Paleontology Mecca

While waiting for RV parts, Lee and I drove to Bozeman to see the Museum of the Rockies.  Bozeman is a university town nestled in the foothills of the Bridger and Gallatin mountain ranges in southwestern Montana.  It has a nice downtown area with a few up-scale shops.  It seems to cater to tourists and students alike.  We drove through a canyon carved by the Madison River:

And arrived at the Museum of the Rockies:

This museum houses the largest paleontology collection in the U.S., and is affiliated with Montana State University and the Smithsonian Institution.  World-renowned Dr. Jack Horner is Curator of Paleanotology.  And, my Academy of Natural Sciences membership got us in for free!

We started with the outdoor Lewis and Clark exhibit, which includes a model of the ship used by the Corps of Discovery to travel upstream on the Missouri River.  If you recall, Lee and I saw another model of the same boat at a South Dakota rest area.  The one at the rest area is built to scale, and is larger and sturdier than the one here in Bozeman.

This one is instructive however in that it includes the metal bars that support canvas sheeting to protect crew members from the elements.  [Please do not use the image below without permission.]

The museum is best known for its paleontology collection, although it includes exhibits on native cultures and Montana history as well.  The paleontology section includes the largest T-Rex skull ever found:

And the greatest number of Triceratops, from young to old:

There are several life-sized fleshed-out models of dinosaurs:

and a miniature diorama that features dinos in their habitat:

Lee liked the exhibits that included the actual fossils, with explanations of how a paleontologist determined what species the bones represented.

Plesiosaur!

A volunteer docent gave a tour for 1 1/2 hours (!) through the paleo section of the museum:

The day ended with a fabulous sunset.  I have always heard people say that sunsets over the ocean are beautiful, but I have never heard that sunsets over the mountains are.  And yet, we have seen the most amazing sunsets this trip, created by mountains.

Are we ready for the road again?

People may wish to know the outcome of the mechanic's work.  Don (the mechanic) arrived at 9 this morning, and he and Lee worked until 5:30 this evening, Mountain Time (7:30 Eastern Time).

We took a test run, and two slides didn't quite work, but Don knew exactly what the problem was - one of the wires had not been grounded properly.  Fortunately, he was right, and the second test run worked perfectly.  Don will return in the morning to put the system through more stringent testing, just to make sure, but so far, so good.

What is quite amazing is that, in a past life, Don was a hydraulics expert.  What good fortune for us!  We are all going out to dinner tonight, for work well done.

For the mechanically-minded only

Installation is occurring as I write this.  Of course, the big question is will it work once installed?

The motor that died pumped hydraulic fluid into the gadgets (not a technical term) that move the extensions in and out.  It includes a pump and a black box which contains the hydraulic fluid:

The unit is kept under the stairs to the inside of the motorhome, which makes it difficult to work on, with too many tight spaces:

Lee helped the mechanic with the installation.  Looks like fun, doesn't it??  (No, not really.   I washed and waxed part of the motorhome while all this was going on, which I preferred, believe it or not!)

Break time?

All the parts and pieces look like a jumbled mess to me.  This photo was taken after the old part was removed and before the new one was installed in its place:

Well, that's as technical as I get.  If you ask me any questions I will turn them over to Lee to answer...

Quake Lake

Lee and I made an expedition to Quake Lake yesterday.  What an interesting place! 

Quake Lake is on the Madison River, and is located just outside the northwest boundary of Yellowstone National Park.  Like Yellowstone, the area is on a fault zone and experiences hundreds of quakes a year.  In September, 1959, an extra large quake hit the area, causing an avalanche of rocks that filled the canyon and splashed part-way up the canyon wall on the far side.  The Madison River was effectively blocked, and dried up for miles down stream. 

Here is where the avalanche originated:

And here are some of the rocks that were forced up the canyon wall on the far side.  The large boulder on top is about 20 feet high.

As the water backed up behind the new quake-made dam, geologists and engineers worried that once the water reached the top, it would cause part of the new dam to crumble and result in flooding below.  So the US Army Corps of Engineers brought in huge earth-moving equipment and created a channel for the water.  The Madison River flows again, and continues to work away at the channel, making it deeper and wider.

Flat areas, like the area in the photo below where the single tree stands, were created by the bull dozers 50 years ago:

The lake is slowly emptying.  In a few hundred years, the lake will disappear and the Madison River will once again flow freely through the canyon.

The forces of nature at work, on a constantly changing earth.

3 Forks

Sunday was Lewis and Clark day for Lee and I.  We drove to the Missouri Headwaters State Park, just north of Three Forks, Montana.

President Thomas Jefferson had directed Meriweather Lewis to follow the Missouri River to its source, with the hopes that it would lead to an easy pass to the Pacific Ocean.  By the time Lewis and Clark reached Great Falls, Montana, they realized that this was not going to be as easy as anticipated, that the western mountains were much higher, longer, and wider than anyone had guessed.

At Three Forks, three rivers converge into the Missouri.  When Lewis and Clark arrived here, they had to make a decision.  Did the Missouri continue as the largest of the three forks?  After exploring the three rivers, and after much discussion, the two captains decided that two of the forks were too similar, in width, in water volume, and in speed of flow, for one to be larger than the other.  So, they designated this point as the headwaters of the Missouri, and named the three forks after the President, Vice-President, and Secretary/Treasurer of the United States.  The Gallatin River, the smallest of the three, flows into the Missouri from the southeast.  The Madison River flows from the south, and the Jefferson River from the southwest.

The state park plaque below shows the park and the configuration of the three rivers.  The Gallatin River comes in from the right, and the Jefferson and Madison Rivers from further down on the left:

 

It is interesting (to me, anyway) that Lewis and Clark placed the headwaters up towards the Gallatin River, whereas the USGS places it at the point where the Jefferson and Madison Rivers come together. This makes sense, since the Gallatin is really the smallest of the three, and is more easily identified as a tributary.

The Missouri flows into this area from the north, through a limestone canyon:

Once through the canyon, though, a broad valley opens up, and the three forks wind their way through it.  The valley is a green and lush oasis of cottonwood trees and willows (not willow trees, but shrubs that moose like to eat):

It was exciting to know that Lewis stood on this rock/hill, one of the highest in the area at the head of the valley, to map the confluence of rivers:

Lewis describes a limestone butte as an ideal spot to build a fort.  The butte is located between the Gallatin River and the USGS-defined headwaters, and it was thrilling, as we walked the butte, to think that we were walking in Lewis' footsteps.

We even saw some of the flora and fauna that Lewis described, such as the prickly pear cactus:

And 10 inch mounds (in diameter, not height) built by ants that were both red and black (that is, each ant had both red and black parts):

 The Gallatin River seems to be a favorite for float trips:

I especially loved this view of the Gallatin, taken from the butte that would have made a nice fort:

 

Now, for the confluence of the Madison and Jefferson Rivers:

Here's another cool thing.  Lewis and Clark camped on the far side of this jut of land, where the Jefferson meets the Missouri, in 1805!!

To actually be in this place makes history come alive for me.  It is my hope I am able to impart some of that to you, the readers.

There's gold in them thar' hills!

In my last post, I had said it rained last Friday.  On Saturday we woke up to snow on the mountain peaks:

But the weather was beautiful, predicted to be in the low 70's, so Lee and I set off to visit two old mining towns in the foothills west of Ennis.  

When we arrived, we scoped out the place.  Just below Nevada City we watched 5 deer prance through an idyllic setting, a stream with beavers and ducks.

Virginia City and Nevada City, both on Alder Creek in Montana, came to life in 1863 when one guy just passing through found a chunk of gold in the creek.  Within months, a "14 mile city" grew, and Virginia City went from a population of 0 to 30,000.  Today, Both Nevada City and Virginia City are registered as historic landmarks, as are many of the buildings.  During the summer, actors in period costume populate the two towns to take visitors back to the 1860's.  We arrived after Labor Day, so no such luck, but enjoyed it anyway.  It was less crowded, which is always a good thing.

Lee and I met a fellow who was born and raised in Virginia City (which today has a population of 143) who suggested we drive on a dirt road that led up the canyon above the town.   So we did.  We first met several cows:

 
We found a mining operation for sale, which included 8 claims from the Bureau of Land Management.  Would anyone like to buy a gold mining operation?  It's that light green building against the hillside.

Further up, we found a couple of abandoned mines:

 

Sometimes the road went along the stream, sometimes we were above the stream:

At one point there was a small lake, bordered by wildflowers:

We saw lots of tailings, or piles of rocks that placer miners had removed from the stream bed:

We actually met a man along the road, shoveling dirt from the road cut.  He had two pails, and was hunting for gold.  He said it was a good way to keep out of trouble on the weekends.  Lee asked him if he had found any gold yet, and the guy said he had unearthed a 1/2 ounce.  

There are still 2 or 3 active mines on Alder Creek.  The man who was born and raised in Virginia City (the one I mentioned earlier) told us the "mother lode" (the vein of gold in the rock) has never been found, so some are still hopeful and still searching.

Nevada City is the smaller of the two towns, but charming in its own way:

  

Virginia City is a little more elegant, but sometimes rustic:

We ended the day with a visit to the graveyard, on the hill above the town.  Here is the view:

Here is one of the grave markers.  Montana was not yet a state in 1863-64, and towns had their own brand of justice.  In Virgina City, this brand was called "The Vigilantes".