Canoe Camp and the beginning of the Columbia River Gorge

Our first stop today was at Canoe Camp.  This is where Lewis and Clark spent 12 days with the Nez Perce after their rough journey over the Bitterroot Mountains.  They were starving when they got here and the Nez Perce fed them dried salmon and camas.  The men weren't used to the food and were sick almost the whole time here.  Even with those conditions, they managed to build 5 canoes in 12 days - seriously tough guys!  When they left Canoe Camp they were headed downstream for the first time in their journey.

Canoe Camp

We weren't able to visit the Lewis and Clark center at the Lewis and Clark Trail State Park in Washington today.  Government cuts have closed the center and it is no longer open - sad.

We were amazed today as we followed the Clearwater River to the Snake River in Lewiston, Idaho and then the Snake River to the Columbia River how much the geography changed.  We drove for miles surrounded by wheat fields.  Some were still very green but others were turning that beautiful amber color: amber waves of grain!  I have no idea how many acres of wheat are planted in western Idaho, eastern Oregon/Washington but I think it is the most beautiful crop in the field.  It's pretty when it's growing and when it's ready for harvest.  Then as we neared the Columbia River the landscape changed again and became much more barren.  We also saw windmill farms for at least 100 miles today.

Windmills in eastern Oregon

Windmills further west - notice how the geography changed!

We are staying in The Dalles, Oregon tonight.  The city is at the eastern portion of the Columbia River Gorge and there is a dam here on the river.  We were able to see the visitor's center and Terry got to watch a barge go through the locks - Bonus for Terry!

The Dalles Dam  and beautiful skies too.

Our view down the Columbia River tonight.

I am so excited about our drive tomorrow.  We will arrive at the Pacific tomorrow and we aren't very far but our entire drive will be through the Columbia River Gorge.  We anticipate another beautiful day!

Lolo Pass and the Clearwater River

We left Salmon this morning heading to Orofino, Idaho.  Our travels took us north back into Montana to cross the Bitterroot Mountains just where Lewis and Clark crossed.  Once they realized the Salmon River was too swift, they headed north to Lolo Pass.  This was a pass the Nez Perce used to cross the mountains.  Our first stop was at Travelers Rest.  This area is just before the assent up to Lolo Pass.  Lewis and Clark stayed here for several days resting their horses and trying unsuccessfully to find game to prepare to cross the Bitterroot Mountains.

Travelers Rest - they also stopped here on their return trip also.

The geography is so very different on each side of the pass.  We left behind the sage and wild flowers on the east side of the pass and encountered huge pine trees on the western side of the pass once you cross Lolo Summit.

The view from our front window for much of the western side of Lolo Pass.

We stopped just west of the summit for lunch at Lousha.  Terry has been deciding where we eat daily (I know that surprises all of you) but he's on a roll.  We have had wonderful meals and lunch today was no exception.  We ate on the back porch of a wonderful log lodge.

This was our view at lunch and we could hear the water running at the bottom of the hill.

Lewis and Clark were following the Clearwater River down the pass until it would become navigable.  We also followed the river and it was such a beautiful drive again today.

Pretty easy to see why they didn't want to be in canoes in this part of the river !

We have both decided we think Idaho is breathtaking.  We laugh at each other in the car because each turn seems more beautiful than the past.  We could have taken hundreds of pictures that would look much like the one below of the Clearwater River as you descend from Lolo Summit.  What a beautiful drive again today!

The Clearwater River

Our after dinner adventure took us out to Dworshak Dam and Reservoir.  It dams the Clearwater River at Orofino and is the highest straight-axis concrete gravity dam in North America.  Terry loves dams, so I'm sure we will be seeing several as we continue our way to the Pacific!

Dworshak Dam

Rafting on the Salmon River

Today was our adventure day of white water rafting on the Salmon River.  This is the portion of the river that Lewis and Clark explored hoping to use but the waters were too swift and they continued on horseback instead.  We found out just how swift they can be today!  We had a wonderful time.  You know the rafting is good when locals come with you because they want to be on the river while the water is so high and fast.  We had a grandmother and granddaughter from Salmon join us for our trip today.  The grandmother has rafted many times on the Salmon so it was like we had two guides.  She also shared more about the area with us so we learned a little more about this beautiful section of Idaho.  We had a blast!  We rafted 13 miles down the Salmon with a stop at an old mine and a stop for lunch beside the river.  The sky was the beautiful blue again today and the canyon we traveled through was equally as beautiful.  The river is very cold, as you would expect from mountain run-off!  We found out just how cold as we approached our first set of rapids.  Our guide (Rich) was informative and no one fell out, so apparently he's pretty good at his job too!  We were all wet but it was worth it.

Prepared for our journey!

Our view as the rapids approached

We finally saw big horn sheep today - three females along the river and one along the road as we were driving back to town.  We still hope to see a male with his big horns and moose also.

She's just above the brush by the river - definitely blends into the rocks!

After dinner tonight we drove up to Williams Lake which is about 10 miles outside Salmon up in the mountains.  The drive was pretty steep but the view was beautiful.

A picture of the valley on our way to Williams Lake

Williams Lake - at 5,200 feet.  

As we made our way back down the mountain we saw a four point buck enjoying dinner himself!

He was nice enough to pose for us.

We have loved our visit to Salmon and would recommend this as a stop for anyone in Idaho.  Tomorrow we leave for Orofino, Idaho and will head over the Continental Divide again as Lewis and Clark worked to find a river that would take them to the Pacific.

Lemhi Pass

Today was amazing.  I know I sound like a broken record, but it will be hard to describe just how beautiful today was and how many historically significant places we visited.  We left bright and early this morning and our first stop was Beaverhead Rock State Monument.

Sacajawea recognized this landmark and told the captains that her people, the Shoshonis, would be camped not far beyond.

Our next stop was Camp Fortunate.  Camp Fortunate is the site of my favorite story I tell to my students each year.  As the captains were meeting with the Shoshoni to try to get horses from them, Sacajawea recognizes the chief as her brother Cameahwait who she had not seen since she was kidnapped as a child.  That relationship sealed the help the Shoshonis would give the Corps of Discovery.  The  exact location is now under the Clark Canyon Reservoir.

The exact location would be directly behind this marker under the water.  

As we left Camp Fortunate we headed across the Continental Divide at Lehmi Pass.  I have been looking forward to this drive for months and it did not disappoint!  We were on a 2 lane gravel road for 12 miles through ranches before we started our 24 mile drive on a one lane gravel road up and over the pass.  The scenery is spectacular and we drove for miles seeing the same sights Lewis and Clark would have seen.  The gravel road is built on the horse path the Shoshoni Indians used to cross the pass many years ago.  The weather was amazing.  We didn't see a cloud in the sky all day long and we don't have blue skys in Indiana like they do in the west.

Here we are at the entrance to Lemhi Pass.  Take time to ask Terry how he got to the sign before the camera took the picture - good thing it doesn't show how hard he was breathing!

This is the view from the top of Lemhi Pass at the Continental Divide.

I read before we left that early July was the best time to see the wild flowers in bloom through the pass.  The flowers were everywhere!  It was beautiful to see all the hillsides covered in all colors of flowers.

The flowers were beautiful and that's what the sky has looked like all day long!

At the end of Lemhi Pass as you come out of the mountains, there is a natural hot springs called Sharkey's Hot Springs.  It's two small pools that are fed by the hot springs.  It was definitely hotter than a hot tub would be but felt wonderful.  We were sitting in a natural hot springs on the base of a mountain with a beautiful blue sky above us, wild flowers all around us and no other humans in sight - Bonus!

We are in Salmon, Idaho tonight and the Sacajawea Interpretive Center is located here.  That was our last stop this afternoon.  We have been so blessed when visiting the Interpretive Centers and today was no exception.  A local author and historian, Mike Crosby, was doing a talk this afternoon at the center and we stayed to listen to him.  He was so knowledgable about the Corps of Discovery and especially the contact with the Shoshoni - a great storyteller too!  The ladies working at the Center made us feel so welcome and it is a lovely place.  I have several new stories to tell next year!

Now we're back in our hotel getting ready for tomorrow's white water rafting on the Salmon River.  Our hotel is right on the river and we have our patio door open listening to the water rush by.  Here's my view as I'm writing tonight!

I could get used to this!  I'm sure we'll leave the door open and listen to this all night!

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!

Great Falls, Montana

We started this morning at the Great Falls.  Oh, my!  We have seen the destruction of the Missouri flood downriver last month, but the beauty of the river over the Great Falls is breathtaking!  We had an absolutely beautiful day as well.  I don't think the sky could possibly have been more blue this morning.

We are in front of Ryan Dam and the Great Falls.  From the journal of Lewis it appears he was standing in approximately the same place when he discovered the falls.

This picture shows just the falls without the dam.

I learned today that William Clark used a sextant and rod to measure the height of the falls and figured they were 97' 3/4".  The actual height is 96'.  He was only off by 1' 3/4" - pretty good!

When we left Great Falls we headed a little further north to Morony Dam, the furthest dam on this portion of the river.  We tried to find Sacajawea Springs but couldn't find the trail.  Apparently, moderate trails in Montana are a little different than ones in Indiana!

When we left Morony Dam we headed to Fort Benton.  There is about 250 miles of the Missouri that has changed little since the time of Lewis and Clark.  The views are so lovely and often you can look in every direction and not see any sign of man.  It is wide open territory.

This is a small portion of that section of the river.

Terry and I decided we wanted to avoid the interstate when all possible and get off the beaten track when getting from point A to point B.  Today was a great example.  We went the back way when heading to Fort Benton.  Surprisingly enough, this road was actually on both of our GPS units!

It was really just a path between farm fields on either side but our GPS  knew it was there!

Each year in my classroom I have my kids do two different problem solving activities about decisions Lewis and Clark had to make along their journey.  One of the activities is when they come to where the Marias and Missouri Rivers come together.  Lewis and Clark had to figure out which way was really the Missouri.  The Native Americans had given them information as to which way was correct but they spent 10 days exploring to be able to make the correct decision.  Next year when I do this activity with my students I will have a picture of the exact spot to add to the information.

This is where the Marias and MIssouri Rivers meet.

Tomorrow we leave Great Falls and head toward Bozeman, Montana.  Missouri River Headwaters State Park will be the focus of tomorrow's activities.

Great Falls, MT - the beginning of our second trip

It's still hard to imagine you can have breakfast in Indianapolis and leave at 8:30, have lunch in Salt Lake City and be in Montana by 12:30.  I wish I could see the faces of Lewis and Clark if they could have traveled with me today.  Our flights were great, everything was on time and we have already been to the Interpretive Center in Great Falls.  The focus of this Interpretive Center is the portage around the Great Falls.

This diorama shows how they had to move the canoes around the falls.

These really were amazing men.  They moved 6 canoes eighteen miles this way - much tougher than most of us are!

We also got to see 3 of the 4 falls today.  One of the falls they had to go around, Colter Falls, is submerged by Rainbow Falls and Dam today.  We will spend tomorrow going to the Great Falls at Ryan Dam.

This is Black Eagle Falls and Dam which is the furthest west.

This is Rainbow Dam and Falls which is the next falls heading east from Black Eagle.

Once again, we are so blessed on this trip.  We have been told that the falls are the fullest they have been in 20 years.  I know this is bad for the people downstream, but the sight here is beautiful.

Crooked Falls

We hiked down to the river from the Interpretive Center after dinner.

What a wonderful first day for this part of our trip.  We have all day in Great Falls tomorrow.  More to come!