother and made sure Echo talked to her about her whereabouts and plans for returning home.
They had a heart-warming conversation on my cellphone and then we all said our goodbyes.
A week later, the mom called me to say thanks. Echo was home with the pooch...this time to stay and go back to her studies. Not a problem for
us..we always take in strays, Up North and Down Baja.
(Say...Did I ever tell you about another hitchhiker, Victor? Met him when he was 13, homeless and hitching north from La Paz, took him home, where he
worked at mi casa for 7 years before relocating to a church colony in Canada after first paying a Baja bruja 400 bucks for a love potion to entice a
goatherder's beautiful daughter....
..ah, but that's a different story..) 
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IT'S BACK TO SCHOOL....AND FOOTBALL PRACTICE!
Man-O-Man, did this small town scene bring back some memories...Hut!
All along the Montana stretch of The High-Line, one can find displays of Native American and early pioneer history. Good fodder for guys like me.
Part of the Lewis & Clark Trail parallels The High-Line and you will see tributes every so often. Like this one near Wolf Point.
Not exactly a YarCraft, but it was good enough for it's time.
This old single bottom plow helped to coin the expression, Sodbuster..and made many a pioneer farmer wish he had never left Ohio.
Imagine yourself and old Dobbin plowing up 50 -100 acres of tough prairie sod? No? I kinda believe there was a different work ethnic around back
then. 'The harder you work, the more you get.' Not something our modern day 'I am entitled' citizens would relish.
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Ah...'Dutch ovens' & campfire cooking....It's damn good to know certain things haven't changed...
..which reminds me....
"Hey Co-Pilot! Listen up.
Is dinner ready yet?"
BONK!....Ouch!
.....jeez..that hurt.
Anybody got a bandage?
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Howard
Super Nomad
Posts: 2353
Registered: 11-13-2007
Location: Loreto/Manhattan Beach/Kona
Member Is Offline
Mood: I'd rather regret the things I've done than regret the things I haven't done.
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Even though I haven't met you I am glad you are having a great time.
Now with that being said, get you tail back to Lower Baja and get those Baja reports going again. You are my eyes and ears for the Mulege/Loreto area
and your posts get me through the workweek. One more year until retirement and then I aspire to be you!
If I wanted pictures of the USA I would watch Huell Houser (sic)
Saying the above with tongue in cheek.
Have a safe trip back,
Howard, AKA Bubba
We don't stop playing because we grow old;
we grow old because we stop playing
George Bernard Shaw
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irenemm
Senior Nomad
Posts: 623
Registered: 7-16-2009
Location: vicente guerrero, baja
Member Is Offline
Mood: relaxed
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as always this is the best program on the net. or even on the tube.
thanks for taking us along we all are having such a good time.
stay safe and drive careful
enjoy the adventure
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Marc
Ultra Nomad
Posts: 2802
Registered: 5-15-2010
Location: San Francisco & Palm Springs
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Mood: Waiting
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Looks like you drove directly in front of my house in SF on Park Presidio Dr. leading to the GG Bridge approach and on through the tunnel. We are on
the left going north on the other side of the trees. Next time stop for a beer. Plenty of parking.
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schwlind
Nomad
Posts: 362
Registered: 8-30-2008
Location: Daytona Beach, FL/San Antonio Del Mar (Colonet)
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Wow Pompano... I am speechless at your travel report... Really anticipating the continuation....
As others have said... THANK YOU FOR SHARING.... saving this thread to "My Favs", as I too would love to do this.
Linda
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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FORT PECK, MONTANA
FT. PECK LAKE - NORTHEASTERN MONTANA
Blending history and progress, Fort Peck is a must-see stop in Big Sky Country.
MONTANA'S INLAND JEWEL
"Okay, Co-Pilot, let's get out the fishing poles and cooler..we're heading for FT. PECK LAKE. Walleye fillets for dinner
tonight...plus some fun research!"
Back when we were kids and going camping/fishing with my folks, we’d crane our necks out the window, wind in our hair, eager to get to the lake and
it's wonders.
Of course, my Dad always took a slow drive thru the town of Fort Peck... before taking us to the face of the dam, an impressive structure more than
four miles across.
We would always go for another tour of the place...to get the feel of all that power! ..then we’d get the campsite ready for picnics/fishing,
swimming with the clear blue sky, and white clouds as companions.
In later years, after all those trips through the powerhouse had sunk in, I realized Fort Peck is really a testament to exploration and hard work.
Here Co-Pilot visits some testimonials to the job at hand...and a tribute to some who lost their lives during the construction.
EARLY DAYS
May 10, 1805. The Lewis and Clark Expedition was traveling up the Missouri River and stopped, resupplying with buffalo meat. May was a rough month for
the corps, having narrowly escaped numerous grizzly bears (the last one taking eight rifle balls before it stopped). Their earlier dismissals of the
Indian tribes’ warnings were now taken much more seriously. Signal Hill (east of the powerhouses) was a spectacular vantage point for surveying their
future route and now has a set of interpretive signs for the present-day visitor.
DEM DRY BONES
For more than a century, residents have passionately dug for dinosaur bones. Dr. Barnum Brown of the American Museum of Natural History discovered the
rich fossil field nearby, uncovering the first TYRANNOSAURUS REX skeleton in 1902. During dam construction, amateur diggers found fossils, buffalo
skulls, and artifacts from Old Fort Peck. Dinosaur digging didn’t really hit the limelight until 1997, when one of the largest T-REX specimens was
found.
A cry of outrage went out when plans were made to remove it from the area, as most great finds already are displayed in museums far from Fort Peck.
Determined fundraising convinced congressional leaders that Peck’s REX would stay home. Public sentiment was personified by schoolchildren,
particularly one who presented to the project a chicken bucket with his life savings inside.
Peck’s REX is now being prepared at the Paleontology Field Station of the Fort Peck Dam Interpretive Center, where bones and exhibits are on display.
The organization welcomes volunteers and is a must-see for dinosaur enthusiasts.
In the works since 1996, the newly completed $6.7 million, 18,000-square-foot Fort Peck Dam Interpretive Center sits near the powerhouses. With a
stellar view of the Missouri River from the glass lobby, the center features a warm-water fish aquarium.
FORT PECK DAM, the LARGEST hydraulically-filled earth dam in the world, measures 21,026 feet long, with a maximum height of 250 feet.
The five turbines can generate 185,250 kilowatts of power, creating over $10 million dollars annually and a source of constant power for Montana’s
rural electric cooperatives.
The reservoir stretches for 134 miles, and its created shoreline runs 1,520 miles (longer than the California coast).
Reservoir water is managed for hydroelectric power, flood damage reduction, downstream navigation, fish and wildlife, recreation, irrigation,
and public water supply.
Storage capacity of the reservoir is 18.7 million-acre feet. (you can water the yard to your heart's content.)
The curve of the earth is visible from the middle of the reservoir.
It is the largest body of water in Montana...and the best fresh-water fishing hole this side of Canada!
WANDER & WONDER
The expansive Fort Peck area ab-sorbs nearly 300,000 visitors a year, estimated to be the fourth most- visited place in the state. The U.S. Army Corp
of Engineers operates the hydropower and lake levels from the town of Fort Peck, incorporated in 1986.
Sturdy construction and graceful lines put the Administration Building and Fort Peck Theatre on the National Register of Historic Places.
Wood-impressed concrete and a red tile roof bring a quiet presence to the office building, while the theatre is colorfully exuberant.
Built as a movie house to entertain dam workers, it’s now a very popular summer stock theatre—the only one in northeastern Montana. Talented local
actors and profes-sionals present vibrant musicals, dramas, and comedies. Shows scheduled for 2004 include THE KING AND I, FOOTLOOSE, and HAYFEVER.
A rich warm feeling surrounds the audience.
That warm feeling might also be Floyd, the friendly ghost. He’s been rumored to hang around the back stairs, ready to help soften a fall in the dark.
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The boomtown party gene lives on today at the Gateway Inn Supper Club (“Best dam bar by a dam site”), featuring dining and dance bands. It’s a weekend
hangout of the LandShark waterski club.
The downstream Park Grove Bar is my favorite for a thick burger.
A drive around this small boomtown holdout gives glimpses of abandoned shanties tucked under cottonwood trees. And wildlife truly abounds in this
area.
It's all about Mother Nature...per these photos below.
Osprey nest, grizzly bear, white pelicans, bee hives, sunflowers, oil patch.
p.s. One of these photos is not from Ft. Peck. Can you guess which one?
Once your belly is full, get outfitte and channel that energy into fishing, camping, hiking, diving, or water skiing. Or just stroll through town and
chat with residents. Why do they stay? It’s just a clean, beautiful little town. It’s a real hunting and fishing kind of place. I could stay
here the rest of my life...part-time, anyway! .....why?...
Because now...we are off to visit the ...
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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BajaDanD
Senior Nomad
Posts: 745
Registered: 8-30-2003
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PISMO BEACH
I got stuck in the sand there one night right at the waters edge as the tide was comming in. A small wave hit our car and it sunk to the doors in
the sand. From down the beach came 2 trucks racing to get to me. Turns out the only reason they were racing was "first come first serve" Who ever got
there first got the tow and the $$$.
Love the Montery bay aquarium love the jelly fish tanks
learned to scuba dive in that same spot next to it only it wasnt there yet they were just starting to build it.
Thanks for the pics and the trip report.,brought back tuns of memories
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Pompano
p.s. One of these photos is not from Ft. Peck. Can you guess which one?
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The grizzly?
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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| Quote: | Originally posted by Skipjack Joe
| Quote: | Originally posted by Pompano
p.s. One of these photos is not from Ft. Peck. Can you guess which one?
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The grizzly? |
Good choice, Igor. I figured you would get it..and give me a chance to get on my soapbox about endangered
species.
There are no griz left near Ft. Peck, Montana.
The following maps show thier distribution ...past and present.
Before the arrival of Europeans, grizzly bear were thriving in all western U.S. states and south into Mexico. In the lower 48 states alone it is
estimated that there were some 50,000 – 100,000 grizzly bears. NativeAmericans (INDIANS ) co-existed with grizzlies for thousands of years, and honored and respected them for their intelligence, strength and mystical power.
Since the arrival of European settlers, however, grizzly bears have seen population declines and loss of much of their historic habitat.
Grizzlies once roamed over the western United States from the high plains to the Pacific coast. In the Great Plains areas like Ft. Peck, they seem to
have favored areas near rivers and streams, where conflict with humans was also likely. These grassland grizzlies also probably spent considerable
time searching out and consuming bison that died from drowning, birthing, or winter starvation, and so were undoubtedly affected by the
elimination of bison from most of the Great Plains in the late 1800’s.
Between 1850 and 1920 grizzly bears were wiped out from 95% of their original range, with extirpation occurring earliest on the Great Plains and
later in remote mountainous areas ..see map below. Unregulated killing of bears continued in most places through the 1950’s and resulted in a
further 52% decline in their range between 1920 and 1970...see map. Grizzly bears survived this last period of slaughter only in remote wilderness
areas.
Altogether, grizzly bears were eliminated from 98% of their original range in the contiguous United States during a 100-year period.
Because of this dramatic decline and the uncertain status of grizzly bears in areas where they had survived, their populations in the contiguous
United States were listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 1975.
...and that's your Griz lecture for today. Hope you enjoyed it ....learned something about wildlife conservation.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Cypress
Elite Nomad
Posts: 7641
Registered: 3-12-2006
Location: on the bayou
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Mood: undecided
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Pompano, Always look forward to your road trip pictures and reports. Thanks.
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wessongroup
Platinum Nomad
Posts: 21152
Registered: 8-9-2009
Location: Mission Viejo
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Mood: Suicide Hot line ... please hold
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Have always liked the thinking of most ''sportmen" when it comes to wildlife... they are truly aware of nature and the impact which our species has on
same..
A very good balance approach, thank you ...... for the thought and of course your wonderful pictures, along with your great humor... "two dogs"
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Skipjack Joe
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8084
Registered: 7-12-2004
Location: Bahia Asuncion
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I saw one feeding on a road kill on I-15 just south of Great Falls, Roger. It was a large deer that it had hauled to the side of the highway and was
dismembering it. You could hear the tendons snapping as he tore with those powerful claws. Then he just high tailed it out of there with it in his
mouth.
Nobody stopped to look. It happened so fast that the crowds you see in Yellowstone Park didn't have time to gather.
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