We woke up to sound of cows, still making hilarious high pitched or drawn-out mooing sounds from across the water, as if the cows were actually being impersonated by a person. Fortunately it had been a quiet night with hardly any traffic.
We ventured to the RV park that we weren't able to book the night before, and met a couple working there who had a puppy cattle dog! It was a blue heeler rather than a red heeler like Sheila. They are dog breeders, and had we not said we needed to head off, we think they could have spent hours just sitting around talking to us about dogs. We get it, we can spend hours talking about Sheila too!
To Cave or Not to Cave, That's Michael's Question
Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is named after the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, since the cavern overlooks over 80 kilometers (50 miles) of their famous expedition trail. However, Lewis and Clark never actually saw the cavern. The limestone caves were formed by layers of calcium-rich organisms that died in a sea around 325 and 365 million years ago. If you visit the cave, it's important to not bring any items--including clothing--that have been inside a cave within the last 3 years. The reason is that there's a disease called white-nose syndrome (WFS) that is killing bats, and the parks don't want this to spread from cave to cave, and from bat to bat.
The only way to see the caves is with a guided tour, which runs from May to September, or via limited candlelight tours in December. There are two guided tours available: the Paradise Tour that's 1.5 hours, or the Classic Tour that's 2 hours. The Classic Tour visits the majority of the developed cave but is more strenuous, while The Paradise Tour, focuses on the two largest, most decorated rooms.
When we got there the Classic Tour was already sold out for the day, so our only option was the next available Paradise Tour. Michael was hesitant to do the cave tour as he is claustrophobic, but we bought two tickets when w were told that he could get a refund if he found at the beginning of the tour that he didn't feel comfortable. The start and end of the tour would apparently be the most challenging, with a narrow tunnel to walk through to get in and out of the cave.
Since we had about 40 minutes before the start of the tour, Michael did a bit more research online, checking out the photos, before deciding it wasn't for him and getting a refund for his ticket. He'd stay with Sheila while Lisette checked it out, joining a group of about 15 people.
The Paradise Tour At the Cave
The guide was entertaining and very knowledgeable, starting off the tour by giving everyone a history of the caverns and how they'd been discovered in 1892 by local hunters, to eventually become Montana's first state park. Afterwards, we walked to the opening of the cave, walking past green, lush and hilly scenery alongside the trail. Opening the first door, we walked along a narrow and dim passageway, that was also fairly short height-wise, before arriving at the second door to enter another tunnel. It was at the first tunnel that Lisette immediately recognized that Michael wouldn't have liked this tour at all, and would have turned around. Unlike our visit to Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico, the walkways were much, much wider, immediately arriving at the cave rooms that were more brightly lit.
The second tunnel had rock walls (rather than the smooth concrete walls of the first tunnel), signaling to us that we were now fully within the cave itself. And then, we arrived at the first room of the cave, where we saw glistening stalactites, stalagmites, columns, cave popcorn, and other impressive cave formations. Around the corner from this room, we also saw one of the well-preserved fossils in the cave: a pack rat! It's bones has long since calcified, making it clear to see its skeleton embedded in the cave floor. It was noticeably cooler in the cave, about 8 degrees Celsius (47 degrees Fahrenheit) year-round, so it's worth bringing a layer while on the tour.
Walking up a short flight of stairs to the second room, here we were introduced to a variety of formations that were given names of things they looked like, including Santa Claus, Romeo & Juliet (wrapped forever in an icy embrace), Atlas (who carried the weight of the world on his shoulders), and the Queen. After oohing and aahing at these formations while taking a stack of photographs, we were done!
The tour guide was entertaining, talking knowledgeably about the history of the caves, the names of the different formations (Santa Claus, Romeo & Juliet, Atlas, the Queen). Time passed quickly and then the tour was done!
Seeing the Bleu Horses and Three Forks
The drive away from Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park is what we could expect in Montana: sweeping wide plains with horses and cattle, and lots of open space. Along a stretch of road, atop a hill there's a herd of horses that could easily be mistaken for the real thing, with perhaps many people not even batting an eyelid as they zoomed past. They are, in fact, 39 metal horses sculptures called the "Bleu Horses" that stand up to 8 feet tall.
It certainly feels like we're in the throes of summer now, and we can't imagine wearing beanies, gloves or thick jackets anytime soon! We cooled down from the hot day at the Three Forks, a small town that's known as the birthplace of the Missouri River (the longest river in the US, it is longer than the more famous Mississippi River), as it's where the Jefferson, Madison, and Gallatin rivers converge. We arrived at the river, and while there's no sign indicating where these rivers all meet, we could see different river ways that indicated the areas where this was happening.
To Paraglide or Not to Paraglide, That's the Question
Michael was hoping to do some paragliding in Montana, particularly in Bozeman, as he'd met a fellow paraglider, William, who lives here and they'd previously talked about flying together when we got here. It was still stinking hot when we got to Bozeman, so while Michael and William figured out whether the weather would cooperate for paragliding in the evening, we checked out the Bozeman Sculpture Park, featuring sculptures from different artists. The sculptures ranged from the realistic bird in flight, to the humorous one of Humpty Dumpty, to the more abstract one of a cat that we couldn't really work out!
As we were walking, ominous dark clouds rolled overhead followed quickly by clapping thunder, indicating that a storm was coming. So it seems that unfortunately, paragliding was off. Instead, we made plans with William to drop by his home for dinner, grabbing milkshakes before heading over. We grabbed milkshakes from Genuine Ice Cream -- huckleberry for Michael and William, and pistachio for Lisette. They were delicious, with actual fruit and pistachios in the shakes! The obvious sign that the ice cream store was good was the massive line that formed after us, with a horde of kids, parents, and couples lining up, with the queue stretching out the door when we left.
We got to William's house that he shares with 3 other roommates, who are all studying at Montana State University. While Michael and William already have a common interest in paragliding, it was fabulous to learn that we have more common interests, including scuba diving and tea (Lisette), DJing (Michael), and travel (well, everyone)! We also enjoyed the dinner that was made for us--tofu, vegetables and noodles, as well as beef burgers (thanks Vinnie for cooking this for us as well)! Topped off with a delicious tea from the Lake Missoula Tea Company store that Lisette stopped at the previous day, following William's recommendation. It's always so wonderful to catch up with familiar faces--and of course meet new ones--on the road. Thanks again William for the hospitality, and perhaps the next time we'll meet it'll be to go paragliding!
On Our Way to Yellowstone
As weather conditions for the following day didn't look favorable for paragliding, we left Bozeman to start making our way to Yellowstone National Park, one of the most awaited National Park visits that we had on our itinerary. The sun was already setting when we left Wililam's place, so nighttime fell as we were driving to the intended parking spot to sleep at. The road we had to go on to get there was dotted with potholes, so we aborted mission and ended up sleeping at a peaceful parking area near a trailhead and running stream, but wasn't a camping area. Lisette did get a bit anxious about this, and emphasized that in future, we not drive after dark, because it makes navigating much harder! We vowed to get up early the next morning so we could move on ahead of folks filling the carpark.