Missouri Headwaters

20090602 - Missouri Headwaters

The day started exactly where yesterday left off with cold wind driving scattered raindrops. We read for an extra hour, then started out about 10:30, expecting to arrive at Helena at the end of the day.

We followed I90 West for ~35 miles then pulled off near Three Forks for the Missouri Headwaters State park. There the Missouri is formed by the confluence of the Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson Rivers. Miraculously, the wind had died down a lot by this time, and there was a rain free period while we explored the park till about 3:00. I climbed a rocky rise and learned that I was standing on the exact spot that Lewis and Clark had used as a viewpoint to map the confluence. I have not attended very much, on this trip, to the Lewis and Clark historical sites. This not due to a lack of interest in those, but another focus just now. This was a heady moment, nonetheless.

We followed I90 West, exiting to the North on US69, then picking up I15 into Helena. The drive along US69 in this area was especially attractive, much of it just above the Boulder River flowing thru the bottom of the valley, meandering, and overflowing, in this season, into a willow lined channel.

We finished the day with soup and a tossed salad, thanks to Patt's persistence in shopping for the makings yesterday. An after dinner walk along the periphery of the Lincoln Road RV Park provided some views of sunshine on the mountains to the East. Hopefully this bodes well for tomorrow.

Birds: Red Winged Blackbird, Brewer's Blackbird, Bald Eagle, Wilson's Snipe, Spotted Towhee, Yellow Warbler, House Wren, Eastern Kingbird, Red Tailed Hawk, Common Raven, Tree Swallow, Barn Swallow, House Sparrow, Western Meadowlark, American Robin, Bullock's Oriole, House Finch, American Goldfinch