Bob and I were tired of traveling on the interstate. We had been on it since leaving Gillette, WY. The ladies at the welcome center/museum in Hardin, MT, told us about a great place to stop and eat--Wheat Montana in Three Forks. That helped us in our decision as to where to exit the interstate. The mill/bakery/restaurant was located at the exit. We got our lunch to go as the place was busy. The food lived up to expectations--Bob and I each got a sandwich on their fresh bread, I had a reuben on rye and Bob had the Farm Hand (roast beef). We also got one of their cinnamon buns because it looked delicious. We figured it would be enough to serve us both---twice!
After eating lunch we continued to Townsend, MT. We wanted to get off the interstate to see more of Montana, but what we got was ROAD CONSTRUCTION!!! Boy, were we glad to get to Toston where the construction ended. The entire road was gravel/dirt and traffic was one lane for quite a while. Once past Toston, we stopped in Townsend at Indian Road Campground. The sites were all on eyebrows so we found one we would fit and be able to out put the slide. This campground was provided by Bureau of Reclamation. There were 11 free sites on the Missouri River.
On the way into Townsend we spotted a Ranger Station so we backtracked after setting up camp. We wanted information on hikes in the area. Our campground was at the south end of Canyon Ferry Reservoir where the Missouri flows south towards its headwaters. The valley is surrounded by mountains. Well, as with other places in Montana, the National Forest hiking areas don't open until mid-May.
We returned to the RV and looked over our maps--we found a ghost town--Diamond City-- along forest roads in the Big Knee Mountain Range west of our campground. Off we went! Well, the road was okay, a few areas had some pretty good ruts to avoid, but it was a picturesque drive. It was also a long drive.
We never did find what was supposed to be the ghost town. We did see a few deer along the way.
This abandoned building was farther down the road than where the ghost town was supposed to be.
There weren't a lot of options for turning around, so we continued on over the mountains and out of the forest.
Near a ranch just beyond the end of the national forest we spotted several of these marmots. This one stopped to eye us as we passed.
We also saw several herds of deer. These were taking turns jumping the fence into the nearby ranch. (the blob in the lower right corner is a bug smooshed on our windshield)
Finally, we came to a paved road and found Fort Logan which was used from 1869-1879. It was moved to this spot in 1924.
It was just a small block house and didn't look much like forts I am used to seeing.
The door was unlatched and we were able to look inside.
From Ft. Logan, it was on to White Sulphur Springs and then our campground, 42 miles around the mountains!
The next morning we drove south on River Road to follow Lewis and Clark's explorations of this section of the Missouri River. We stopped at a turnoff where we could hike to the Crimson Bluffs.
Clark mentioned the crimson bluffs in his journal. Just down river are York Islands, named after Clark's slave.
Most of the land around the river is private, including York Islands.
After seeing what we could, we went back to the RV and packed up to move a whopping 7 miles north--Silos Recreation Area. I wanted a waterfront site!
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