Last 2 days in Great Falls and catch up

Saturday Morning we went to ride on the Rivers Edge Trail again, but in a different area.  As we were riding, we came across a Farmers/Craft Market, so enjoyed walking around that and seeing the different wares.  We split a huckleberry lintz and bought some huckleberry jelly.

We then rode back to the car because we wanted to go to First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park.  Short bike ride, but a pleasant surprise finding the market.

First Peoples Buffalo Jump State Park visitor center had a display about the jump and then we did the 3 mile hike to see the “jump spot”.  The Native Americans used every part of the buffalo for something they needed.  They considered the buffalo sacred, for without them they could not survive.  In this particular area the way they “hunted” the buffalo was to entice the herd over the cliffs.  Any that did not die, they were able to easily kill because they were injured.  

One of the Native Americans, the Buffalo Runner, would be draped in a calf robe and make noises like a lost calf to bring the herd to the cliff.  The way buffalo work is there is a lead female buffalo in the herd and basically wherever she goes, they all follow.  So the buffalo runner would get this lead buffalo to go toward the cliff.  By the time the buffalo realizes there is a cliff it is too late.  Even if other buffalo realize, the push of the herd behind them does not allow them to stop.  The buffalo runner has a spot that they jump to right before the cliff or a rock right near the top of the cliff to get out of the way as the buffalo fall over the cliff.  Sometimes they would move the herd many miles to get them to the cliff.   Once they were over the cliff, the work began of using every part of the buffalo for survival.

It is hard to show in the pictures, but at the top it is flat plain for as far as we could see and then suddenly there was the cliff.  I find the ingenuity fascinating.  

We also saw a cool rock formation on the trip and a caught a bee in a flower.

The final day in Great Falls we went to see the Great Falls, the only fall we didn’t see on our bike ride.  There was a walking bridge to an island park (Brian, I thought of you with the “swaying bridge”) with views of both the falls and the Missouri River.  

I have to say driving around to the various activities that we did, I can see where the phrase “amber waves of grain” comes from.  Miles and miles and miles of fields.

We then traveled to Missoula, MT.  We got to go to Big Sky Brewery which makes Moose Drool beer.  Dave first tried Moose Drool beer when we went to Yellowstone National Park many years ago.  He simply tried it due to the name, but enjoyed it alot.  When we saw how close we were going to be to the brewery, we knew we had to go.  

That night we stayed at a Harvest Host Farm. Here are some picks of the farm.  

We also got a “tour” in the morning about soil and what they are doing to improve the soil.  Carbon, phosphorus, worms, fungi, bacteria…it was very interesting.  Proves I have some research to do when I try to improve my garden in Florida.  They also raise Pheasants for people to come and hunt them.    He says they charge $500 for the experience.  He also told us about a class he had on property where they trained hunting dogs to detect rattle snakes to protect themselves and their owners.  So many things in our country I had no idea about.

Today we travelled to Couer D’Alene, ID.  

I hope you all are finding this interesting.  If there are any suggestions of how to make it better, please let me know in the comments. Thx.