Gates of the Mountains

Today was a great day... I woke up around 8:30 a.m. (that's 7:30 pacific time) and had a relaxing breakfast with Linda and Wood before getting ready for the day. Our itinerary: take Wood's boat out into the Gates of the Mountains. My geography is rusty, so Wood has been refreshing it for me. The Missouri River starts here in Three Forks, Mt., when the Madison, Jefferson and Gattlin rivers come together to form the Missouri head waters [ not sure I'm getting the lingo right -- will have to have Linda edit for me later :-) ]. The Missouri then travels north before it turns east and then ultimately south to the Mississippi.

We drove from Three Forks up to Helena (were Linda took her conference call) and then continued north to the small lake, Holter Lake, that sits at the entrance to the Gates of the Mountains. The lake is feed by the Missouri River. The Gates are essentially mountainous, rock formations that, when viewed at a distance, hide the actual entrance -- or rather the continuation of the Missouri. It sorta reminded me of the Two Kings from Lord of the Rings, after the Nine leave the Elvin forest, only without the massive sculptures :-)

Anyway, here are some pictures...

This is the entrance to the Gates of the Mountains. Pretty darn lovely.



This is a view as we boat along the Missouri after passing through the Gates.



What is Linda doing with that net? Is she, perhaps, getting ready to scoop up a nice big trout out of the river so we can have a nice BBQ? No, sadly, the net she is wielding with such determination will be used shortly to rescue my hat...



Lewis and Clarke traversed the Gates (I think they may have dubbed it so, as well). Lewis wrote of this portion of the Missouri River that "the river appears to have forced its way through this immense body of solid rock". These cliffs give you a good idea of what he was talking about.



We don't really know who this guy is... though his name is Jim Dolan and he clearly loved his dog... to Jim's right is Coco, Linda and Wood's most adorable pup who is keep me from missing my kitties a tad too much! Anyway, in the distance behind Jim is the lake and the Gates of the Mountains. What I like about this picture is the way the sun hits the Gates...



After our boating trip we had lunch in Helena before heading back to Three Forks. We spent the rest of the evening relaxing on the porch and having another dinner that couldn't be beat -- cooked by Linda AGAIN!!!

And this is for my dad... railroad trestle bridge over the Missouri River just a ways from Three Forks.



I will now sign off and head to bed! Tomorrow Linda and I are off to Butte to see the Berkely Pit. Because, afterall, why come all the way to Montana, the land of the great outdoors, and NOT visit an environmental man-made disaster?