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| We left Helena and headed south looking for cooler weather. Along the way
we passed through Three Forks, Montana. Dan Dantzler, our neighbor and
proprietor of Stone Mill Flour and Bread Company in
Fayetteville, recommended we stop here. Great choice for lunch as all of their products are
organically grown. But, we had to admit that nobody can beat Stone
Mill! |
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| The Missouri river
officially begins in Three Forks and winds some 2,341 (or 2,540 by some
authorities) miles before emptying into the Mississippi river near St.
Louis. Here at Three Forks there are three rivers that merge to
become the Missouri: the Jefferson, Madison and Gallatin. The picture above is
of the Madison river just a few miles
south of town. |
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| For the most part, we
lost the trees we enjoyed in higher elevations. They still exist in
pockets that are wet or on the sides of mountains. The scenery is
still great and the roads are not crowded here. |
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| Off in the distance
are mountains that still have some snow. We are looking for cool weather
but not up that high right now! |
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| We happened upon a
campground that was not on our radar. Out west, there are a number of Bureau
of Land Management campgrounds. The vast majority of these
campgrounds don't have utilities, so we "dry camped" here
for one night. Lovely place right on the Madison river. You
will notice there is grassland, a few bushes and desert scrub. |
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| It was great to have
the sound of the Madison's rushing water at our campsite. We always
LOVE camping alongside creeks and rivers. I suspect this is much the same view
that Lewis and Clark had when they explored the
tributaries of the Missouri river. |
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| Looking at Bubba
from a river view. It is not hard to imagine the quiet and solitude
you get in a place like this even though there were a few other campers
here. Notice the brown box in front of Bubba. |
