Corps of Discovery Trip - Day 17 - June 6, 2026

 CRUISE THROUGH THE GATES OF THE MOUNTAINS 

We’re staying right in the heart of downtown Bozeman on Main Street. This made it easy to walk across the street and grab a quick breakfast this morning.

Then we headed west on I-90 for a short distance until we passed Three Forks and Trident (it’s all about those three rivers - Jefferson, Madison, Gallatin - around here), and turned north onto Highway 287.

This road follows the newly-formed Missouri River northward, between the Elkhorn Mountains to the west and the Big Belt Mountains to the east. We passed through ranch land and seed potato farms on our way up into the Helena-Lewis and Clark National Forest. 

Just north of Helena, we joined I-15 for the last 20 miles up to Holter Lake. This is the jumping off point for the boat tour of the Gates of the Mountains section of the upper Missouri River.

When Lewis and Clark came up the Missouri there were no dams impeding the flow of the river. Lewis wrote in his journal that they could hardly make it through because of the combination of swift water and a narrow canyon with sheer walls thousands of feet tall. Coming upriver from the east through mostly flat prairie for much of the trip, he was beginning to be concerned about what lay ahead. He named this part of the river The Gates of the Rocky Mountains (since shortened to Gates of the Mountains).

Today, dams above and below the Gates control the flow. Although the rapids are gone, the towering limestone cliffs remain.

Here are some pictographs on a cliff above the river. Our guide said these have been estimated to be around 3,500 years old. Unlike the carved petroglyphs we saw on the Snake River, these are painted onto the rocks.

Aside from the famous Lewis and Clark expedition, we learned about another notable event that took place in the canyon.

The Mann Gulch Wildfire occurred in August of 1949. It involved the tragic loss of 13 out of 16 smoke jumpers who parachuted into the gulch just above the river. The lessons learned from the fire revolutionized fire fighting strategies in Montana.

For anyone interested in reading more about this, there is a book entitled, “Young Men and Fire”, by Norman Mclean (you may have heard of his other book, “A River Runs Through It and Other Stories”). Or, if you’d rather hear someone sing about it, check out singer-songwriter James Keelaghan’s tune, “Cold Missouri Waters”.

On the way back to Bozeman, we stopped for a quick look at the State Capitol building - it had been several days since our last photo of an old public building, so we were due for one.

And, no trip to Helena is complete without a visit to the Lewis and Clark Brewery.

NEXT: A day of rest in Bozeman

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