Gates of the Mountains Boat Tour: a Relaxing Experience - Wednesday, June 24, 2020

Yesterday, Bob, Diane Howell Evans, and I did the 11k Helena, Montana, Volksmarch. For Diane and I, it capped our goal of walking in all 51 U.S. capitals (including Washington, D.C.). 

Today, we are resting. By that I mean, we (Bob, Diane, her husband Rick, and I) are taking a two-hour boat tour called Gates of the Mountains out of north Helena, Montana. 

Upon arrival at the marina, we checked in at the office/gift shop to pick up our tickets. Then we went to a pavilion next to the marina to wait for our tour to leave. The pavilion contained the history of the area: Lewis & Clark Expedition, flora and fauna, Mann Gulch Fire, and geology. 

Two tour boats headed out today. We were able to choose the boat we wanted to be on. One boat, "Sacajawea II," was open air and had a planned stop to use the "facilities" at a picnic area half-way through our ride. The other boat, "Canyon Voyager" (the one we chose), had a bathroom on board, seating was covered and enclosed, although all the windows were all open, and there was also an outside seating area. 

Turns out we picked the boat with Brian Zimmerman as captain and tour guide. He is the manager of Gates of the Mountains Boat Tours. Good choice of boat and guide. 

[NOTE: I wanted to mention that this boat tour has been on my bucket list since the boys were 13 and 9, that's 54 years! We tried to go on it back then, but I miscalculated the time it would take to get here from Glacier National Park and the last tour of the day was sailing away as we drove in on the access road. Time flies. Eventually, you will be able to do things on your bucket list (if you have one).]

Entering Gates of the Mountains
Recreation Area

Our first wildlife sighting.

Brian Zimmerman, manager,
captain, tour guide.

I've had people comment that no one on the tour was wearing masks. All the windows were open with a steady flow of fresh air as we made our way down-river. The boat was not full. We didn't have much contact with others.

Bob on the tour boat. 

Diane Howell Evans. 

We started out in scenery like this. 

The tour brochure describes the experience like this:

"Nestled halfway between Yellowstone and Glacier National Park beats the heart of Montana named the Gates of the Mountains by the undaunted explorer Meriwether Lewis, July 19, 1805. He wrote in his journal 'this evening we entered much the most remarkable cliffs that we have yet seen. These cliffs rise from the waters edge on either side perpendicularly to the height of 1200 feet.'"*

Our first wildlife sighting was a deer at the edge of the water. The area is also home to black bear, bighorn sheep, moose, otters, ermine, beaver, and even cougars. Our guide explained to us that mountain goats do not do well here. The reason is that mountain goats are used to living in higher, more hostile environments and they are not used to looking UP for predators. Here, there are more predators that attack from above than there are at higher elevations, so mountain goats are at a disadvantage. 

It wasn't long before we were dwarfed by towering Madison Limestone cliffs. The cliffs are punctuated with hundreds of small holes, caves, and natural bridges showing the force of the Madison River over eons.

"The river appears to have forced its way through this immense body of solid rock for the distance of 5-3/4 miles and where it makes its exit below has thrown on either side vast columns of rocks mountains high."*

Today, 20 miles down the Missouri River is a hydroelectric dam named after Anton Holter, Holter Dam, so the campsite of Meriwether Lewis is covered by the waters of Holter Lake. Holter Lake did not exist in the time of Meriwether Lewis so the columns of rock looked 60' higher then than they do today.

An opening to one of the caves in the limestone.

Limestone cliffs.

Holter Lake formed by the Madison River.

Helena formation (Mesoproterozoic).

Along the way, Brian pointed out the nests of a pair of bald eagles in a tree and an osprey nest atop a rock formation.

Center bottom is an osprey sitting in the nest. 

Note the huge bald eagle nest at
the top of the tree on the left.

We passed a picnic area and a couple of camping areas accessible only by boat.

Coulter Campground.

Meriwether Picnic Area.

Find your own place to camp!

Arch.

Pictographs.

The flora (Kelseya Uniflora) that looks like broccoli in the photo below is rare. Kelseya is in the rose family and clings to rocky cliffs around here. It was discovered by Francis Duncan Kelsey in 1888. If you come to the Gates of the Mountains when it is blooming, the canyon walls would be covered in pink.

Kelseya Uniflora

When Meriwether Lewis and crew were exploring the Missouri River trying to find a passage through to the West, upon first encountering the area now known as Gates of the Mountains, it looked to them like a dead end due to the configuration of the rock walls. However, as they got closer, it looked like the rock walls opened up and they found where the river flowed through. 

When we got to the area where the Gates of the Mountains were, our captain moved the boat around so that we could see how the passage disappeared from view, and then reappeared. Of course, back then it looked much different, wilder, there was no dam in place to tame the river.

As our tour boat gently motored on the lake behind the dam, Brian pointed out different rock formations that people thought looked like elephants, rhinoceros, and a monkey face. There were lots of opportunities to find your own rock formation to be creative in designating what it might look like.

Here's one right in front of us.

Brian also told us the story of the Mann Gulch Fire in 1949. Thirteen firefighters, most of them smokejumpers, lost their lives. They got trapped when the fire came back on itself, surrounding them. It is reminiscent of the Yarnell Hill Fire in Arizona in 2013 when 19 Granite Mountain Hotshots lost their lives. 

And in 2007, most of the wilderness was burned by the Meriwether Fire. Trees and shrubs are starting to regrow in this area.

Gorgeous scenery and weather today.

Gates of the Mountain marina.

I am in front of "Canyon Voyager."

After a visit to the gift shop, where everyone wore their masks, we headed back to north Helena and the four of us had lunch at Grub Stake Restaurant. It was a very nice time spent getting acquainted with our new friends, Rick and Diane. We have a lot in common and plan to see them the next time we travel to the Olympic Peninsula. 

After lunch, we invited them over to see our 5th wheel. Then they headed home and we got ready to head out in the morning.

Tomorrow, we will make our way to Island Park, Idaho. 

* Meriwether Lewis quotes are from "The Journals of Lewis & Clark, Volume 4," Gary E. Moulton, editor.