River's end

Gates of the Mountains

While we have been "following" the trail of Lewis and Clark, we haven't been. L&C traveled the Missouri River based on hugely inaccurate maps that indicated that the Missouri went all the way to the Pacific coast, or at least crossed paths with a river that did.  We, of course, have been on roads that roughly follow the Missouri, but it is a totally different experience. And the river itself is different with numerous flood control dams predated by a history of floods that have changed the riverbed. Also, the same early map guiding L&C totally failed to mention the Rocky Mountains and other important details. The mission of the Corps of Discovery was to find an economical passage to the Pacific and locate a trade route. In that day, navigable rivers would be that route and mountains were a significant barrier.

As Ruthie and I have been crossing the Missouri, it has been getting smaller. I'm

Vertical ridges at Gates

sure this concerned the Corps of Discovery and it should have. Near Helena MT, the river passes through a deep gorge. Ancient limestone ridges rise vertically from the water and at one bend, an optical illusion makes it look like they form a gate that blocks the river. As you round the bend, the "gates" open to reveal a passage. We took a boat ride into the gorge--that is now 20 feet deeper due to flood control dams--and tried to imagine how they saw it. You can visit the Wikipedia page on Gates of the Mountains and see a series of photos that show the gates opening.

The tour guide was generous with his storytelling and often funny, until we reached Mann Gultch where, in 1949, 13 firefighters died in a horrific firestorm. Their

Effects of healthy fire

story was painful to hear and their deaths haunted both the survivors and this community. There were fresh scars left by recent wildfires. At one point he showed us a gultch that had experienced a "healthy fire"--one that takes out weak trees and underbrush to open the canopy to new life. That said, the other side of the mountain had been devastated.

While I am sure the Corps was relieved to find that the gates opened the river for them to travel a bit further by water, they struggled to find ground flat enough in the gorge to camp. There is only one lovely picnic site in the current wilderness area, and a couple of  very small camp sites with no services that are approachable only by boat. A few years back, wildfires destroyed the underbrush holding the soil on the cliffs above the picnic area and the forest service has had to literally dig out the campground several years running. It has only recently been reopened. The Corps of Discovery had paddled their entire route upstream. Imagine them worried and fatigued and unable to find a suitable place to camp. Eventually

Headwaters of the Missouri

they did and continued on, but within another 90 miles, they had reached the headwaters of the Missouri River with no suitable waterway to carry them further. We visited that confluence today.

So the Missouri River is the longest river in the US, longer than the Mississippi into which it flows. Together they make the 4th largest river basin in the world. L&C hoped it would carry them northwest towards the Oregon River which sailors had mapped on the west coast. But the river turned sharply south at Great Falls and ended where three rivers empty into it. Lewis named the three rivers after the men who sponsored them: Galatin, Jefferson and Madison. All three rivers are smaller than the Missouri and head the wrong direction, as in not across the major mountain range ahead of them.  At this point, the Corps stashed their boats and buried much of their supplies and hoped to find the Shoshone Indians to whom Sakakawea was related in the hopes of buying horses to cross the mountains. Tracing those steps will be our adventure tomorrow and Saturday. At that point, we will head south and eventually home.

Effects of irrigation

Which brings me to the subject of home. When I visited New Brunswick earlier this summer, I was immediately struck with the sense that I could happily live there. I have had no such feeling for this place. I've enjoyed the beauty and appreciated the history, but it is not my green Appalachians and I am ready for them again. This picture shows the effects of irrigation. Basically what is green is irrigated. The last KOA we stayed in had miles of dripline crisscrossing the campground to keep their windbreak trees alive. This one has a sprinkler system that runs at night to keep our few shade trees going. I know the locals love their home, and I love mine. Looking forward to leaving L&C to the rest of their adventure and

finding my way home.

Our one last great discovery of the day was the Wheat Montana Deli and Bakery. Connected to a major flour mill, it was doing a land office business in lunches and the biggest dang cinnamon rolls I have ever seen (or eaten, which we did in stages...). Now that was something to write home about.