Little Bighorn Battlefield

In my travels around the world, I've visited many historic battlefields. No where have I had an experience as educational and moving as when I visited this site. The National Park Service has reserved this battlefield in such a way that you can visit the key points in the battle, see where it started, how it developed throughout the day, and get a feel for what the soldiers and Indians were seeing and thinking. It's clear that Custer should have and could have avoided the disaster, having been warned repeatedly by his Crow scouts of the ever increasing mass of Indians headed to the Indian encampment on the river. It would take too long to go over the battle and many have written volumes on the subject. Suffice it to say, like Gettysburg, the Little Bighorn Battlefield is a must see for those interested in American history

Bittersweet Departure from the Bitterroot

Well, our service as "Workampers" at the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife refuge ended Sunday, and we departed Monday at noon toward Missouri, then Texas. We had a great volunteer work experience at Lee Metcalf, and came away with a renewed appreciation for the federal employees charged with protecting our national wildlife heritage. We were so impressed with the professionalism and dedication of the staff. Their focus is on the wildlife and they do a great job with limited funding. If you have the opportunity, stop in at Lee Metcalf. There is parking for big rigs, an easy turnaround and a great trail near the visitor center parking area.

Bitterroot River Walk

We took a walk down to the Bitterroot River today. The following photos we took along the trail.

Raisin Pie in Montana

Carmel made my favorite pie today, raisin ! It is outstanding !

Traveler's Rest State Park - Lolo, Montana A Rest Stop for Lewis and Clark

Travelers' Rest State Park in Lolo, Montana marks the location of a centuries-old Native American campsite which Lewis and Clark's used in 1805 and 1806. They called the nearby creek "Travellers Rest." In Summer 2002, archaeologists found evidence of the Corps of Discovery's latrine and central fire, positioning the Park as one of the the few sites in the nation with physical confirmation of the group's visit--a truly unique designation.

The deer in the photo are standing in the exact spot of the main campfire.

The archaeologists discovered mercury in one location which led them to believe that location was the are dug by the expedition for their latrine. Sure enough, they discovered the latrine. In the pictures below, we are sitting on Lewis and Clark's latrine !

Glacier National Park

Smokey Bear Lodge
Along the Avalanche Lake Trail
Bighorns at Logan Pass

We hiked to Hidden Lake


McDonald Lake at sunset

Just returned from my favorite (so far) national park, Glacier National Park. We stayed at a great lodge, the Smoky Bear Lodge near West Glacier. Smoky Bear has the best breakfasts we have had in a lodge for a long time and moose and bear frequent the property. Glacier was great as always.