Corps of Discovery Trip - Days 20 - 21- June 10 - 11, 2026

THERE’S SNOW PLACE LIKE SPRING IN MONTANA; BIG HOLE BATTLEFIELD; HIAWATHA BIKE TRAIL

JUNE 10

The Nez Perce people had been living in the Washington/Oregon/Idaho/Montana area for thousands of years before Lewis and Clark came through on their way to the Pacific. Nez Perce played a key role in ensuring the success of the expedition.

They guided the expedition down the Snake River on their westward journey. They showed them an overland ‘shortcut’ on their eastward return trip. And, after a failed attempt to cross the Bitterroot Mountains on their own in the snowy spring of 1806, the expedition got help from five young Nez Perce, who led them safely over the range.

Unfortunately, this spirit of cooperation was relatively short-lived. Within a couple of generations, and after waves of settlers arrived from the east, and after broken/revised treaties, the Nez Perce were driven from their ancestral home lands. The discovery of gold in Montana and Idaho led to an aggressive policy by the U.S., enforced by the Army, to move the Nez Perce to a small reservation outside the region.

One of the more brutal chapters in this saga occurred in the summer of 1877 in a peaceful meadow along the Big Hole River in Montana. Today, it’s known as the Big Hole National Battlefield.

To get there, we drove south on Highway 93 (retracing Lewis and Clark’s northward path up the Bitterroot Valley in 1805), through Lost Trail Pass to Highway 43. We turned east up into the Beaverhead Mountains along a beautiful valley until we got to the battlefield. There is a nice visitor center overlooking the site, with lots of information, including a short film featuring descendants of the Nez Perce.

As we stood at the window looking out at the meadow, a snow squall blew through. Within a few minutes, the blue sky disappeared, along with all visibility. Just as quickly, the skies cleared (sort of) and we decided to take a short walk out to the Nez Perce memorial along the Big Hole River.

Prairie dogs guard the path.

It’s still considered a sacred burial ground. Nez Perce descendants gather here every August in remembrance.

JUNE 11

Today, we got up early and drove west on the Mullan Road, a.k.a. I-90, into the Bitterroot Mountains. The highway follows the Clark Fork River toward the Idaho border. Our destination was the Route of the Hiawatha Bike Trail. Jeff and Joanna had all the bikes and other gear, so we were prepared for a day of adventure.

Near Lookout Pass, is the start of a spectacular ‘rails-to-trails’ bicycle road. It is part of a disused railway that once ran from Chicago to Seattle. It was known as the Milwaukee Road. This section winds through the steep canyon of the Loop Creek drainage.

It is an amazing example of early 20th century engineering and construction. Thousands of workers spent five years carving into, blasting through, and building across the nearly vertical terrain. The road hugs the mountain as you descend the 15 mile bike route through 9 tunnels and over 7 trestles.

You start out by riding into the 1.7 mile long St. Paul Pass tunnel. It goes across (under?) the Montana/Idaho border. The temperature inside is a constant and cool 47 degrees. There is a large volume of water seepage present and at times it seems like it’s raining in there. It’s also really dark - headlights are required. About halfway through, you can see a tiny speck of light at the other end. I thought it was an oncoming rider. But after a long time, I realized it was the literal ‘light at the end of the tunnel’. It seemed to take forever to reach it.

When you come out of the tunnel, there’s a waterfall and a nice photo opportunity.

One of the tunnels further down the road played a role in the famous wildfires in 1910, known as the Big Burn. As the fires swept through this area, a locomotive engineer was passing a small depot in the canyon, where about 100 people were gathered frantically trying to escape the flames. The engineer hooked up a flat car to his train and took the folks into a tunnel, where they stayed until the firestorm passed. There is a legend that one passenger panicked and jumped to his death. There is a small memorial marking the spot.

The mountains are densely covered with very tall lodgepole pines. As you go down the trail, the trees tower above you on one side, while on the other side you look over the edge and find yourself high above the tops of the trees.

I was briefly able to get myself to peer down into the conifer abyss.

Looking straight down through slats on the trestle.

Down the road we stopped for lunch, where we were joined by one of the local residents.

Riders have the option to turn around and ride back up to the parking lot. Or, they can buy a pass for a school bus ride up a twisty one lane dirt road up to the top. We took the bus.

On the way home, we stopped for the “Best. Shake. Ever.”, as the roadside sign proclaimed. It was - what else? - a huckleberry shake! And, it was the best.huckleberry.shake I’ve ever had.

As daylight began to fade, at around 10:00pm, we drifted off to sleep with visions of pedals, bicycle seats, and handlebars in our minds.

NEXT: Wrap up coming soon.

Corps of Discovery Trip - Day 19 - June 8, 2026

 BOZEMAN TO MISSOULA THE SCENIC ROUTE; READING THE ROADSIDE PLAQUES; BLOG GOES FROM DAILY TO WEEKLY PUBLICATION 

Karen suggested we take a slightly longer route from Bozeman to Missoula this morning. The temperature was in the low 30’s when we pulled out of town and headed west on I-90. 

A few miles later, we turned north, as we had done a couple of days earlier, on Highway 287. There is a rest area at the junction that has some information on the history of the highway. It was originally known as the Geysers to Glaciers Highway in the early 20th century when it was mostly a dirt road going from Yellowstone National Park to Glacier National Park. 

There is also an elaborate memorial to fallen ‘towers’ - tow truck drivers who were killed in the line of duty on local highways - prominently displayed. 

Since we were driving up through the Gallatin Valley and potato farms again, we decided to stop and pick up a bag of the local spuds. It wasn’t long before we came upon an unattended farm stand. Karen dropped some cash into the ‘honor system’ money box and hoisted the bag of baby reds  into the car.

Further along, we took a quick look at the Big Belt Mountains in the distance across the wind-whipped waters of the Missouri River near Canyon Ferry Dam.

Once we reached Helena, we turned west on Highway 12 and went up into the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. It’s a beautiful drive up across the Continental Divide at MacDonald Pass. There’s a sign at the pass that tells an interesting story about this segment of the road.

It seems that a Frenchman built a toll road over the Continental Divide in the 1860’s. His wife ran a ‘hotel’ in a small cabin near the town of Elliston. Word of her hospitality spread among travelers who used the road and soon it was known as the Frenchwoman’s Road. Within a couple of years, the wife was found murdered in the cabin. Her killer was never found, but the fact that her husband left the territory soon afterwards seemed to be more than a coincidence. Local legend holds that her ghost haunted the cabin for many years thereafter.

The toll road changed owners and the new manager, Alexander ‘Red’ MacDonald, became the eventual namesake of the pass. 

In a continuation of the somewhat tragic history of the pass, an early 20th century aviator won $10,000 in 1911 for being the first person to fly over the Continental Divide. However, Cromwell Dixon, known as ‘Bird Boy’, never got to enjoy the prize. He was killed two days later when his biplane crashed at a fair in Spokane, WA.

We continued driving (very carefully) west as the road followed the Little Blackfoot River down toward I-90. At one of the turnouts, we learned that Highway 12, from that point westward, follows a military road mapped out in the 1860’s. This is still the same route that the highway and I-90 runs into the Idaho border.

There’s also an interesting side story about this part of the road. In an 1865 freight transport experiment, seven camels loaded with 600 pounds of flour each, went over the pass from Helena to the mines near Deer Lodge. Although the camels were more than up to the task of carrying their loads, the horses, mules and oxen accompanying the group were totally unnerved at the sight, scent and sounds of their humpbacked companions. Soon enough, ‘iron horses’ brought an end to the dromedary decade. Today, long freighter trains huff and puff through the pass.

We dropped down through the haystacks and hayfields of the Little Blackfoot River Valley until we reached the Clark Fork River and I-90. 

Filled with loads of arcane highway history, we set the cruise control for 80mph and shot over to Missoula. After dropping off the rental car, we met with Jeff and Joanna for our visit with them. We had our first home cooked meal in nearly a month. Thanks, Jeff and Joanna!

The blog will go to a weekly publication starting today.

NEXT: Watch for a report on the Hiawatha Bike Trail, and other local sights this week.

Corps of Discovery Trip - Day 18 - June 17, 2026

 ONE MORE HIKE FOR THE ROAD 

We took it easy this morning and explored downtown Bozeman. Our hotel is on Main Street, so all we had to do was walk out the front door. Even though it was cold and windy today, there were lots of people enjoying their Sunday in town. Shops and restaurants line the street.

Karen spoke with the front desk attendant this morning and learned about a short walk through town that would get us an overlook of the Bozeman vicinity. After eating and shopping, we laced up and took off.

The Gallatin Valley Land Trust is a local conservation group that has initiated a network of trails through private and public land to help preserve the natural environment and to provide ongoing access for recreational use. Their signature project is the Main Street to the Mountains trail system.

It starts right here on Main Street, and a short distance away is Peet’s Hill and Burke Park. We walked through a leafy neighborhood and then climbed up the hill. In the winter time it’s a sledding hill. Today, it felt cold enough for snow, but was a dry and breezy stroll.

The walk was just over 3.6 miles by the time we got back to the hotel, and it didn’t even feel like we’d gone that far.

While Karen took a break in the room, I went over to the Museum of the Rockies, located on the campus of Montana State University. There’s not much about Lewis and Clark, but there were some nice exhibits.

For instance, how about some exotic fauna?

Live llamas.

Live Tree frogs.

Magpie door sentry.

Poisonous Amazon Jungle Frogs.

A Crow-A-Lope?

On our walk to dinner it was drizzly and cool with a wind chill factor in the 30’s. Brrr!

NEXT: Visit Jeff and Joanna