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Kananaskis Country - Rocky Mountains Part 3

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In which Moominmama despairs of getting a good photo of the Canadian Rockies due to smoky haze and rain... Smoke from the west continues to drift east, leaving me with mountain shots that look woefully overexposed. With the forecast calling for rain, Moominmama hoped the precipitation would clear the air. Instead it brought in low clouds, obscuring the peaks entirely. But no one in their right mind complains about rain when so many places in Canada and the northwestern U.S. are burning.  And the rain did let up at various times, inviting Moominmama to do some nice hikes up to some glacial lakes. I saw several bears (from my car), bighorn sheep (in the middle of the road), ptarmigan (including a mama and chicks) and pika, (see below) adorable members of the rabbit family, who live among the rocks at high altitude. Kananaskis, the area on the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies, is lesser known compared with the national parks in Banff and Jasper to the north. Rather than national...
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The 49th Parallel - Rocky Mountains Part 2

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  Wherein Moominmama joins an International Peace Park hike across the U.S.-Canadian border and enjoys a demonstration of Blackfoot Pow-wow dances... This year is the 49th summer that rangers from Glacier National Park and the Waterton Lakes National Park have led International Peace Park hikes from Waterton to Glacier across the 49th parallel. The two national parks abut one another, and back in the 1930s, our two countries decided to create the first international peace park, an idea that's been repeated elsewhere since then. As is the custom, one of the rangers reads a few words at the border restating a commitment between the U.S. and Canada never to raise arms against each other. Participants straddle the dividing line and shake hands. I'm not in the photo because I was taking it! But the dividing line is visible (see the v-shape beyond Ranger Frank), and is required to be cut or mowed regularly. Having seen the wall at our southern border, this carving through the brush s...
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Location: Waterton Lakes National Park of Canada, Waterton Park, AB T0K 2M0, Canada
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Lewis and Clark National Forest - the Rockies Part 1

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  In which Moominmama avoids Glacier National Park, asking if magnificent views of the Rockies can be had without the crowds? Moominmama camped in the Two Medicine area of Glacier National Park during her first year on the road. And it was a spectacular visit, a highlight of the summer .  But Two Medicine campground is closed this year, and the rest of Glacier National Park in August is a traffic headache, likely made worse by the decision to end timed-entry reservations. Instead, Moominmama decided to scope out the Eastern Rockies of the Lewis and Clark National Forest, just below Glacier National Park. The second consideration was escaping the heat!  When a ranger at First Peoples Buffalo Jump recommended Gibson Reservoir, I looked it up and realized it was close to a forest service campground, Home Gulch. Home Gulch is located along the Sun River, which was dammed to create the Gibson Reservoir in the mountains. The river, with its flow controlled by dams, irrigates mu...
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Location: Helena-Lewis & Clark National Forest, Neihart, MT 59465, USA
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Montana's Hi-Line

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  Wherein Moominmama visits an unusual local museum and a "buffalo jump" on the northern road across Montana... Montana's Hi-Line runs along the Canadian border, far from the bigger cities to the south. Most of this is rolling grassland, and Moominmama found a picturesque and private spot to camp just south of Havre, about halfway across the state. Havre was originally named Bullhook Bottoms, as it was located below the volcanic Bullhook peaks which have a divot as if a giant bison bull had hooked out a chunk of the rock.  Moominmama did a short hike of the hills but wasn't sure exactly which divot was the "bullhook." Back at the turn of the century though, the owner of the Great Northern Railway who was planning a major railroad stop in the community, urged the community to pick a more dignified name, and the French locals opted for Havre.  Havre, in those early days, was as wild west as it gets.  In 1904, two local cowboys visiting the saloon got annoyingl...
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Location: Great Falls, MT, USA
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Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota

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In which Moominmama endures brutal heat in North Dakota but pays her respects to the originator of our national parks, Theodore Roosevelt... It was 103° upon my arrival in Theodore Roosevelt National Park -- it's a shock to get out of an air-conditioned car into that kind of heat. But I counted myself lucky because it had reached 108° the day before. These badlands, beloved of Theodore Roosevelt, are remarkably green despite the heat. The winds here have blown dirt and seeds onto the mounds and buttes over time, allowing plants to grow where most badlands remain barren.  These buttes are also surrounded by massive grasslands. With the life-giving Little Missouri River nearby, even big Cottonwood trees have a chance in this landscape -- and they are surely a blessing when the sun blazes! Moominmama arrived shortly after the brand new Theodore Roosevelt Presidential Museum opened. Designed by a Norwegian architectural firm, it draws inspiration from the surrounding badlands in some l...
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Location: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Dakota, USA
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The Black Hills, Part II

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Wherein Moominmama hikes Black Elk Peak, the site of Black Elk's vision quest and the highest point in South Dakota... Black Elk Peak was renamed for the Oglala warrior and leader only 10 years ago, one year after Mount McKinley was renamed Denali in Alaska. Don't tell President Trump because both these name changes happened under President Obama, and Trump has already undone the Alaska renaming. Prior to the change, Black Elk Peak bore the name of the U.S. Army general responsible for a major massacre of Lakota families in 1855, and the lookout tower at Black Elk Peak built by the Civilian Conservation Corps still bears his name: Harney. To the Lakota, he is "Woman Killer." Nicholas Black Elk was a second cousin to Crazy Horse and present at the Battle of the Little Bighorn. (In 2021, Moominmama wrote about the Battle of the Little Bighorn .)  He later fought at Wounded Knee, but he is best known as a medicine man and visionary who said he was brought to this peak in...
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Location: Hill City, SD, USA
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The Black Hills, Part 1

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In which Moominmama walks on sacred ground and learns the stories of the Lakota and other Plains tribes who consider these hills to be holy... Tourist visits to Devil's Tower in eastern Wyoming picked up dramatically after Close Encounters of the Third Kind  and the film continues to draw visitors, probably more than an interest in Native American stories. The KOA campground outside the National Monument plays the film for campers every night during the summer season.  Fortunately, that wasn't Moominmama's campground though she wouldn't mind seeing the movie again. Instead, she wanted to learn the Lakota side of the story. Devil's Tower is a misnomer for starters. A cartographer who did not speak the language somehow confused "devil" for "bear." I can imagine a native person trying to act out the word like a game of Charades, and the cartographer getting it entirely wrong. But this magma extrusion's original name was (and is) Bear Lodge. Bear...
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Location: Wind Cave National Park, South Dakota, USA
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