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| As we left the campground,
traveling again on the gravel road, we were treated to yet another
beautiful view. I do hate that the atmosphere is always hazy.
I remember the days when we had CLEAR skies. |
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| The landscape in Montana seems
to change constantly. As we turned east on CO 200, toward Great
Falls, we quickly entered agricultural territory again. |
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| We had an uneventful trip to Great Falls and
settled into the KOA campground for 3 nights. The KOA was our third
choice as the other two campgrounds we visited were pretty bad. Cost
at the KOA? $66 a night - ouch! Our first "tourist"
activity was Giant Springs State Park. |
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| Giant Springs was discovered by
the Lewis and Clark Expedition in 1805 and is one of the largest
freshwater springs in the country. The spring originates from
snowmelt in the Little Belt Mountains, 60 miles away. Bear with
William Clark's poor grammar and spelling as I share how he described the
spring: "the largest fountain or Spring I have ever saw, and doubt if
it is not the largest in America Known, this water boils up from under the
rocks near the edge of the river and falls immediately into the river 8
feets and keeps it Colour for a mile which is emencely Clear and of a
bluish Cast . . ." William may have been a great explorer but
he would never have passed my high school English teacher's class! |
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| The springs flow at a rate of
156 million gallons of water per day and the water stays at a constant temperature
of 54 degrees. They say it takes about 50 years for the water to
flow from the Little Belt Mountains to the Giant Springs area. Wow! |
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| The water from Giant Springs
forms the Roe River, only 201 feet in length, and known as one of the
shortest rivers in the world. Ironically, the Missouri River (into
which the Roe flows) is our country's longest river, stretching 2,540
miles - 200 miles longer than the Mississippi River. |
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| And THIS, friends, is the
clearest water we have seen anywhere! Unbelievable. |
