Search This Blog

Saturday 4 July 2015

4th of July

White Sulphur Springs, Montana

We found a place for the 4th about 150 miles north of Yellowstone. All the other parks I called were full for the weekend.

White Sulphur Springs has a long history of copper, timber and cattle. A small fort was established here in 1866 to protect the settlers and miners. They're having a 5K run, pancake breakfast, parade, barbeque and fireworks today. The population was 989 as of the 2010 census.


They flutter behind you your possible pasts,
Some bright-eyed and crazy, some frightened and lost.
A warning to anyone still in command....
...Of their possible future, to take care.
In derelict sidings the poppies entwine
With cattle trucks lying in wait for the next time.
-Pink Floyd


The raft trip on the Gallatin River was very exciting, although no one fell in and no rafts overturned.


The water temperature was 42 F (about 5 C) and we got wet a lot going though the class III and IV rapids. Down at Three Forks, near here, the Madison, Gallatin and Jefferson rivers form a confluence and become the Missouri River which feeds into the Mississippi and then empties into the Gulf of Mexico. The three rivers, west to east, were named by Meriwether Lewis in late July 1805 for President Thomas Jefferson, Secretary of State James Madison, and Treasury Secretary Albert Gallatin.


Mrs. Phred rents a wetsuit, a splash jacket and booties....I left hers with friends back in Sarasota...she doesn't like being cold, I guess....We went with Geyser Whitewater up Near Big Sky, Montana. A very nice trip and (to my surprise) they threw in a barbeque lunch after the trip at no extra charge.


Our raft companions were a couple from Copenhagen and their young daughter...they ask what we remember about Copenhagen and I draw a blank.....after reviewing my blog, I now remember that it was very cold and hard to find an ATM....


The train doesn't stop here anymore.



Lewis and Clark camped near here on the way back from the Pacific Coast.  White Sulphur Springs has a small library, a casino, three bars and two restaurants.I smelled the sulphur on my walk this morning.


Roadside statue of a stereotypical mountain man ....


Driving toward White Sulphur Springs Montana on Highway 89....


No comments:

Post a Comment