Nomads, days 11 and 12 (9/15/2023)

We are making progress. I am writing this on day 14, but I will get there in my next post. But let’s summarize:

Day 11: Great Falls (MT) – White Sulphur Springs – Three Forks – Dillon

Day 12: Dillon – Lemhi Pass – Tendoy (ID) – Logan (UT)

Boy that looks like two relatively short trips, but they were not. The trip from Great Falls to White Sulphur Springs was absolutely exhilarating. This was most likely the most beautiful landscape we encountered up to that point. It made us want to retire to Montana, were it not for the threat of winter. We traveled through a number of ecosystems leading us to a lodgepole pine forest and a ski area (Showdown).

While it was downhill after that, it really wasn’t from a landscape viewpoint. We again hit extensive grassland areas, had lunch on the road somewhere; however, we hurried up to get to Three Forks and the Missouri Headwaters State Park. This is where the Missouri splits into three fairly equal rivers. Our heroes (Lewis and Clark) had to decide which river to follow. Looking on the map (which they did not have of course), they named the streams from left to right the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin rivers after the President, Vice President and the Secretary of the Treasury. Albert Gallatin was of course the guy who bankrolled the expedition.

Since the Jefferson River somehow veered to the west, they decided to follow this stream. This was also part of the insistence of Sakakawea their Indian guide who was originally from close to this area. We had a great walk with the doggies in this park. Jasper went wading in the Gallatin and of course, I slipped and went into the river as well (I slipped into the treasurer). There is a nice knoll/hill we climbed up on, which gives you a nice view of the confluence.

Then it was off to Dillon, our destination for the night. I know we would be able to see Beaver rock on the way down there, a hill that Sakakawea recognized as a sign that they had arrived at their original hunting grounds. It lifted the explorer’s mood, knowing they had taken the correct stream and were ready to cross the Rocky Mountains and the continental divide. We had a great stay in Dillon and had pizza delivered to our van in the campground.

After a great night at a great campground, it was our turn to really go into the Rocky Mountains to find the continental divide in Lemhi Pass. Lemhi pass is the same site the explorers crossed and met the Shoshone Indians and Sakakawea’s brother who was the chief. It is slightly more convoluted than that, but you will have to read up on that yourself.

After a short trip on the Interstate highway, we turned on a dirt road and it was 20 or so miles to the pass. We passed some absolutely gorgeous countryside, that made me want to buy a ranch somewhere in these mountains. The ecosystem went from grassland to Rocky Mountain Juniper, to Pondarosa to Lodgepole Pine. As an ecologist it was absolutely great to see and learn. There was a memorial at the summit (7700 feet in elevation) and we had a great walk in the area while being fairly loud to alert any potential Grizzlies to stay away.

The dive down to Tendoy was another exhilarating experience. It was a steep dirt road that is absolutely unsuitable anything larger than what we were driving and absolutely no trailers. We ran into a cross country cyclist on the way down, and a local who couldn’t believe that foreigners from Virginia came all the way up here on vacation. Lunch and gas were in the town of Lemhi, a few miles south from Tendoy, the place we finally hit a hard top road.

Subsequently, it was back in the van and the drive to Logan, UT. We both received our MS degrees from Utah State University in Logan, in the fall of 1981. We had never returned, so this was a homecoming, of sorts. We both felt extremely apprehensive to return, while we had good memories (of hiking), we also had some not-so-good memories having to deal with the culture of the time.

In the past 42 years, Logan has changed a lot, in particular along main street. The town had become like every other town, you would not be able to distinguish it from any other Main Street, USA. In the center of town, it all rushed back, and somehow, we were able to drive to the home we rented 42 years ago. It looked the same, except the day-care and post office next door to us were gone. The home next door where two couples lived until one of the husbands was killed in a car accident was still there. They used to use the brick on the outside of the home as a climbing wall and practice. After they left it was occupied by a lady and 4 to 6-year-old daughter. The lady used to entertain men (for pay) and then she would kick the daughter out who would come it on our porch and cry. At the time, we had moved to an apartment behind our first home (this apartment is gone and is a driveway now), and we would take care of her for an hour or so before the girl was allowed back home. We did this all while finishing our thesis. We were too naïve to call child protected services or any other authority about this situation.

As you can imagine, all these things came rushing back, and even more so while having dinner at the local microbrewery and talking with the waitress. We asked if we could buy a can or two of their beer, but no you could only do this at the state liquor store, another place of bad memories to us.

When we got back to the place where we were camping, some other campers had moved into our spot and we had to relocate. The office was closed until 10 am the next day and we were not waiting for that to complain; we wanted to get the hell out of Dodge. But it all was a good reminder of what living there 41 years ago was like. More about Logan in the next post.

The road to Sulphur Springs

The three forks of the Missouri

And into the Gallatin he went

Beaver Rock, there is so much to write about this.  The ranch at the bottom of the rock is managed by a couple who are ecologically minded and really manage the area for wildlife.  Very impressive!

Camping in Dillon, MT

Clark Lake, ready to go to the pass.

Pronghorn at the start of the dirt road

The start of the climb.  The next few pictures (below) show the pass and the divide)

Our old home in Logan, UT

The Logan Microbrewery, we had to hand over our driver's license to get registered in their (the State's) database of drinkers.  In the old days you had to become a member of an establishment (usually $1.00 per year) before you could order an adult beverage.