After our cavern tour yesterday, we stopped in the exhibits and talked with the ranger at the desk. We asked what else there was to do in the area other than the Caverns, and she suggested the boat tour of the Gates of the Mountain. After a bit of research, we decided it sounded like fun, as we like boat tours. The two hour Gates of the Mountain boat tour ($16 per person) is on a stretch of the Missouri River, 20 miles north of Helena, that cuts a canyon through limestone mountains. This is the same limestone formation that the Lewis and Clark Caverns are formed out of. The canyon is flooded due to a couple of damns, compared to what it was in the early 1800s when Lewis and Clark rowed there way up the Missouri River. The canyon was so steep they could not tow the boats from shore and had to row up river against the current and through the various obstacles. As they rowed, the sheer rock walls closed in on them and seemed like they would fall in on them. Thus they called them the gates, as they seemed to open and close as they passed through. We only had to share the large tour boat with six other people (the boat was capable of handling over 100), three of which were noisy out of control kids. Brian, our tour guide and captain, pointed out several interesting rock formations, arches, Bald Eagle nests, and Osprey nests. We also were able to see a mature and a fledgling Bald Eagle. This area was also the location of the worst Smoke Jumper loss of life. Thirteen Smoke Jumpers lost their lives in 1959 in the Mann Canyon fire when the fire jumped behind them and trapped them against the canyon wall. The tour was very pretty and well worth the effort.
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| View up the Canyon |
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| Bald Eagle |
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| Rhinoceros Rock (there is an Osprey Nest on the tip of the horn) |
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| Gates of the Mountains |
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