Twisting Canyon curves on Hwy 2
Golden Tamaracks lighting the hillsides
Theodore Roosevelt Monument -Continental Divide
Rocky Mountains
looking north across Hwy 2 you can easily see the thrust fault line ( thin white area half way up ) that divides the older Precambrian top rock from the softer and younger Cretaceous bottom layers.
Entrance to the Blackfeet Nation
This was a well known path by the American Indians. To the east the Blackfeet Nation. It was known to the Blackfeet as Backbone Pass. At 5216 feet , it is the lowest crossing of the continental divide in Montana. To the west were the Salish and Kootenai tribes who used this pass to hunt bison .It is named after the Marias River that has it's headwaters here before it heads East. The river is believed to be named by Captain Merriweather Lewis in 1805 for his cousin Maria Wood. John F. Stevens was commissioned by the Great Northern Railroad to find a way across the mountains. The pass that had been known to the surrounding tribes for centuries was found by the members of the Mr Steven's party in December of 1889 in 4 feet of snow and subfreezing temperatures. This is determination. By 1893 they had completed the last rail segment over Marias Pass. It was almost another 40 years before a road was forged in 1930.
Finally reaching my destination at Two Medicine Lake one of the eastern accesses of the Glacier National Park . Quiet for the season except for the wind. The crowds of summer tourists long gone. The sun warm on my face but a chill in the air predicted cooler weather to come.
Trains passing through Essex
A nice over the train bridge linking the two sides of the Essex hotel complex , it is about 30 feet over the tracks and you can see through the walkway to the trains below ! Great acrophobia aversion therapy!
Hotel at Essex
A good feeling after a day's journey . Time to put up our little feet and say good bye to the sun .
i love learning about your world... the stories, the history, the scenery - and how you relate to it all... thank you -
ReplyDeleteThanks I hope you can see it in person some day. It is hard to catch the sunlight !
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