|
|
||
|
|
|
|
 |
|||
 by Lynn Ferrin Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 "If You're Going..." |
 That's one
thing that makes
trains so interesting-they
pass through the back
yards of America,
and often your
perspective of
the orderly
downtowns, the
shining mountains,
is from the
wrong side of
the tracks.
And theres
the sociability
of trains. The
sharing of the
tableaux passing
by the windows,
the ease of moving about, of
standing in vestibules,
and switching
seats, all make
for friendly talk.
Maybe 20 miles
beyond Helena,
we spot Canyon
Ferry Lake,
which gives
pause to the
Missouri River.
The train crosses
the river-not
so wide here-near
Townsend, and
we follow it
upstream, through
its pleasant
canyon. From
Toston to the
headwaters, we-re
pretty much away
from roads. We look
for antelope along
the flats; we spot
ospreys, herons,
an elk or two
scrambling up
the embankment.
The country opens out
where the Jefferson,
Madison and Gallatin
rivers flow together.
There's an appealing
state park here at
Missouri Headwaters,
with a scatter of
tents near where
Lewis and Clark
camped in 1805.
From here, these
mountain waters
travel under the
name Missouri,
and are headed
across the plains
for St. Louis, and
down to New Orleans.
I recall what Mark
Twain wrote in
Roughing It after
passing nearby:
This flowing water
would ...finally,
after two long months
of daily and nightly
harassment, excitement,
enjoyment, adventure,
and awful peril of
parched throats,
pumps and evaporation,
pass the gulf and
enter into its rest
upon the bosom
of the tropic sea,
never to look upon
its snow peaks
again or regret
them.
The tracks choose
the Gallatin River
and run alongside
for 15 miles or so,
in a valley of
potato, wheat, and
hay fields. Before
we get to Livingston,
the train drives
through the Bozeman
Tunnel under 5,560-foot
Bozeman Pass,
between the Bridger
and the Absaroka
ranges (where
black storms are
now raging, with
occasional glints
of sun on snow).
Clark came this
way on his return
east in 1806.
STOPOVER MISSOULA
Spend an evening in
Missoula, and you'll
probably want to return
for a longer look.
It's a pleasant
town of old brick
and stone buildings
at the confluence
of the Clark Fork
and the Bitterroot
rivers. As a college
town (University of
Montana), it has good
coffee, good bookstores,
live music, cafes with
ethnic cuisines. But it's
also a quintessential Montana
town, with fly-fishing outfitters
and big mountains at its doorstep.
Best way to spend a short visit:
Pick up a walking tour
map at your hotel and
go strolling. Whatever
your age, be sure to
visit this jewel in
riverfront Caras Park:
the Carousel, handmade
in the early 1990s by
local volunteer carvers,
the first new carousel in
the U.S. in 50 years. Some
38 hand-painted horses whirl
around (so fast you need the
seatbelt), light bulbs flash,
the band organ
plays "Merry Widow Waltz."
Nearby a kiosk describes good
walking [Missoula Courthouse] trails;
at least, walk across the river
footbridge. It's fun to wander
downtown, poking into art
galleries and shops such
as "Rattlesnake Dry Goods"
and "Red Pies Over Montana."
For supper, there are many
good choices; most in our group,
in keeping with the theme of
our visit, went to The Depot.
You can end the evening at a free
concert in the outdoor pavilion
by the river. For tourist
information, call the Missoula
CVB at (406) 543-6623. At Livingston,
we disembark near the stunning depot,
built in 1902 in the Italianate style,
with dramatic colonnades and emblazoned
with the NPRR's distinctive corporate
emblem, the red and black yin-yang.
(The same architect designed Grand
Central Terminal in Manhattan.)
Back then, tourists from everywhere
stopped in Livingston to change
trains on their way to see Yellowstone
National Park, 50 miles south.
Teddy Roosevelt passed by many
times, hunting, dreaming of
great public parklands. In 1903
he gave a speech at the depot when
he came to dedicate the Roosevelt
Arch up at the park entrance in
Gardiner. Now it's a charming
museum and cultural hall, the
Livingston Depot Center, with
exhibits on Rocky Mountain
railroading (and this summer,
on Yellowstone's
125th anniversary).
Livingston is the end of the
line for the Daylight. Passengers can
climb on a bus for Bozeman or Billings
for flights home, or hang out in
Montana for a while.
One has seen the rivers and the mountains.
Yes, one could hang out. |
|
|