Earthquake Lake. The power of nature

Earthquake Lake was formed overnight by a 7.5 Richter scale earthquake around midnight on August 17 1958.A total of 28 people lost their lives that night but the quake also moved around 80 million tons of rock from the side of the canyon into the bottom and to the other side of the canyon.
It successfully dammed the Madison River below the Hebgen Lake dam. Check it out on Google Earth. There were lots of tourists and campers as it was the height of the summer season, and the rescue efforts were underway by 11 the next morning. I think that is remarkably quick. It had to be as the water was rapidly rising and there was concern that it could impact the Hebgen Dam adding to the problems.

  This is the view looking west (direction of flow) 

This side is where most of the rock ended up. You can see the river in the center.

 

 

 

The large rocks in the next pictures came from the horseshoe shaped area in the center of the picture

Me in the picture for scale!!

 

Looking back to the East

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Looking down the river (west) from the destroyed campground

A destroyed building at the campground

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A significant section of Highway 287 that runs through the Gallatin National Forest was also destroyed making the evacuation all the more challenging.

The Army Corps of Engineers had to create a spillway which still exists today. It is gradually eroding and the water level today is about 70 ft down from the peak right after the quake. The belief is that it will eventually erode and the Earthquake Lake will disappear. 

There is (of course) more information at the website. Follow the link. Earthquake lake info

We also found time to go to West Yellowstone for groceries and gas, and stopped at Renee's favorite spot on the Madison River. She says that on a calm day the reflections of the mountains (correction HER mountains) are beautiful. I for one believe her!!

Renee at the Madison River. Renee's Range in the background!!

Yellowstone Part One

I arrived here in West Yellowstone on Sunday afternoon (it is now Friday) It was raining cool and windy, but with better weather forecast for the rest of the week.
My (excellent) host Renee was cooking ribs and had invited some of the other folks from the campground over for supper. Renee had another guest Beth Wagner. All three of us had worked together at Caterpillar in Clayton NC and then gone our separate ways. I will create a special post about Renee and my admiration for her lifestyle and choices.
Beth had been here for a few days and was due to leave for Bozeman on Monday evening for an early Tuesday flight. 
We decided to go into Yellowstone on Monday to see the geysers and of course the most famous one, Old Faithful. I have to admit that I have done little planning for this whole trip but particularly for this portion. Renee has been here since late May and has spent many days in the park so knows it well and also the best time of day for visits. 
It was quite foggy when we got up and the campground is right by a lake. I took a couple of photos that have the peaks of some of the mountains peaking out. Renee claims they are HER mountains so I will call them the Renee Range. I could hear a coyote on the other side of the lake, but could not see him or her through the mist. Rather cool! 
I have also posted a picture of the same range after the fog had cleared so you can see the magnificent view on a clear day. Superb.

Renee's Place

We left for the geysers early Monday morning and traffic was light. The only hold up was a "parade" which is when all the cars stop (sometimes in the middle of the road) to look at animals.
We experienced this within the first hour although there were few cars.

I have never seen a bison (live) so this was an interesting experience all the more so for a close up experience. Park rules do not allow you to get closer than 75 ft from animals other than bears and wolves, and then it is 300 ft. Plenty close if you ask me.

We arrived around 8.45 at the geyser field and Renee checked the estimated times for the various geysers to blow so we could begin to plan a route. There are about 150 geysers and they are spread out over about one square mile. All are well signed and some are certainly more spectacular than others. It was a partly cloudy day and quite cold when the wind blew and the sun was behind the clouds. 
We first went to Daisy Geyser as it was the first to erupt and she did so right on time. As you can see below it is difficult to photo the geyser against a white cloud background!

GOCA hat sighting

Renee and Beth at Daisy Geyser 

We spent the next few hours wandering around some of the other geysers and saw Old Faithful erupt from the lodge near by. It seems to have the most regular and predictable eruptions but is actually not as spectacular as Grand Geyser. The challenge with Grand is that they give you a 4 hour window of when they predict it will erupt, but the eruptions last between 7 and 12 minutes and are worth the wait. There are people who are Geyser Gazers and spend a LOT of time looking at them or waiting for them to erupt. The older ones are actually known as Geyser Gazer Geezers!!  

 We got back around 7pm after a full day and Beth still had to drive to Bozeman. Plans are for a short day tomorrow with a trip to Earthquake Lake!!

 

More Montana and on to Yellowstone

For the benefit of avid map followers (and you know who you are!) I left the last post basically at Georgetown MT. There is a beautiful lake and what looks like a lot of retirement or vacation homes. A beautiful setting with all of the requirements, like mountains and water and relative peace and quiet.

The road goes on to Anaconda MT which was another famous mining town (There was or is a mining company Anaconda Copper) and all that remains of the mine and smelter is the smelter stack and an area around there that is totally denuded of trees and vegetation. The mining was basically done in the late 1800s and there was no knowledge of the potential consequences of spewing acid laden smoke into the atmosphere. There is a similar area of devastation near Copperhill TN on the border between GA,TN,and NC. 

It looks like there is a fair amount of activity in Anaconda but I did not tarry.

Always the one for the road less traveled  headed south towards Wisdom and on to Jackson and eventually Dillon MT. When they talk about "Big Sky Montana" this must be it. There are vast areas of range land and grazing land and irrigated fields. I maybe expected to see more sheep but have actually seen very few.

I stopped to take the photo here and there were 4 guys on motorcycles who stopped at the same turnout. They were attorneys from Texas and had rented motorcycles in Great Falls Montana and were headed to Yellowstone. They still had a good 4 hours of riding ahead of them.

After a night in Dillon I headed up to Twin Bridges and on to Ennis MT with a brief side trip up to Ruby Dam near Alder.  

There are lots of motorcycles around and it is easy to find yourself going 75-80 mph. That is kinda OK as the speed limit outside most towns is 70 during the day. I notice that people tend to observe the speed limits well in town. I have followed suit!!
I basically made a big loop around to Helena over to Garrison and back to Butte MT. 

The scenery was less interesting other than the climb up out of Helena on Rt 12 and a lake and campground that looked inviting in Canyon Ferry, just east of Helena.

At one point I stopped for gas at a truck stop near the interstate, and saw the truck in the picture below. It had this strange looking device on the rear doors and paneling along the lower sides of the trailer. The rear device folds up to the size and shape of the rear doors for unloading the truck.
I asked the driver and he confirmed my belief that they were for improving fuel efficiency. He said that the device on the back improved efficiency by about 4/10 of a mile per gallon and the combination of that and the side panels added up to about 9/10 of a mile per gallon. That is significant and he said the overall improvement took him from around 6.5 mpg to 7.5 mpg. If you drive 200,000 miles a year or so that is significant in dollars and fuel savings.
Just another random piece of learning!!

A whole new appreciation for Lewis and Clark

After a conversation with the desk clerk (and maybe owner) of my motel in Drummond I adjusted my plan (not that I really had one) and headed down the road to Phillipsburg MT which was only about 20 miles away. It is an old mining town (I am discovering that there are lots of old mining towns in MT) but unlike many of the others Phillipsburg appears to be thriving and has made the turnaround. It sits on the side of a hill and has a beautiful and well kept courthouse as well as a place called The Sanctuary, which is billed as a biker sanctuary.
You can find more detail at bikersanctuary.com

Like many towns out here the streets are wide (I recall wide enough to turn a cart and 6 horses?) and this is still put to good use when they deliver the beer or other goods. The trucks just park in the middle of the street!

I had looked on the map the previous evening and decided to test my spirit of adventure and check out the Skalkaho Pass which crosses the Bitterroot Range at about 7200 ft. This on a gravel road. They close the pass in winter and I discovered why.

The first 16 miles are paved and the road is very good and fast, but gets narrower and more curvy and eventually turns to gravel as you start the climb to the top of the pass.
What I had not anticipated is that the climb would be in a forest with views only of the road and surrounding area. 
I came around a bend to find a semi loaded with bridge culvert concrete structures. The driver escort said there were two trucks coming down the grade and would I wait. We chatted and I found out about some waterfalls on the other side of the pass. I eventually got on my way and passed through the construction and to the other side of the pass. There was no view at the top because of the trees. A little disappointing but still a great adventure.

 

The road at this point got very narrow and curvy, and the drop off on the left side going down was at least a couple of hundred feet with of course no guard rail.

I found the waterfall that was mentioned and it was not a huge cascade of water but as I was out looking around I heard a motorcycle coming up the grade, and much to my surprise it was a motorcycle and side car. Not something you see on the highway let alone up on some random gravel road in Montana.

I turned around and retraced my steps eventually coming down to a couple of small rivers and some fly fishermen.

 I turned back towards Georgetown Lake and Anaconda and came across an impressive waterfall right beside the highway

You can see the highway on the right hand side.

I will continue with the rest of the day and Saturday in a separate post. I need to get going to meet up with Renee in West Yellowstone

On to Montana

I left Challis Idaho around 10 with the intent to get as far as Missoula Montana, which is about 200 miles. Early morning was quite cool (maybe in the 50s) but it warmed up and the sun shone pretty much all day. Salmon ID is only about 60 miles and is a much bigger town (pop 3000) and is close to the confluence of the North and South forks of the Salmon river at a little place aptly named North Fork!.

Along the way there are areas where the valley is quite wide and there is a lot of irrigated alfalfa (thanks for the correct spelling from my sister Mags!). There are some very nice homes, some with spectacular views, but equally there are lots of crappy mobile homes and houses buried in the middle of piles of junk that nobody could be bothered to clean up. It certainly distracts from the beautiful scenery and is a shame.

As well as the broad valleys there are also narrow canyons that the river passes through and quite steep grades so the water is flowing fast. Along the river there are small areas of what I think are cottonwood trees and some are designated camping areas (there are lots of other places to camp as well).

 

The Salmon river heads west from the town of Salmon and eventually joins the Snake River, the major tributary of the Columbia River that flows into the Pacific in Portland Oregon. I need to go back and look at the geography, but that is what Wikapedia tells me!!

From Salmon the road starts to climb and twist and turn all the way to the Lost Trail Pass at 7014 ft. It is also the Western continental divide. The road from there to Missoula is much wider and progressively more populated. Had I known what I now know I would have headed east on a small road across another pass and avoided Missoula entirely. I may still backtrack on at least a part of that road today. I elected to just slow down for Missoula and headed east on the Interstate to Drommond. It is a small town of no great distinction but was a place to stay. There are a couple of places to eat in town and I had decided on a steak and a beer. Not a bad plan, but the restaurant / bar had new ownership that (judging by my food and the service) will not last long. The beer was good but the steak was terrible and the baked potato only half cooked. I thought people were shot for that kind of thing in Montana!! Oh well that is life.
The plan for today, such as it is, is to head down some small roads to Anaconda MT and then on to the Idaho Falls area with a view to go to the Grand Teton National Park on Saturday. Plans have known to be changed but that will do for a start.

The Sawtooth Mountains and the Salmon River. Idaho

I got some good advice from a friend in Boise and traveled up RT 21 from Boise thru Idaho City, an old mining town and up a curvy road towards Stanley ID. There was lots of evidence of forest fires and I now have a whole new appreciation of what it must be like trying to fight them in that type of terrain. I crossed a couple of passes at progressively higher elevations with the highest at 7200 ft or so. The mountains that surround the passes go up to 10,000 ft or so. I had started in Boise at about 2500 ft (I think)

About 15 miles from Stanley you come out on to a high plain and there is some farming but it is sparse and looks very dry. Steve had suggested that I turn south for a few miles to Redfish Lake. It is apparently the spawning ground for the Sockeye Salmon and they are a protected species and have been since 1991.

The lake is beautiful and there were campgrounds and people in the lake swimming.
The drive from there to Challis ID where I spent the night follows the Salmon river or at least some of the branches of the Salmon river. At some points it is in a significant gorge and at others spreads out.




 

                                                        Note the lack of guard rail!!

The road passes thru Clayton ID with a claimed population of 23! Not much else to be said!

 












Coming in to Challis there is evidence of irrigated fields and I think they are growing alphalpha (how do you spell it anyway!). I have not seen any dairies (there are LOTS of huge dairies in Idaho) so maybe they are growing and selling to those dairies. I know in some places they export the alphalpha to Japan!

Challis is not a very exciting place but certainly the business center for the area and the county seat.

I took a walk this morning and it presented a couple of random photo opportunities. Enjoy

No doubt here as to what they mean!!

Idaho Travel Trailer