Gates of the Mountains

We left this morning and headed to the Gates of the Mountains.  This portion of the Missouri River is much the same as it was when Lewis and Clark were here.  Simply put, it's spectacular!  The canyon walls are beautiful and Lewis gave it the name Gates of the Mountains because of these canyons.  We took a two hour boat trip with a wonderful guide up this part of the river.

The narrow opening is the beginning of the canyon and is why Lewis gave it this name.

We got off the boat to explore a little at Colter's Landing and this picture is back up the canyon.

We saw this bald eagle going both ways on the canyon.  We also saw her nest which has two fledglings out on the limbs getting ready for their first flights.  

Here are the babies not quite ready for flight.

Our boat trip was wonderful and the first time we were actually able to be out on the Missouri River.  Our second stop of the day was at Three Forks.  This is where the Missouri River begins as the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers join to form the Missouri.

This is where the Jefferson and Madison come together.  There is no elevation in the park that allows you to photograph the 3 rivers at the same time.  If you floated in an inner tube from here you would reach the Gulf of Mexico in about 2 1/2 months!

We had another beautiful day.  We both understand why Montana is called Big Sky Country.  You can see forever and everything you are seeing is simply beautiful.  Tomorrow we cross the continental divide and have many places to stop along the way.  I think tomorrow will be one of our most beautiful drives as we definitely aren't going on the interstate but plan to cross Lemhi Pass and hope most of the roads are paved!