Inyan-oka-la-ka (Montana) and camping at Devil's Tower (Wyoming)

Left Theodore Roosevelt National Park this morning and started the trip home.  We missed a couple of small campgrounds in Montana so we stopped at Medicine Rock State Park (Montana) then headed towards Devils Tower, Wyoming.  The State Park was actually pretty neat since these rocks rose up out of nowhere.  

 This was one of the campsites in the park.  Would have been neat to stay here had it been closer to home and a bit cooler.

The graffiti was neat but also sad.  Some of it was so old that I thought it'd be cool to come back now and see your family's name (when people didn't know better than to do this) but also sad since there were some more current names (when people should know better.)

This outing turned into a typical husband event.  He kept thinking we could have lunch around the next corner where there would be shade (it was 90 degrees).   Well you can tell what the terrain looked like; mile after mile of this and the sweet clover:

There were no trees, no hills, no shade, no corners (straight as an arrow)!  Matter of fact there were no cars until we had to pull over to go the bathroom!  Go figure... We finally had to settle on an improvised lunch in the car.

We pulled into the Devils Tower Campground in mid afternoon with the temperatures still soaring. We decided to put the tent up and hang out in the shade.  We saved the hiking/exploring for after dinner when it was cooler.

Surprisingly or maybe not so surprisingly (the heat) the campground wasn't full on the 4th of July.  

Our site (B22-had shade and decent views of the Tower):

Let me tell you nothing beats a campfire when it's ninety degrees out!  It was necessary in order to cook our dinner.

The kids were finally up late enough to catch some fireworks.  The KOA down the road put on a pretty good show that we could see right from our campsite!

The next morning the kids weren't in the mood for photographs.  

 I thought these nifty breakfast treats would put them in better spirits but the hubby and I ended up eating all but one of these!

Cool Caves at Lewis & Clark Caverns State Park

I don't know if this is one of Montana's best kept secrets but it should be!  I'm so glad I found the brochure for this at the laundromat.  We might have camped here too but it was just too darn hot. 
This state park is only 120 miles north of Yellowstone's north entrance. 

The brochure says it's a 2 mile, 2 hour walk (it is especially with the talkative guide we had) with some stooping and bending required.  The trail to the cave entrance gains 300 feet in elevation.  Inside the caverns there are 600 descending stairs.  Bring a sweater for the 50 degree temperature in the cave. 

It goes without saying that the kids loved the cave.  Anytime they can stand in the dark and have flashlights make them happy.

 We certainly weren't expecting this cool of a cave.  It was a pleasant surprise.

To get out of the cave you go through this last tunnel that they had to carve out of the mountain.  You end up 300' lower than where you started. All in all it was a neat experience.

 

Hike: Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park
Trails Used:  Caves Trail

Distance: 1.07 miles (the brochure says 2 miles but my GPS was off inside the cave)

Difficulty: Moderate (hot walk to cave with 600 stairs to descend and stooping/sliding)
Overall average: 2.4 mph
Overall Time: 0 hrs, 26 mins
Total Ascent: 227 ft. (Brochure says 300 feet)

Montana State Fair in Great Falls, MT

We headed to Great Falls, MT for our third and last hotel stay on the trip.  Luckily, we checked out the visitor's center first and discovered that the Montana Sate Fair was starting that night and going through the weekend.  We quickly discovered this meant the hotels were already booked and had raised rates.  After searching for about an hour we finally found a room at the Comfort Inn.  I think the only reason we were able to find a room was due to all the construction around the hotel.  It was difficult to figure out how to get to it. 

We went to Rikki's Pizza and Pasta for lunch.  It didn't look that inviting from the outside but we all had good meals. 

 

We had a bruschetta appetizer

 

and a shrimp pizza.

My non pizza eater ordered the mac n cheese of course.

 

Look at that bumped and bruised face!  I don't think I mentioned it before but she managed to 'flop' on every single hike we did this trip.  They were always full frontal with maximum body contact flops too.   It was a running joke in the family about how long it would take her to 'flop' each time.

Someone had told us to go the Lewis & Clark National Historic Trail Interpretive Center.  This was a great museum with very cool exhibits.  They also had a Junior Ranger type program so the kids earned another badge here.  This is a great place to take the family.

We ran out of time to try the bike trails in Great Falls but it looked like they had quite a few and it would have been fun to do if we had the time.

We stopped in for an early drink at the Sip n Dip Lounge in downtown.  This bar was part of a hotel that we had tried to stay at but was booked.  The hotel pool is showcased through the back bar window.  If you look closely you can see a boy swimming near the top of the pool.  It was great..him and his sister had their goggles on and would come down and stare at the people in the bar. 

We finally headed for the Montana State Fair.  They had your typical display's of tractors.  

We didn't see too much else besides the rides because the kids were having so much fun.  

 

 

We ran to get dinner at one point and passed the marines.  Chris couldn't resist challenging them to see how many pull ups he could do.  I don't think he did real well since he only got a neck lanyard.  He really wanted that water bottle!

Overall, we weren't that impressed with Great Falls.  The museum was worth a stop and the kids did have a great time at the fair but we didn't see too much else of interest to do there.

Sad...our last day in Glacier!

Hiked down to St. Mary Falls.  The water was a beautiful blue color (like Mexico) that comes from glacial lakes. 

Then we headed to Virginia Falls. 

We weren't expecting a falls this impressive. We were glad that we made the trip!

One of my favorite pictures:

Hike: St. Mary and Virginia Falls

Trails Used:  St. Mary Falls to Virginia Falls and back

Distance: 4.04 miles

Difficulty: Moderate
Overall average: 1.9 mph
Overall Time: 2 hrs, 07 mins
Total Ascent: 1111 ft.

Finished up our Junior Ranger sheets:

Checked out Running Eagle Falls on the Two Medicine entrance:

 Hike: Running Eagle Falls

Trails Used:  Running Eagle Falls Trail at Two Medicine

Distance: .7 miles

Difficulty: Easy
Overall average: 1.6 mph
Overall Time: 0 hrs, 27 mins
Total Ascent: 211 ft.

 

Pretty area but I'm not sure the 2 hour (the more direct route happened to be closed that day-it would have taken off at least 1/2 an hour) drive there was worth it.  The East Glacier Park entrance was very cute. It's one of the better entryways into the park.

That night the clouds and moon were setting up interesting photo opportunities for me:

After all the talk of bears in campsites this ended up being the only wildlife we saw at Rising Sun:

Leaving the park the next morning:

Views of Saint Mary Lake:

Good bye Glacier, we will be back!