Dave and I left Missoula around 11:00 and headed toward Great Falls, MT. on Nov 11th.We had lunch in Helena and I took a few pics on our way out of town.
This skull sculpture is in front of the Art museum in Helena.
Below sculpture next to capitol building
Just north of Helena there is a ton of bug kill trees. If you are looking from far away it doesn't look very bad, but...
when you get closer it is pretty extensive. All the reddish brown trees are dead.
Should make for intense fires.
First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park
This State Park is where the Indians ran buffalo over the cliff. It is located off I-15 at the Ulm exit 10 miles south of Great Falls. Originally called Ulm Pishkun State Park the name was changed. Ulm being the name of the town named after Billy Ulm a local rancher. Pishkun is a Blackfoot word meaning 'deep blood kettle'.
You can see the cliffs in the back along the horizon in picture below. Apparently they had used it quite often because there used to be large piles of bones and carcasses just below the cliffs. They estimate that the jump had been used for over 2000 years prior to Lewis and Clark's expidition and there are the remains of millions of buffalo that had been "processed" there by the Indians.
Prairie Dogs Gallore!!
On the way out to the cliff, there is a black tailed prairie dog community (town). I was surprised at how many prairie dogs I saw! Funny little critters. Chirping and barking at me when I tried to get closer for a picture.
I thought it was interesting that the area where they have their burrows has very short or no grass but around the community there is grass 1-2 ft high. They all looked pretty plump, but I don't know what they had left to eat.
This is the view from the top of the cliff.
Dave is standing at the cliffs edge.
There were clumps of really tall grass on the path below the cliff. Some of it was taller than me.
Great Falls Montana Nov. 11 2010
Our first stop when we arrived was the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center.
Too bad most of the falls were ruined by dams that were put in.
The Charles Marion Russell Museum
This is a chair made with bison horns that he sat on in his studio.
This was one of my favorites
"Fire on the River"
I love the colors in it. (Yes, I think there is purple in it)
He made his own Christmas Cards too.
Goofing off in the kids section of the museum.
This is Russell's actual studio below. Located next to their house. The Russell's had 4 lots in Great Falls located between 4th and 5th Ave North off of 13th Street North. The museum is located behind the house and studio.
This sign is located in front of the studio next to the sidewalk. It is part of a retaining wall that was put in by the Russell's.
Inside the studio
It was interesting that the studio still smelled from stale cigarette smoke after all this time.
He died in 1926 at the age of 62.
Giant Springs State Park
Next to the springs is a fish hatchery.
One last look at the Missouri River before leaving Great Falls.
We spent the night at Helena and went to the "Fall Art Walk" Friday (Nov. 12th) night from 6-9 pm.
Most of the stores in the downtown walking mall had different local artist's work on display in their shops. After the Russell museum that morning and the Helena Art Walk, Dave declared that he was all "arted" out for a little while.
Saturday morning we took the truck to the Les Schwab tire store to get our rear passenger tire checked. We had gotten a low tire pressure light on the day before and I wanted to make sure we didn't have any problems for the remainder of our trip home. Good thing we did because there was a piece of plastic stuck in the tire. So after getting patched up, we are on our way again.
Valley of a Thousand Hay Stacks
On our way back to Missoula, we drove thru the Little Blackfoot Valley near Garrison, MT nicknamed "Valley of a Thousand Hay Stacks"
As you drive thru this valley on Hwy 12 west of Helena, you will see haystacks (like below) scattered thoughout the fields.
Another Weekend Adventure of Fun!
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