Slept a bit late again this morning, but up earlier than usual. Had tons of things to do and time is now growing short to get them all done. Spent some time putting all my newly washed pillows back into their pillow cases so that I won't have to do it in a hot trailer tomorrow when I take them back up to Longmont. Also straightened out all the junk and chaos that has become my dresser and the kitchen table. The table still looks like a bomb has hit it, but there are still photo's and documents to deal with, so it will be a few more days before it all disappears again.

   Took some time off to go eat lunch with my friend Joe. May not get another chance to see him again before I leave next week. So it was nice to sit down with him one last time and just talk about none essential things. Had to go back home after that and take both Rhodie and Lucy out for a quick walk and some treats. Then it was back out on the road again to meet up with my friend George for dinner and a movie.

   We went and saw the movie 'Percy Jackson; Sea of Monsters', or some such thing. Wasn't really expecting much out of it really, but it was the only thing out there right now that neither of us had seen or that looked at all interesting to us as a Guys Night Out movie. Turns out that it was really a lot more entertaining than either of us thought it would be. The whole plot was bogus of course, being Science Fiction/Fantasy, but it was an interesting take on some of the old Greek myths and the animation and acting was very well done. Plus, there was even some decent humor in the dialogue.

    For dinner we went on over to Los Delicious for Mexican food where we had a great time eating all of that hot, gooey goodness while talking about boating and books and other hot topics of interest.

    Back home after all of that and back to work on more pictures. Have now finished up all of my own pictures from our river trip. They will all be posted over the next couple of days, including quite a few in this posting. Still need to take a look at the photo's that a couple friends took on the trip. For now though I'm pretty much done for the day. Need to be up fairly early in the morning in order to run a few errands before meeting my friends Paul and Maggie for lunch before preceding on to Longmont for the rest of the afternoon. So enjoy the photo's posted below. Be sure to check earlier posts for other pictures.

Missouri River Trip in Montana - August 2013

The beginning of the 4th day on the river and we are holding over one more day here at Eagle Creek camp.

Lucy and Rhodie never seem to tire of chasing things: sticks, balls or their own Frisbee.

We are soon headed up a nearby coulee, or dry wash, that we know of, for a nice early morning hike. Lot's of cool rock formations along the sides of the canyon.

More fantastic shapes. Note the large roundish 'concretions' sticking out of some of the walls in this and the following pictures. Also note that many of the indentations in the walls are round from where these harder sandstone 'balls' have eroded and fallen out of the walls.

 

 

The canyon is starting to get deeper.

 

Some very ripe choke-cherries. A native shrub or tree, these have the most heavenly smell in the spring when they are blooming. Their name reflects their ability to make anyone's mouth 'pucker up' even when fully ripe. That being said, they make wonderful jelly if you can find enough of them before the bears, coyotes and other critters eat them first, and if you have a ton of sugar to add to the mix.

Heading on into the slot canyon portion of the hike. There had been a good rainstorm in the area a day or two before we were there and you could see how high and fast the water must of been flowing through here.



A good place for every ones picture.  Tom and the dogs.

Steph and Lucy.



 John and Caroline.

 A closer view.

 

End of the line this time. To much water to wade through after this point.

 

 

Heading back to camp for lunch and a short break.

After lunch we ferried across the river to the base of the cliffs there. After walking about an 1/8th of a mile we turned up another slot canyon we knew, with the idea of climbing up to the top of the cliffs, where the remains of the Eye of the Needle still stand. This is the view from the slot at about halfway up.

It was a bit of a scramble up most of the canyon. We had to help each other several times along the way.

There were several times where we had to use a rope to scramble up the slope.

Check out the harder, round, sandstone concretions stuck in the side of the walls.

Caroline is nearly past the worst of it. If you don't mind the 'Ledge of Death' that is. (Just kidding).

Last to come up is John.

Everyone who wanted to come up made it. From left to right: Steph, Tom, Caroline and John.

Here we see Tom standing between the twin pillars that are all that remain of the Eye of the Needle. When we first visited the area, there was a rock top that spanned between the sides and made a very nice natural stone arch. There is disagreement about what happened to the top of the arch. There was one story going around that some boy scouts on a river trip toppled it off one day. Another said it was girl scouts, so who knows. I actually think it just fell off one day with out any help from anyone. Based on the erosion patterns I think the arch was formed when flowing water found a crack in the sandstone lower down than what it had been and quickly eroded out the original arch.

Looking down at our boats way below from the top of the cliff.

A closer view of the boats. Getting across the mud flat was a lot of fun. Mud up to your knees if you didn't watch out. Nearly lost one of my sandals there. Right next to the 3 foot long dead snake that evidently got washed out in the last rainstorm. Makes you really understand why you don't camp on those beautiful, dry sand spits at the mouth of canyons in the desert.

Some were complaining about no pictures of me.... So you can stop complaining now.

Next Christmas Card?

 You really don't want to step back any further. It's a long, long way to the bottom.

Looking downriver from the top of the cliff. The dark butte in the center is LaBarge Rock. Named after a steamboat captain, it is the remains of an old volcano.

Another view of the boats and LaBarge Rock.

 

The 'Ledge of Death'. Can't really tell, but it is only around 12 inches wide and drops off about 70 feet straight down.

Going down wasn't any easier than going up was.

Look close, just to the right of the front corner of the cliff and you can see a vertical channel, the dark line, where water and sand have cut into the face. Look at the top of the channel and you can just see the two pillars of the Eye of the Needle.

Lucy and her stick.