Corps of Discovery Trip - Day 16 - June 5, 2026

 COLLECTIBLE CLOTHING; CAVERNS; CONFLUENCES

On the way out of Anaconda this morning we saw one more reminder of the powerful hold that the copper mining history has over this town. The signs below show the potential value of vintage clothing from the mining era. It’s time to check those closets!

We had reservations to tour the Lewis and Clark Caverns today on our way to Bozeman. After crossing over the Continental Divide, and just off I-90 near the little town of Cardwell, we turned onto Highway 2 and followed the Jefferson River into a narrow valley that climbed up to a wider valley. Up here, next to the river, is where Lewis and Clark camped in 1805 on their way west.

Three miles north up in the steep hills lining the valley, is the entrance to the caverns. The road going up switches back and forth to quickly gain elevation.

The caverns have a long and interesting history, but the short version is: Native Americans knew about them for eons, but never went into them. Lewis and Clark did not know about them, even though they were camped just three miles below. Some ranchers in the 1880’s saw the entrance, but never went in. An 1890’s landowner/entrepreneur learned about them and explored them enough to know he could make a buck leading tours. Eventually, with help from the C.C.C. in the 1930’s, the State of Montana turned them into a State Park.

Here are some photos we took inside, where the air temperature was a cool and consistent 48 degrees.

A formation called the North Pole. Note Santa with a ball cap.

This one’s called Babe Ruth’s bat.

Here we are next to a door built by the C.C.C. and still in service today.

A geode in the wall of the 500 foot long tunnel blasted to get into the caverns (also compliments of the C.C.C.). Our guide says this geode runs hundreds of feet horizontally through the side of the mountain.

Who is that on the left, peeking out?

Our next stop was north of I-90 at the Missouri River Headwaters State Park. To get there, we drove along the Jefferson River. On our way, we crossed over the Madison River and the Gallatin River.

It is where these three rivers meet that the Missouri River begins. It is where Lewis and Clark camped. It is where generations of Native American tribes congregated to hunt and trade. It is also where Karen and I stood today.

This is Lewis Rock, where Meriwether Lewis climbed up to make astronomical observations and plot maps as they traveled west.

Back in June 2018 at the other end, Karen and I also stood in St. Charles, Missouri, where the Missouri River flows into the Mississippi River, and where Lewis and Clark officially started their expedition.

We pulled into downtown Bozeman tonight just in time for an authentic German dinner.

NEXT: Gates of The Mountains State Park 

Corps of Discovery Trip - Day 15 - June 4, 2026

 INTO THE FOREST; INDOOR MINING; UPTOWN BUTTE

The most important meal of the day is breakfast. That’s why we’ve been loading up every morning with lots of food to fuel our daily activities. Today, we started out at the Blacksmith Grill in old town Anaconda. We had, appropriately enough, the Smelterman’s Breakfast. If you’re ever in town, try their stuffed huckleberry pancakes.

By the way, there are some things that just let you know you’re not in your hometown eatery.

Later, we drove up Highway 1, which is known as the Pintler Veterans Memorial Scenic Highway. It enters the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest and follows Silver Lake Springs Creek up into a valley between the Pintler Mountains and the Flint Creek Mountains. It climbs quickly up to Georgetown Lake, which is formed by the Flint Creek Dam.

From there, the road descends steeply through a very narrow and twisty canyon along Flint Creek. Sorry, no opportunity for photos with each of us using both hands to hang on through here.

It’s really a very beautiful drive all the way down and into the cattle and sheep ranches in the Flint Creek Valley.

This led us to the historic town of Philipsburg, where Karen became a miner-for-day.

We visited a shop that specializes in sapphire jewelry. But, they also offered us greenhorn city folks a chance to do some mining - indoor style.

They have an active mining operation about 25 miles west of town. They bring in dozens of small bags of soil from their mine and sell them in their store. Naturally, we bought one.

Karen, and her personal mining assistant, Charlie, opened the bag and used a sifter to start the process.

Once this is done, the heavier sapphires go to the bottom of the sifter. You invert the sifter and slam it down on your sorting table. Then, you start picking out the gems. They look kind of like pieces of sea glass.

After you think you’ve picked them all out, you go back and sift again. And, you find some more.

Once your claim has ‘played out’, it’s time to go to the assayer to see what you’ve got. In this case, Shirley (co-owner of the business and a former mine manager) sat down with Karen to evaluate her treasure.

Shirley separated the rocks into three groups: plain gravel, sapphires that have cracks, and sapphires that can be processed/cut into gems.

Of the 10 carats of sapphires Karen found, about 4 carats (equal to five of the little stones) were suitable for further processing.

Needless to say, Karen will be receiving some processed and cut gems in the mail in several weeks - just in time for her birthday. By the way, sapphires are her birth stone.

As if that isn’t enough, right next door to the sapphire shop is one of the biggest candy stores I’ve ever seen.

This afternoon’s activity went a long way toward making Karen forget about her aching feet and legs from yesterday’s hike.

Back on the road again, we made a quick stop at the historic Montana State Prison.

Then, it was into historic Uptown Butte for dinner at Sean O’Donnell’s Irish Pub. They apparently started their business in Everett, WA, so we thought it would be fitting to eat here since we began our trip in Everett.

NEXT: Travel to Bozeman, MT

Corps of Discovery Trip - Day 14 - June 3, 2026

 REST DAY & SOME MORE HIKING, TOO

After breakfast in nearby Anaconda, we visited the Anaconda Stack State Park. Back in February of 2025, we saw the stack towering over the frozen landscape of Montana as we drove west on I-90.

When I learned there was a state park dedicated to the stack, I put it on our to-do list for this trip. For such a large structure (it is taller than the Washington Monument), it has the world’s smallest state park. There is a parking lot with room for maybe 10 cars and a viewing platform area of a quarter acre. To be fair, the site of the stack is so polluted with the residue of chemicals related to many years of copper smelting, that the park is more than a mile from the stack. For anyone interested in learning more about this roadside curiosity, the internet can help expand your horizons. For now, here are some photos.

After being in the car all day yesterday, Karen said that a little walk would be a good way to stretch our legs. She did some research and found a trailhead to a small waterfall nearby. Still giddy from all we’d just learned about the copper smelting process, we jumped into the car.

We drove on some county roads up into the surrounding hills past cattle ranches and small herds of horses. 

Soon, the road narrowed and eventually became unpaved as we gained elevation into a canyon lined with very tall rocky cliffs rising nearly 3000’ on either side. Cottonwood trees, aspen trees, and pine trees provided a canopy as we made our way. The last part of the road followed Lost Creek.

We spoke to a state park ranger, who said it was a short walk of about one mile to the falls from the parking area. He did say there was some uphill walking, but nothing serious.

For us flat landers, the 6000’ elevation of the trailhead was something we noticed as soon as we walked uphill. The trail was well marked and it, too, followed the cool waters of Lost Creek through the forest.

It was about 1.7 miles to the waterfall, and most of the way it was uphill. 

Note the way this rock seems to have a map of a mythical ancient world printed on it (I hope you’re ‘lichen’ it as much as I did!).

Nevertheless, we both made it up and back.

We took a quick drive through Anaconda (because we heard there was another courthouse there?) to see the Deer Lodge County Seat and other sights.

NEXT: More exploring