Travels with Twinkles: Salmon, Idaho to Dillon, Montana

July 14 - 17, 2020 - Salmon, Idaho - Dillon, Montana:

I head out of Salmon on route 93 north along the Salmon River to North Fork where I continue along the North Branch of the Salmon. I was sad to see the Salmon River go, it's an amazingly beautiful river. It’s then uphill for miles to the Lost Trail Pass where a historical sign insinuates that that no one knows for sure the exact Lewis and Clark trail through here as the expedition was sort of lost. They also insinuate that this had something to do with Clark not listening to the Indian guides advise and trying to save time by barging ahead on a more direct path.

I am now entering Montana with a rather unusual entrance sign.

People have put stickers all over it

I then take route 43 east to the Big Hole Battlefield, another sad moment in US history. This involved the Nez Perce tribe who were fleeing from the US Army in hopes of relocating in Canada. I took note that the army sneak tactic at this battle was similar to that used by Custer at the Little Big Horn with an initial attack on the Indian campsite killing many women, elderly and children. It seems that the Indians had a superior force and they repelled the US Army on this day, but the numbers were against them. This flight of the New Perce tribe is the stuff of legends and they were nearly successful. Traveling with women, children, elderly and all their belonging they had outmaneuvered the entire US army for a thousand miles. They were about 50 miles from Canada when it all ended.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nez_Perce_people

These thistle's had multiple flower heads

It's a green hilly area

This was the encampment area where the battle was concentrated

Next, I cross the Big Hole River and enter the small village of Wisdom which sits in a vast green, low lying beautiful meadow, known as the “Big Hole Valley”. Wisdom has a few nice restaurants and shops and is very rustic looking; like Montana should. Lots of old log cabins everywhere around here. Extensive ranch and hay farms fill this valley with snow pocketed mountains in the distance, it’s very scenic ! They also call this the “Land of a thousand haystacks” due to method developed here to pile hay in haystacks rather than bail it.

http://www.roadtripswithtom.com/big-hole-valley-heart-soul-big-sky-country/

The cows love it here

Hook and the Horn sold western attire and stuff for the tourists

The Silver Mine more high end artistic goods

Times are changing, the old haystack device in the background with hay rolls in front

They still like to call it the Land of 10,000 haystacks

Its very pretty in all directions

This is a free American Legion (donations appreciated) campground just outside of Wisdom, a nice grassy field, toilet facilities, but a bit buggy, mosquito repellant is necessary. It gets cold here, at 7AM the next morning it was 35 degrees and my windshield was iced up.

The view from my van

I continue south on route 278 through Jackson, which has a charming post office building and the well known Jackson hot springs. This is another place where Lewis and Clark passed through, cooked a meal in the boiling hot springs as noted in their journals. Those hot springs are no longer active but the old Hot Springs Lodge is still there, would have loved to stay there, but it seems to be closed at present.

Combination Hotel, Post Office and bike campsite

I was attracted to Rose's Cafe

These were the original Hot Springs noted in the journals

Continuing north I crest the Big Hole Pass, then turn on the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway and make a stop at the Elkhorn Hot Springs where I had hoped to use the facilities. Unfortunately, they are not allowing walk-ins at present due to Covid-19 restrictions, only allowing Lodge guests access to the facility.

I then take a look at the adjacent Grasshopper Creek National Forest campground, another Lewis and Clark historic site.

It’s then back to route 278 to Bannock, MT which was a gold mining boom town that became the first Territorial Capital of Montana. The capital was shortly moved and eventually the gold tapered off as well and then everyone left transforming Bannock into a ghost town. There is an amazing number of buildings remaining, some in decent condition on the outside, but the interiors are empty, stripped clean. They have a good self guided tour booklet that gives a brief history of each building.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bannack,_Montana

The original gold discovery occurred on Grasshopper Creek

The sign said that the first territorial governor actually lived in this cabin

Many original large impressive buildings remain

The Hotel Meade was built to last

This car was in fairly good condition considering how long it's been sitting there

Shooting and killing was a normal standard here ?

I continue on to Dillon, Montana for the night in at the Beaverhead Lodge. I stopped at the visitors center on arrival where the very helpful women hosts loaded me down with enough information for weeks to come. Dillon has a an attractive main street running parallel to the Union Pacific tracks, a large notable museum and train depot complex and is the home of the Montana Normal College University ( sort of a boring name) and surrounded by lots of scenic attractions.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dillon,_Montana

A very attractive downtown

The Atomic 79 Boot Shop had the best cowboy boot sign that lit up at night

The Hotel Netlen adjacent to the train tracks that run through town

The Moose Bar was a favorite, but nothing special inside

The Odd Fellows Hall is a beauty

Many impressive building

I visited the Beaverhead County Museum which had good history of the region plus a large bird exhibit, railroad memorabilia and a Lewis and Clark diorama in the old passenger train train depot. The railroad is still active at Dillion, freight only, but I see very few trains, in fact I didn’t see even one today. I then made a visit to the Dillon Library which still resides in its original Carnegie building.

A well thought out and locally agreed upon treaty that was taken back

I also made a trip to the Lewis and Clark “Observation Point” landmark about one mile outside of town where a rocky outcrop affords a good 360 degree view of the valley. They did an amazing job of recording in their diary, collecting samples and mapping the routes taken.

It was the highest point, but really not very high

The following day, I go south on Rt 15 to the Clark Canyon Reservoir which also has several campgrounds and then exit onto a well maintained dirt road traversing 10 miles of the Bar Double T Ranch and then a few more miles of public land. This ranch looks like something that Ted Turner could own, need to research this and it doesn’t look like a real working ranch. There was a worker spraying noxious weeds along the roadway, I've never sen real cowboys do that. Anyhow, they are nice enough to allow the public to ride through their property so I am very obliged.

Entering the ranch

Really nice drive

The last 2-3 miles is federal land leading to the Lemhi Gap which is the highest elevation, about 7,373 feet, attained during the Lewis and Clark Expedition. There is a great viewpoint there and beautiful wildflowers. About a quarter miles away is the Sacajawea Monument which is really a nice picnic area although there is no monument as I had expected. There a small trickle of water coming from a spring which they are claim is the headwaters of the Missouri River, it was a diary entry. They kept the most amazing records, diaries and notes on this expedition, quite remarkable.

Beautiful wildflowers, but I'm doing badly with the names

This slope was covered

These were a favorite

The view near the Continental was okay

I then drove a mile away to another viewpoint on the Continental Divide where the best view from the Gap is obtained. So what to do at the Continental Divide, what else but hike the trail for a while. I decided to take the upper direction which was a brutal steep climb uphill along an old wood fence. I’m glad I did that as I gained a respect for the ranchers who built these wood rail fences. These are not metal fence posts driven into the ground with barbed wire, except for a few new replacements sections. These fences are fabricated from trees that were cut, heavy logs that were notched and fitted together and then additional logs were nailed horizontally to reinforce. There are miles of them going up and down steep slopes and I would guess some are about 100 years old. Sections have been repaired or replaced, but it makes me understand why the invention of barbed wire was so great.

It didn't look that steep until I started uphill

Miles and miles of these old fences

Mossy tree on the Continental Divide

I stumbled upon a Idaho-Montana border marker

Great views

These places are virtually unchanged from 200 + years ago and it is sort of inspiring to think you may be walking or stepping in the exact same place as they did.

On the return to Dillon, I stopped at the Clark Canyon Reservoir which is the place called "Camp Fortunate" where the Lewis and Clark expedition actually bargained with Sacajawea's tribe, the Lemhi Shoshone, for horses and a guide. If not for these things, the expedition basically would have been over. This was probably the most important site of the expedition and guess what, it's now under the reservoir. One more thing, on the return to Dillon, a couple miles away is another site, called Rattlesnake Rock when the expedition stopped at and noted many rattlesnakes. It’s now a campground where I decide to spend the night.