CUSTOM GEOLOGY TOUR JUNE 22-29 2024

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The Ripples are a feature that is awe inspiring to say the least. Marcos Pass on the Left side of the picture show the shear power as the water flowing out of Glacial Lake Missoula climbed over the hill and carved deep and enduring Ripples, some 50 feet high and 100 feet apart. The variety of size and depth is show in the next valley over the Little Bitteroot that varies because of water action on mounds of the Glacial Till or Rock Flour.

Little Bitteroot Valley Rd is a study in the Geology of the Flood Silts and the way they built up over time. Many flood events washed over the Valley that extends from Hwy 28 to the Flathead River outflow at the North End of Flathead Lake. Here we travel the ups and downs to the major Ripple Fields that no one sees. This is a thrill to most as it almost is as high as a Roller Coaster and feels the same way. Crossing the Sloan Bridge is the Flathead.

Arriving at the Flathead River during melt-off is another study in color and light. This river was a profound outflow that headed down the Flathead drainage and worked its way over many mountains and through valley's that I explain in detail during this Tour. The Cliffs created are well over 200 feet above your head with the outflow Silt that makes great piles of this Glacial Flour at a depth that amazes. 

The Egg Mountain Dinosaur Museum was a great display of the Baby Hadrosaur that was found in Choteau that became the instigation for further work by Paleontologists from all over the World. The Dinosaur Trail also includes the Old Trail Museum with a number of interesting displays and hands on Dino Bones for the Kids to interact and ask questions. Both have Full time Paleontologists to answer questions and to show the variety of species that called Montana HOME. The Old Trail Museum’s Dinosaur Antechamber showcases discoveries from the Two Medicine Formation. The primary building displays a life-size Maiasaura alongside a mural of the natural environment from local artist Jim Utsler. The museum’s exhibits include Maiasaura and Einiosaurus skulls, nestling, hatchling and adult Maiasaura skeletons and bones, and a Sauronitholestes skeleton cast. A prep lab display and geologic information about the Rocky Mountain Front and Willow Creek Anticline provide additional information about the area and its rich paleontology heritage.

Running Eagle Falls the story and the Geology interweave here of the ancient 500 years ago of the Blackfeet Native Americans and the Rocks at the Falls over a Billion years old that create this spectacular formation. This was very spiritual and always is for every tour that I take there. No matter what interest the Guests have either strictly Science or perhaps going back to the Reason for the rise of Mankind or even early life. The Stromotolite layer of light rocks on the right side is the 1.8 Billion to 3.5 Billion Years of age. On TOP of the Rock called the BELT ROCKS that are evident in a line down the Rockies that are dated post Great Salt Inland Sea. The waterfall is named for Pitomakon, or Running Eagle, a female warrior leader of the Blackfeet Nation in the early 1700s, who experienced a four-day vision quest in the mountains high above the falls. Running Eagle led war parties on many highly successful raids, and was the only woman in the Blackfeet tribe ever to do so, or to be given a man's name.



 

The evening of July 19,1805, was a hot one in the wilderness that would later become Montana. On the Missouri River, not far from present day Helena, the hardy members of the Lewis and Clark expedition toiled to move upstream. Rock embankments made towing from shore impossible, and the deep channel forced the men to row rather than pole their boats forward.

Suddenly, there loomed before them towering rock formations unlike any they had ever seen. From both sides of the river, limestone cliffs rose to a spectacular height of 1200 feet. “In many places,” wrote Meriwether Lewis, “the rocks seem ready to tumble on us.” At each bend in the waterway, great stone walls seemed to block passage, only to open like gentle giant gates as the expedition drew near. In his journal, Meriwether wrote: “I shall call this place: GATES OF THE MOUNTAINS". The name stuck, and for nearly two centuries travelers have ventured down this stretch of the Missouri to marvel at its natural wonders. Today, most visitors enjoy the beauty of the Gates of the Mountains from aboard a tour boat – the “Canyon Voyager” or the “Sacajawea” (named after the only women and indigenous person on the Expedition).