North America - Jen and Garry 2012: Newsletter 5

The U shaped valley out of the north gate of Yellowstone went through beautiful farming area, with the road travelling along the Yellowstone River.

Yellowstone River

We had a couple of days in Livingston, time for a haircut and a visit to the railway museum (in a magnificent century-old Northern Pacific Railway Station).

In the River park is a statue of Sacajawea holding her infant son (Jean Baptiste Charbonneau).

Sacajawea Statue - money raised by selling bricks in the wall

Her loyalty, skills, courage and devotion on the Lewis and Clark expedition of 1803-1806, as an interpreter with the Shoshone people, knowledge of native food sources and geography of the Montana region, were instrumental in the expedition’s success. She appears to be a larger than life figure in American culture and mythology, and seems to have outshone any other member of expedition except for Lewis and Clark.

We then took a scenic byway through more glorious countryside to the capital city of Montana, Helena (pronounced “hell in a”).

A great way to see Helena

We’d picked up a leaflet about the city tram ride so learnt the city history and interesting places to visit like the cathedral

The new and the old churches in Helena

and the Original Governors’ Mansion.


Original Governor's Residence

The Mansion was built in 1888 for entrepreneur William Chessman. It was purchased for the state in 1913 and nine governors and their families lived here until 1959 when a new executive residence was built (without accommodation for servants.) It has been restored to the 1913 era and is just exquisite.

State Capital building

Last Chance Gulch is the Main Street downtown, and had an interesting story, as a small group of minors who’d come for the gold, decided to have one last try and eureka – they found the lode.

Main street downtown Helena

Nearby were the headwaters of the Missouri River, and beyond Lake Helena was a large 3 mile gorge with steep 1000ft sides.

Gates of the Mountains - When the boat goes across the lake the "gate" on the LHS appears to close

Great rock formations - a geologist's delight

Lewis Meriwether had travelled up this gorge and made camp. We didn’t see any mountain goats but there was a bald eagle and her nest.

Bald eagle and nest

We took another scenic byway through Seeley Lakes and camped in the State Park that night.

Seeley Lake view

Seeley Lake with bridge view

More snow covered mountains all the way to Kalispell – isn’t that a nice name for a town – especially as it’s in Flathead County.

Rotary inaction at Kalispell

Conrad Mansion, Kalispell was built in 1895 for Charles Conrad, prominent Missouri River freighter (before the railways).

Conrad Mansion

He founded Kalispell and built this 23 room mansion. The youngest daughter of the family donated it to the city in 1974, and it has been fully restored. It seems not a thing was ever thrown out by the family, (including receipts for furniture, family letters, clothes, shoes etc etc. The dry stone wall surrounding the property is of particular interest.

Conrad Mansion with 100 year old dry stone wall

In 1932 international cooperation between the Rotary clubs of Alberta and Montana convinced Canada and United States to join Waterton Lakes Forest Park (Alberta- created 1895), and Glacier National Park (Montana – designated 1910), which in 1995 became the world’s first International Peace Park World Heritage Site.

The fifty mile long Going–to-the–Sun-Road, was built between 1921 and 1932. It is an engineering marvel and one of the most beautiful pieces of mountain road in the world. Parts of it are built into near vertical cliffs using a network of stonemasonry bridges, tunnels and arches. It is closed until mid June and only vehicles less than 21 ft are allowed to use it, so we might have to return after we leave Edmonton, and hire a car for the day.

We scored another sunny day and were able to drive 14 miles to Avalanche Creek where a walk through the forest of old-growth cedars and Douglas fir was very pretty following one of the many raging torrents (from the snowmelt) in the area.

A couple of Aussie grey nomads lost in Glacier National Park

We stopped at many overlooks to view the river as it widened and thundered over rapids and waterfalls.

McDonald Falls

At the end of the glacial valley the McDonald Lake Lodge was one of the hotels built 100 years ago when tourists came by train and then travelled by bus, boat or horse to one of the dozen or so lodges built in the park.

McDonald Lake Lodge

McDonald Lake Lodge interior

For more than 75 years Glacier National Park’s fleet of Red Buses carried tourists around the park. Finally taken off the road about 2002, they were totally renovated by Ford and fitted with propane engines, so have continued the tradition.

Just a few of the red bus fleet that services the Glacier NP

This area was the ancestral homeland of the Blackfoot Indians – named because their moccasins were black from the prairie fires; their reservation is now across the prairies east of the Park. They originally hunted Buffalo here and used the Marius Pass – the lowest pass across the USA Rockies between Canada and Mexico. It took some time for the explorers to find it as the Indians closely guarded the location, but once found, a railroad was planned and completed in 1891.

The southern road follows the railway through narrow gorges with the raging torrent (Flathead River) and wonderful vistas of snow, mountains, pine forests, and wildflowers along the roadside.

Wildflowers by the side of the road

So we were now on the east side of the National Park. We walked to Running Eagle Falls

Running Eagle Falls

and saw beargrass growing along the track. Beargrass produces a flower that’s hard to forget. The flower head is a conical cluster of too many white blossoms to count.

Beargrass

So many other wildflowers are in bloom in the mountains and of all colours.

Balsam Root

Jones' Columbine

Back past Two Medicine Lake and the next entrance took us to Swiftcurrent Lodge,

Two Medicine Lake - Swiftcurrent Lodge

with a walk to Josephine Lake. We were very fortunate with the weather to be able to do all these walks.

Josephine Lake

The Continental Divide is marked on all the maps (and roads in the mountains) of the Rockies, and separates the watershed showing the point where water drains to either the Pacific or Atlantic Ocean. Triple Divide Peak, near here, was more than a two ocean divide. From its three sided pyramid, rain and snowmelt travels to three major river systems, and enters the Pacific Ocean, Hudson Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

Triple divide peak in the distance

Every time we stopped you could hear running water - over rapids, through canyons, or tumbling over pebbles and stones. other times you only had to look up and follow the end of the snow drift where little waterfalls soon became big waterfalls streaming into the valleys.

Little waterfalls becoming big waterfalls

And so into Canada, passing Chief Mountain, a landmark from time immemorial,to Waterton Lakes National Park.

Chief Mountain

A pause here: On an information board - Yellowstone was the first national park in 1872, Royal National Park, Sydney was second in 1879, and Banff, in Canada was third in 1885.

Waterton Lakes NP was one of the prettiest places we’ve been to. The Prince of Wales Hotel was opened for business in 1927.

Prince of Wales Hotel at Waterton Lakes

It sits on a hill at the end of Upper Waterton Lake and as we weren’t able to celebrate Garry’s birthday three weeks ago, we got dressed up and had dinner there.

Upper Waterton Lake view from Prince of Wales Hotel

It was lovely sitting in a window seat looking down the lake at the snow covered mountains.

A Pica in the RV Park

The fox looking for the picas

Two lovely drives out from the town centre took us to Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon

Red Rock Canyon view

where we stopped for a deer and fawn, and Cameron Lake.

Deer with Fawn

We came around a bend of the road and two bears were crossing. I think we were both shocked and by the time we grabbed the cameras we only got the back of the second one as they disappeared into the forest.