Do you think Rodgers could build an interface to THIS pipe organ, Peggy?
Are there cathedrals with this many pipe organs?
I guess the Parthenon needed another column.
The third day of paddling got to be more about mileage than scenic splendour, but the peacefulness of drifting in glassy still waters at four miles an hour is another kind of splendour.
It's hard not to comment on this shape, but I think that's what I'll do.
This reminded me of voting booths.
Pablo Rapids, mile 73.5. It's hard to believe that these rapids were an obstacle for the steamboats.
Here the Eagle Sandstone is literally at water's edge.
The Michelin man?
More geese!
By the time we reached our fourth so-called rapids, Deadman Rapids at mile 84.5, I didn't bother to navigate the rapids and paddled over to get close-ups of the adorable cows instead.
The cows seemed just as curious about me as the other way around. Just after this, the rapids drove my canoe up onto a rock. Oh, well.
Oreo cows! These are a Scottish belted breed; there are several, and I'm not sure which these are.
Neither of us took any more pictures, as the last 4 miles to Judith Landing looked pretty much like this, with the odd cottonwood grove for excitement.
Four miles after this picture, we took out at Judith Landing, loaded all our gear into the truck, said our goodbyes with Frank and Steve, and drove back to the trailer at Loma where we started, 67 river miles and three days of paddling ago. We sure appreciated hot showers!
On Friday, Dad took the truck and trailer back to Butte, and Mom and I took the car to Great Falls, where we went to the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center (http://www.fs.fed.us/r1/lewisclark/lcic.htm). This tipi was out front.
Here's what the skins of the tipi looked like from the inside. The sun shining through shows how much thicker and tougher the skin over the spine has to be.
About an hour later we piled back in the car and drove to Waterton-Glacier.
We drove through the park from east to west along Going-to-the-Sun Road, making frequent stops to gawk.
St Mary Lake was an incredible shade of blue, which Mom's camera almost captured.
She also captured me capturing the next shot.
Next we stopped at Rising Sun to take in this vista.
And the Big Sky...
How do I compose thee?
Let me count the ways.
Check out the color of that lake!
The Sun Point Nature Trail was our next stop--it was an easy 3 mile hike with a big payoff.
Here's the payoff.
Me in front of the footbridge we crossed to take these pictures. It's narrow and only has a rail on one side, so I was glad it wasn't any higher or longer than it was.
What a difference shutter speed makes! This is looking down at the stream from the footbridge, with a relatively long 1/50 second shutter speed.
And this is with a quick 1/250 second shutter stopping time and the rushing water.
Mom liked the little white flowers (anyone know what they are?) we passed on the way back to the car. UPDATE: Steve's wife Zsuzsa identifies these as "the thimbleberry--relative to raspberries, but produces a wider, flatter sour fruit."
St Mary Lake through the trees.
Would it be iron causing the red rock, do you suppose?
We stopped at Sunrift Gorge and thought this was pretty but perhaps a wee bit disappointing after the last waterfall...
And THEN we took a few dozen more steps upstream and saw the gorge! These pictures were hard to take because we were shooting right into the sun. Mom and I took turns shading each other's cameras.
I'm not sure any of these do a particularly good job of conveying the long, deep, narrow channel the stream had carved way back through black rock.
This one probably does the best job of it.
These were at the Jackson Glacier Overlook.
The Rockies never run out of surprises.
Logan Pass Visitor Center, at the top and central point on Going-to-the-Sun Road. We arrived right at closing time but were able to take a quick stroll through the center.
Looking northwest from behind the Visitor Center.
Who can resist a picture of snow in July?
Behind the Visitor Center.
I kind of liked the effect of this sun problem.