Mark DuBois Weblog

These are falls (and dams) on the Missouri River near Great Falls, MT. They are further downstream than the falls I visited in March. Lindsay – thanks for taking us to them. I believe these were the first of 5 separate falls faced by the Lewis and Clark Expedition. They are roughly 96 feet high.

I find it hard to believe it has been 40 years since I was sitting at home watching Neil Armstrong take his first steps on the moon. I recall tape recording Walter Cronkite’s commentary. Should still have the tapes somewhere (wonder if they are still viable). What was previously science fiction became reality. It is also hard to believe how much has happened since that time. We do live in a marvelous age. I never cease to be amazed at the possibilities af science and technology. So many lives have been improved and enriched through these advances.

While in the Missoula, MT area, I had the opportunity to look for fossils in the mid-Tertiary lake beds near Drummond, MT. Lots of fine grained shales (many readily split). Ben found a great fossil Hymenoptera. I found a very well preserved leaf along with numerous plant fragments and some midges. The sediments are along a large roadcut north of Drummond. Lots of climbing and splitting of shape to find these specimens.

We visited Garnet Ghost town during our trip to Montana in July, 2009. Here are some of the photos I took. It was a most interesting ghost town (very well preserved). We also visited the abandoned gold mines associated with the town. Some are log lined shafts over 100 feet deep (and now filled with water).

We had a great vacation with our family in July. In addition to visiting a number of sites in Montana and Wyoming, we also had some great time to just visit. Thought readers might enjoy some of these photos.

We had some time to view the 4th of July parade in Great Falls, MT during our first few days here. Thought these photos would be of interest. Let me know if you have questions (I simply don’t have time to tag the photos at this point).

These mountains are near where our family lives. Just a sampling of numerous photos I took during our visit. We had a great time. I wish I had time to place tags on these photos (I will try to do this later). In the interim, contact me if you have questions.