Montana
8th Anniversary
October 19, 2002
State of Montana
Glacier National Park
Logan Pass on the Continental Divide
For our 8th anniversary we decided to drive east to Montana. The main reason was that Eric had been reading books about wildland firefighting and smokejumping including "Young Men and Fire" by Norman Maclean. Missoula is the smokejumper base for the western United States and the dramatic events surrounding the Mann Gulch Fire portrayed in "Young Men and Fire" also took place in Montana. The one unusual thing about this anniversary trip was that Jackson, our first son, was three months old and he actually got to come with us. This is the only trip one of our children has ever been on.
Day One
We had a beautiful drive from Seattle through the rolling grasslands of eastern Washington through the mountains of northern Idaho and western Montana to a hotel just south of Missoula. It was a long day in the car made a little longer having to stop and feed Jackson every three hours.
Day Two
Our first stop was the Missoula Smokejumper Base located at the Aerial Fire Depot at Missoula International Airport. We took a great tour led by one of the smokejumpers and were able to see their ready room, their parachute repair and packing room and a room housing a lot of their other gear. The time of year we visited was after the summer fire season so things were pretty low key. There is also a memorial outside to the men and women who have died fighting wildland fires.
We left the airport and had lunch and walked around downtown Missoula before heading out of town. Our next stop was the National Bison Refuge. We started at the visitor center but then drove the 19 mile one way gravel road through the refuge and saw a variety of wildlife. We saw a couple herds of bison in different areas of the Refuge eating and lounging. In addition at one point the road was blocked by pronghorn antelope grazing along the road. Once we left
the National Bison Refuge we had a beautiful drive up past Flathead Lake as the sun was setting and through Kalispell to a cabin just outside Glacier National Park. The cabin was part of a rafting company resort that had shut down operations for the season but they told us where the key was and let us stay for the night. It was a wonderful cabin being the only ones at this resort we had a nice quiet night.
Day Three
We got up the next morning and headed into Glacier National Park at the West Glacier entrance. After stopping at the Apgar Visitor Center to get oriented and learn a little about the park we started our drive on the Going-to-the-Sun Road through the park. The Going-to-the-Sun road is one of the engineering marvels built by the CCC in 1933. It is almost 50 miles long and traverses some of the most amazing scenery in the United States. When we were not marveling at the mountains and glaciers we were in awe of the men who built the road.
Thirty-two miles into the park is Logan Pass, the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road at 6680 feet. Logan Pass also sits on the Continental Divide and this is where we decided to renew our vows. We had brought our original vows from 1994 and, thinking it unreasonable to ask an officiant to travel there, stood on the Continental Divide and restated our vows to each other. Jackson accompanied us in his stroller as a witness.
After the ceremony we finished our drive through the park passing the Jackson Glacier (we were more excited than he was) and then past the beautiful Saint Mary Lake. Once out of the park we headed for Great Falls and for the second time in three years celebrated our anniversary at a Pizza Hut.
Day Four
We're sure Great Falls is a wonderful city, but the falls themselves were a big disappointment. After reading about the series of falls that took the Lewis and Clark expedition 31 days to portage around we were anticipating something pretty spectacular. Maybe it was the season or the dams or both but the falls were small and looked almost man made. We had to double check that we were in the right place. After leaving Great Falls Eric wanted to visit an old ghost town named Marysville. It was a long drive out a twisting gravel road that left us wondering if we were lost in the mountains. Marysville was established in 1870 and by 1900 it was reported to be the richest gold mining area in the world. At its peak the population was estimated to be 4000 with the service of 60 businesses, 2 railroads and 2 newspapers. The remaining old buildings, including two churches in remarkably good condition, were eerie but very interesting. It was a great side trip.
The next stop was one Eric had been looking forward to for many months. Eric had read "Young Men and Fire" by Norman Maclean about the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949 which overran 16 smokejumpers of which 13 died. This fire was a tragedy on a scale not before experienced by woodland firefighters and caused many agencies to look at how to fight woodland fires as well as study fire behavior. We drove to the Gates of the Mountains so named by Merriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark expedition up the Missouri River in 1805. There is a boat service on Upper Holter Lake which will take you to a landing from which you can hike up Mann Gulch. Unfortunately, we were a week too late and the boat service had stopped for the season. So although we did not get to see Mann Gulch in person we did see the landscape of that area.
From Gates of the Mountains we drove to St. Ignatius Mission which was beautiful but seemed out of place in the wide expanses of Montana. The mission was founded in 1854 to serve the religious and educational needs of the Salish and Kootenai people. Within 35 years the mission included a large school, a sawmill, printing press, flour mill, hospital farm and the church we saw. The church is known for its interior murals, but it was locked up the day we were there and we were unable to see them. From St. Ignatius we drove to Helena where we briefly toured around the state capitol and then bedded down for the eveining.
Day Five
This was the day to head home. We had another nice drive and Jackson did a great job yet again being three months old and in the car for the whole day. It was a trip full of adventures and we were happy to get home.
October 19, 2002
State of Montana
Glacier National Park
Logan Pass on the Continental Divide
For our 8th anniversary we decided to drive east to Montana. The main reason was that Eric had been reading books about wildland firefighting and smokejumping including "Young Men and Fire" by Norman Maclean. Missoula is the smokejumper base for the western United States and the dramatic events surrounding the Mann Gulch Fire portrayed in "Young Men and Fire" also took place in Montana. The one unusual thing about this anniversary trip was that Jackson, our first son, was three months old and he actually got to come with us. This is the only trip one of our children has ever been on.
Day One
We had a beautiful drive from Seattle through the rolling grasslands of eastern Washington through the mountains of northern Idaho and western Montana to a hotel just south of Missoula. It was a long day in the car made a little longer having to stop and feed Jackson every three hours.
Day Two
Our first stop was the Missoula Smokejumper Base located at the Aerial Fire Depot at Missoula International Airport. We took a great tour led by one of the smokejumpers and were able to see their ready room, their parachute repair and packing room and a room housing a lot of their other gear. The time of year we visited was after the summer fire season so things were pretty low key. There is also a memorial outside to the men and women who have died fighting wildland fires.
We left the airport and had lunch and walked around downtown Missoula before heading out of town. Our next stop was the National Bison Refuge. We started at the visitor center but then drove the 19 mile one way gravel road through the refuge and saw a variety of wildlife. We saw a couple herds of bison in different areas of the Refuge eating and lounging. In addition at one point the road was blocked by pronghorn antelope grazing along the road. Once we left
the National Bison Refuge we had a beautiful drive up past Flathead Lake as the sun was setting and through Kalispell to a cabin just outside Glacier National Park. The cabin was part of a rafting company resort that had shut down operations for the season but they told us where the key was and let us stay for the night. It was a wonderful cabin being the only ones at this resort we had a nice quiet night.
Day Three
We got up the next morning and headed into Glacier National Park at the West Glacier entrance. After stopping at the Apgar Visitor Center to get oriented and learn a little about the park we started our drive on the Going-to-the-Sun Road through the park. The Going-to-the-Sun road is one of the engineering marvels built by the CCC in 1933. It is almost 50 miles long and traverses some of the most amazing scenery in the United States. When we were not marveling at the mountains and glaciers we were in awe of the men who built the road.
Thirty-two miles into the park is Logan Pass, the highest point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road at 6680 feet. Logan Pass also sits on the Continental Divide and this is where we decided to renew our vows. We had brought our original vows from 1994 and, thinking it unreasonable to ask an officiant to travel there, stood on the Continental Divide and restated our vows to each other. Jackson accompanied us in his stroller as a witness.
After the ceremony we finished our drive through the park passing the Jackson Glacier (we were more excited than he was) and then past the beautiful Saint Mary Lake. Once out of the park we headed for Great Falls and for the second time in three years celebrated our anniversary at a Pizza Hut.
Day Four
We're sure Great Falls is a wonderful city, but the falls themselves were a big disappointment. After reading about the series of falls that took the Lewis and Clark expedition 31 days to portage around we were anticipating something pretty spectacular. Maybe it was the season or the dams or both but the falls were small and looked almost man made. We had to double check that we were in the right place. After leaving Great Falls Eric wanted to visit an old ghost town named Marysville. It was a long drive out a twisting gravel road that left us wondering if we were lost in the mountains. Marysville was established in 1870 and by 1900 it was reported to be the richest gold mining area in the world. At its peak the population was estimated to be 4000 with the service of 60 businesses, 2 railroads and 2 newspapers. The remaining old buildings, including two churches in remarkably good condition, were eerie but very interesting. It was a great side trip.
The next stop was one Eric had been looking forward to for many months. Eric had read "Young Men and Fire" by Norman Maclean about the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949 which overran 16 smokejumpers of which 13 died. This fire was a tragedy on a scale not before experienced by woodland firefighters and caused many agencies to look at how to fight woodland fires as well as study fire behavior. We drove to the Gates of the Mountains so named by Merriwether Lewis on the Lewis and Clark expedition up the Missouri River in 1805. There is a boat service on Upper Holter Lake which will take you to a landing from which you can hike up Mann Gulch. Unfortunately, we were a week too late and the boat service had stopped for the season. So although we did not get to see Mann Gulch in person we did see the landscape of that area.
From Gates of the Mountains we drove to St. Ignatius Mission which was beautiful but seemed out of place in the wide expanses of Montana. The mission was founded in 1854 to serve the religious and educational needs of the Salish and Kootenai people. Within 35 years the mission included a large school, a sawmill, printing press, flour mill, hospital farm and the church we saw. The church is known for its interior murals, but it was locked up the day we were there and we were unable to see them. From St. Ignatius we drove to Helena where we briefly toured around the state capitol and then bedded down for the eveining.
Day Five
This was the day to head home. We had another nice drive and Jackson did a great job yet again being three months old and in the car for the whole day. It was a trip full of adventures and we were happy to get home.