Along the east edge of Glacier National Park

We took Highways U.S. 2, S.R. 464 and U. S. 89 to move from Cut Bank to St. Mary, MT.  It rained during the night and the day started out overcast, but the blue sky began peeking through as the morning went on.

S.R. 464 was up one hill and down another through the open land of the Blackfeet Reservation.

The Montana wildflower display is stunning. 

We are camping for 2 nights at Johnson’s of St.Mary, a complex with RV sites, cabins, and cafe.  We had heard good reports about the cafe, and we arrived just in time for lunch.  We each chose the special of the day, Open-faced Pork Barbecue on thick slices of freshly baked bread with a large bowl of Beef and Barley soup. Ummm, good!

After lunch, we decided to take a drive to East Glacier, stopping to look around at Two Medicine Lake.

     

At the Two Medicine Grocery and Supply store, we each had a dish of Huckleberry Ice Cream.  Every grocery, souvenir store and restaurant in this area features delicious dishes made with local huckleberries.

At East Glacier, we took a moment to look at the grand East Glacier Lodge, with its huge timbers.

A stop at the Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier was fascinating.  As we walked through the establishment, we marveled at the huge logs used in it’s construction.  Built in 1913, it contains 60 Douglas Fir columns 40 feet tall, and ranging from 36-42” in diameter.  Each column was brought in by rail from the Pacific Northwest.The floor plan is patterned after early Christian basilicas.  It is quite impressive.

Today’s drive from Cut Bank

Our Afternoon drive to East Glacier 

Through the Windshield

Sometimes the view through the window is so awesome, you have to try to capture it, even though the lighting and movement may not be conducive to photography.

On I-90, from Belle Fourche, SD to Sheridan, WY, we had our first glimpse at the snow-crowned Rockies.

  

From Reed Point, MT, we continued west on I-90 and had even better views of the mountains.

At aptly named Three Forks, MT, the Missouri River is formed at the confluence of the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin Rivers.

  A couple days later, we were headed north from Helena,Mt on I-15.  The Interstate roughly parallels the Missouri River and goes through some fantastic landscape.

  

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

Then, almost before you realize it, you have pulled away from the mountains, and returned to farmland.

Very seldom do you see the landscape along Interstate highways as outstanding as it has been for us the past few days.

As I write this, we are camped at Cut Bank, MT where the curiously named Cut Bank Creek River has cut a winding gorge.  We camped here last year in August for several days.  If you would like to see the blog posting for that visit, CLICK HERE.

Cut Bank, Montana

A ‘cut bank’ is an erosional feature of streams, or where the swift flowing water has cut away the land into steep banks.  The town of Cut Bank, MT is aptly named.

We spent a few nights on the cliff above the Cut Bank river at Riverside Campground.  We found the owners, who live on site, to be very welcoming.  They own over 40 acres of ground, most of it river front, so we had lots of room to explore the many unusual rock formations on the river bank and cliff.

One walk took us down what remains of an old gravel road to the riverbank.

On another walk, we decided to climb among the rock formations on the top of the cliff.     

If you look close at the stone banks, pieces of bone and petrified wood can be found.  Ron searched until he had found a few pieces of each.

 

We also enjoyed watching the wild horse that came to graze each morning and evening on the opposite bank.

An interesting metal sculpture sits atop the cliff near the campground.  We never got the opportunity to question the owners.  As it is next to a cross bearing a Bible verse, we assumed it to be a statue of Christ.  With outstretched arms, it resembles many other images of Christ across the country.  If any of our readers has any background information on this particular sculpture, would you leave a comment on this posting, please?

The last night of our stay we were treated to a wonderful sunset.