mt roadtrip 2022
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Montana road trip 2022, part VI: Hebgen, Cliff, Wade, and Earthquake Lakes
August 17, 1959. It was a clear, moonlit night in southwest Montana’s Madison River Canyon. Nearly three hundred tourists slept peacefully in various campgrounds and cabins. Nineteen terrifying seconds later, the canyon – and their lives – had been changed forever. At 11:37pm, a magnitude 7.5 earthquake – the largest earthquake ever recorded in Montana… Continue reading
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Montana road trip 2022, part V: mining history at Virginia City and Nevada City
On May 26, 1863, six prospectors discovered gold in a region of southwest Montana known as Alder Gulch. Almost overnight, the region went from a secret the men had intended to keep to themselves to a booming mining hub. Settlers rushed to the region, lured by the veins of quartz that contained large amounts of… Continue reading
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Montana road trip 2022, part IV: Skalkaho Highway and Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway
When one says the word “highway,” one generally envisions a paved road with two or more lanes and fast speed limits. Montana Highway 38 – the Skalkaho Highway – meets none of these criteria. The present-day path of the Skalkaho Highway is a former trail used for hundreds, if not thousands, of years by Native… Continue reading
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Montana road trip 2022, part III: getting lost in the Bitterroot National Forest
I don’t do well when I don’t have lodging reservations for each night of a trip. It makes me anxious. But Lake Como Campground in the Bitterroot National Forest doesn’t take reservations, and we really wanted to stay there, so we were forced to go without and hope for the best. To give ourselves the… Continue reading
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Montana road trip 2022, part II: a somber visit to Big Hole National Battlefield
On August 7, 1877, a band of approximately 750 Nimiipuu (Nez Perce) arrived in the Big Hole Valley, known to them as Iskumtselalik Pah or ‘Place of the Buffalo Calf.’ They were fleeing the US Army. For over 20 years, the US government had been stealing their land, which once stretched from western Montana to… Continue reading
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Montana road trip 2022, part I: Philipsburg, Anaconda, and the Pintler Scenic Highway
Inspired by our previous Montana roadtrip, my mom and I planned another one this past summer. Our intended theme was a little less history and a little more scenery. The actual theme ended up being ‘where can we go next to avoid the rain?’ But despite the less-than-stellar weather, we mostly made it work. Day… Continue reading
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