In August, Ian and Trudy and Indy came for a visit. Yippie!! My friends Bill Cone and Carol Kulish called and invited me on a canoe trip down the White Cliffs section of the Missouri River. I said that was cool except I could only go if Ian and Trudy and Indy, their dog, could come too. They graciously allowed us all to tag along.
As soon as Ian and Trudy got here we did some frantic meal planning, overloaded my car with two canoes (mine and one stolen from Bill and Carol), got up early, and drove to the put in.
Ian MacLachlan and Laurie and Ian's sister Anne came along, as did my friends Land Lindbergh and his wife Janet. Land and Janet were off down the river before the rest of us were even packed!
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| Put In |
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| Ian and Trudy and Indy the bionic non-water dog |
When we stopped for lunch the first day there was a young eagle nearby.
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| Eagle | White Cliffs |
Bill and Carol had an especially difficult time on this trip, having to paddle a lot harder than the rest of us. Some people are just natural canoeists, and others aren't. I felt really sorry for them, but there wasn't much I could do about it. We all tried to set a good example but they just never seemed to catch on.
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| Bill and Carol |
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| Land and Janet | |
Our camp the first night was near LaBarge rock, across the river from one of Lewis and Clark's camps.
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| The White Cliffs | LaBarge Rock | Camp near LaBarge Rock | Camp near LaBarge Rock | Nearby Cliffs
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The next morning we went across the river and hiked up this cool slot canyon. It felt like we were in Utah canyon country.
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| Setting up for group/self portrait
No it's not! She's in the photo... Photo by Bill Cone |
Slot Canyon |
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| Typical river view | My canoeing partner, Anne | |
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The Garbage Scow
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We stopped at this homestead but no one answered when we knocked. They had left the car in the driveway for us so I took Carol for a spin. It was a nice day so we put the top down and enjoyed the scenery. Ian and Trudy snuck out to the drive in.
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| Ian MacLachlan at the homestead
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Anne on old tractor
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| Carol and Gary |
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| Trudy and Ian |
The folks had planted these pretty purple flowers in their front yard but I don't know if they were a native or not.
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| Purple flowers |
The last day the wind came up and we all tried to rig sails. Ian and Trudy did pretty well with their scarecrow viking ship. Mine was a dismal failure.
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| Ian and Trudy Viking Ship | Ian and Laurie | In need of a better designer |
And a good time was had by all...
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| The Missouri River Gang |
The next day Ian drove up to Whitefish while Trudy and I hopped on our trusty steeds and rode. It was hot and dusty and a long ways, but we made it. We had some pretty good tough ole mountain horses, and they came through in fine shape. They weren't hardly sore at all and seemed ready to do it again the next day. We met up with Ian and did a walk in the trees at Big Mountain.
It was pretty cool, and gave me all sorts of ideas for things to do in my spare time.
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| Trudy and Gary on the trail to Whitefish
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Ian and Trudy in the Trees | On a Platform | Walkway |
This page last updated on 2013-10-23.
