Bent's Old Fort

One of the first attractions we wanted to see when we came to La Junta was Bent's Old Fort, which we managed on our 3rd or 4th day here. It lived up to our expectations, and is a place we will want to return to many times. I'll touch briefly on the origins and use of the Old Fort. Charles Bent and Ceran St. Vrain, both seasoned traders and trappers, entered the famous Santa Fe trade in 1829. It soon became evident that a headquarters for the lucrative Mexican and Indian trading should be situated near the border with Mexico, then along the Arkansas River, and in the midst of the southern tribes of Cheyenne, Arapahoe, Sioux, Comanches, Kiowas, and even Blackfeet and Gros Ventres Indians. Actual building began in 1833.

The main items for trade were buffalo hides, horses and mules, and whiskey. We enjoyed seeing this restored merchantile, complete with sleeping cat!

Here is the inside of the fort, a large courtyard in the midst of the two story walls. Though it was a hot day when we visited, we felt a deep coolness inside each room because of the very thick adobe walls.

This is one of the upstairs rooms. 
The fort did a brisk business until the U.S. declared war on Mexico in 1846, and the fort became headquarters for awhile for the army. Charles Bent was appointed governor of the new province which included New Mexico, but was killed in the revolt of the Mexican people. This spelled the end of the era and of the company.

Each of the thick walled rooms inside the Fort had its own fireplace. Very cozy!

 

Within a few years of Bent's and St. Vrain's deaths, the Cheyennes, Arapahoes, and other tribes that had frequented their adobe trading post would all be confined to reservations, and the buffalo herds driven to virtual extinction on the southern plains.

 

Here we see the restored Doctor's office, on the second floor. You can see the huge logs used for the ceiling. These same big logs were above the bottom floor, supporting the second story. The fort had various uses for the next few years, including as a stage station, a post office, and a cattle ranching headquarters. By the early 1900s the fort had fallen into ruin. The site was transferred to the State Historical Society of Colorado in 1954, and complete restoration was begun in 1975. Because of the volumes written by various traders and occupants of the fort over the years, and the artifacts that were dug up, the restoration is quite accurate.
 

Being a cat lover, I had to revisit the merchantile to see if the cat was still sleeping there. He raised his head to thank me for the pets, very content in his old fort. He was not the only animal we saw there. The Fort had a corral in the back with chickens and a few cows and at least one horse. The adobe walls had cactus planted all around the top, thus discouraging thieves from breaking in.

Before we headed back to La Junta we went a little further east to the small town of Las Animas, and there we found this gorgeous Bent County Courthouse in the middle of the dusty, sleepy town. I believe this town is also along the old Santa Fe Trail, which runs through La Junta, too. There is so much history in this area, and we intend to explore it wherever we can! I hope to go into more detail about Bent's Old Fort on future visits.

Missoula MT to La Junta CO

 After a year and a half in one place, our longest stay since our workamping years, we are on the road again, heading east and south from Missoula MT to La Junta CO, 1,000 miles. This is super exciting for us! We wondered if our rig and our BigTruk would remember how to roll. They did! This scene is somewhere between Missoula and Bozeman.

 Mr. Keith and I were anxious to stay at the Bozeman KOA, where we worked in 2013, and to see our former managers there. The park has been expanded and improved, which was fun for us to see.

 Here's Robert, enjoying some coffee with us and catching up with our families' news. The best part of our RVing lifestyle is the people we meet and have met and stayed in touch with. We may not ever see some of them again, but some we do, and it's always a pleasure.

 Somewhere on the road to Hardin MT.

 The Hardin KOA is a small, but pleasant park out in the middle of a farming area. We enjoyed our stay here. At this time of year, autumn, there are not many RVers staying. We thought about visiting the Monument to Custer's Last Stand, but have seen it several times, so we reluctantly passed it up this trip.

 I love this "fence" at the Hardin KOA. There were old bicycles circling the entire perimeter of the park, a unique and humorous idea for a fence. South of Hardin we passed through some very beautiful country, at least till we reached Buffalo WY and exited I-90 for I-25. Unfortunately, I couldn't snap pictures while traveling down the highway behind the 5th wheel.

After Buffalo the scenery changed to dry, mostly flat and treeless, not so pretty. Douglas WY is a nice little town known for the famous "Jackalope". Their town center features this cute statue. We stayed at the Douglas KOA, a fairly large, very well kept park.

 We were excited about visiting the Denver East/Strasburg KOA where we worked for two winters. After battling some pretty tough traffic heading south towards Denver, we got off on a toll freeway skirting the metropolis, then onto I-70 going east. It was almost like home, getting to Strasburg, especially when we found we'd been assigned Space #68, the very spot we occupied both winters, a fact unknown to the gal who put us there. For dinner we ordered chicken wings, which we had cooked numerous times, along with pizza, at the KOA when we were employed here. Yum! The next morning we had a joyous reunion with our former boss Tracy, breakfast and a wonderful visit at her house. We were sad to leave, but we were ready for the final leg of our 1000 mile journey.

The last leg of our journey was the shortest, and also the hardest, south from Limon on Hwy 71. The road was bumpy and things inside the RV spilled all over! This was a desolate road, but we came out on Hwy 50 and on to La Junta, our winter abode. Here we are at the KOA, in our spot for the next several months. We toured the town, population about 7,000, and found it to be neat, clean, and very attractive. We will love it here!

Psalm 23 in Pictures

 The Lord is my Shepherd, I shall not want.

(Upper Rattlesnake Greenway)

 He makes me lie down in green pastures.

(Packer Meadows, Lolo Pass)

 He leads me beside still waters.

(Upper Rattlesnake Greenway, Williams Water Ditch)

 He restores my soul.

 (Power Park, Rattlesnake Creek)

 He leads me in paths of righteousness..

(Nez Perce Loop. Pattee Canyon)

 for His Name's sake.

(Greenough Park Trail)

 Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, 

I will fear no evil, for He is with me. 

(Glade Creek Loop Trail, Lolo Pass)

I am comforted.

 (9 Mile Ranger Station, Grand Menard Trail)

He prepares a table for me in the presence of my enemies.

He anoints my head with oil. My cup 

runs over.

(Power Park, Upper Rattlesnake Greenway)

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, 

and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

(St. Ignatius)

Camas Flowers at Lolo Pass

We waited eagerly for news about the camas flowers this spring, a yearly event not to be missed if you are a wildflower aficionado as I am. There is a website that gives updates, and, finally, the time of blooming was announced, and I had a day off at the right time. We drove up to Lolo Pass, on the Montana - Idaho border and found lots of other fans of the camas flower already at the Visitor Center. We had planned to find a trail to hike on in the area, and did that before going out to Packer Meadows where the camas grows.

There were so many other kinds of wildflowers blooming all along the trail and everywhere. I was especially happy to find a Jacob's Ladder, one I've seen pictures of, but not ever found for myself.

At last, a lake of blue!
The quamash, an Indian word, was a food source for many native peoples in the western United States and Canada. After being harvested in the autumn, once the flowers have withered, the bulbs were pit-roasted or boiled. A pit-cooked camas bulb looks and tastes something like baked sweet potato, but sweeter. When dried, the bulbs could be pounded into flour. Native American tribes who ate camas include the Nez Perce, Cree, Coast Salish, Lummi, and Blackfoot tribes, among many others.

A close-up! I was reluctant to squash any of these gorgeous flowers, but I did carefully get on my knees to snap this photo.

Lewis and Clark, we read, who followed the Lolo Pass trail along with the natives, also camped in Packer Meadows in 1806 and learned from their Native American friends to dig and eat the bulbs.

I think everyone else was also reluctant to make paths into the sea of blue, but there was this one well used path out into the middle of the meadow. It was like we all couldn't get enough of the beauty surrounding us!

I am drowning in this stunning profusion of flowers, on my knees here. We were so happy that we got to see the blooming at its height. I read that a mere few days later the flowers had begun to fade.

Waterworks Hill Hike

 I have a wonderful book titled "Day Hikes Around Missoula Montana". Each hike is broken down with descriptions, directions, difficulty, mileage, maps, etc. Since we've seen about everything around here that we want to see, we are spending my days off trying out a variety of hikes. We're starting with the more gentle hikes, not too steep and not over 3 miles. This one was 2.5 miles. Waterworks Hill is right across I-90 from downtown Missoula and the literature boasted both millions of wildflowers and awesome views of the city. We concur! The name comes from a huge, silver water reservoir on the hillside. I hope you will enlarge each of these photos to get the best view.

 Always a favorite of mine, the shy and beautiful Bitterroot adorned the hills here and there. These delicate, leafless flowers seem to prefer dry, rocky terrain. They even have a mountain range named for them.

 I could not identify this daisy-like flower, but was intrigued by the unusual leaf structure and color.

We climbed up and up quite a ways, then saw this scene ahead of us. Helpful hikers assured us there was a shortcut before the top of the hill which led to the return route we had planned. We decided that was the one for us!

 Looking back from the entrance to the shortcut we saw this gorgeous scene, Mt. Jumbo with the "L" and Mt. Sentinel with the famous "M". The valley between the two mountains is Hellgate Canyon where I-90 takes travelers east.

 Looking down from our high point we saw the trail below, heading back towards where we had left our car. It's called Cherry Gulch. I have always found it more difficult to go downhill rather than uphill, but what goes up must come down! These hills below are covered with a yellow flowering plant called Leafy Spurge, though it doesn't show too well in this photo.

 Coming down from the high, treeless and rocky hill above we came back into a young ponderosa pine forest with the leafy spurge thick all around.

One more photo along our trail, showing the spurge and other wildflowers, with majestic clouds shadowing Mt. Sentinel. The Waterworks Hill Hike was well worth exploring! We met lots of folks who were also out on this sunny, warm day.

The Mission Mountains

Our first glimpse of the awesome Mission Mountains this spring! The last time we came up here to view the snow-capped peaks we were completely fogged in, no mountains in sight! This scene is just south of the town of Arlee.

We always like to stop at Wilson Foods in Arlee, just because we share the name. Mr. Keith needs his coffee for the drive.

We thought we might get a good view of the mountains from the National Bison Range, remembering how high the road through there goes. But, the high road was closed for the winter and we were allowed to drive only on the lower outskirts of the range. We found a small group of Bison enjoying the sunshine and munching away on the dried grass.

The gorgeous Mission Mountains from the Bison Range.

 

I know these peaks must have individual names, but I wasn't able to figure it out from the map we had in the car.

As we drove back out from the Range we passed the bison again. I like the one lying down with the magpie on his back! Must be some bugs in that winter coat!

Driving northeast through the Charlo area we passed many farms and lots of cattle. These ranchers must be in heaven with a view like that every day.

A picturesque red barn along the way.

I couldn't get my fill of picture taking. This is near the Nine-Pipe National Wildlife Refuge where we saw lots of geese and other birds.

 

Here we are headed east back towards the main road, Highway 93.

The town of Saint Ignatius sits here, a settlement of about 900 people on the Flathead Indian Reservation. What a view they have!

One of our favorite places to visit is the St. Ignatius Mission, founded by Father Peter De Smet in 1841. We didn't go inside on this trip, but from a former visit we remember the amazing paintings on the ceiling and the beautiful interior of the church. We were happy that we got to see the gorgeous Mission Mountains with the snow still topping them on a sunny day. We will return when the Bison Range opens for the summer, and maybe we'll even go farther north to Flathead Lake and Glacier National Park!