Day 48 – Friday 7/15/22

Great Falls, Montana – Miles 10 (walking)

When I woke up this morning, I was undecided about pressing on towards Missoula or spending the day in town. Ultimately, I decided to visit the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center and to see where the “Great” in Great Falls came from. It was a good decision. The Corps of Discovery spent thirty-one days in the area portaging their boats eighteen miles to avoid the five waterfalls from which the city gets its name. All but one is dammed up today to generate electricity for the region.

After so many hours spent turning the pedals, being on my feet felt strange. It was 4 miles to the Lewis and Clark Center, and I spent about 2 miles of it getting used to walking erect again. The route was along a rail\trail formerly owned by the Great Northern Railway. Great Falls used to be a copper processing center, and the factories along the river and railroads combined to get the product to customers around the country. When that industry disappeared in the early 80’s, the River’s Edge Trail was created.

Crossing under the bridges over the Missouri River.

Black Eagle Falls is the closest one to the city. It doesn’t look like much upstream, but downstream is impressive.

A little farther down the trail was a set of three figures, representing Lewis, Clark and Sacagawea.

The interpretive center sits along the river and is probably the largest one dedicated to telling the story of the expedition.

The center told the story of the expedition from the negotiations for Louisiana to what became of the participants in their later years.

I spent 2.5 hours learning about the history of the expedition then headed back down the trail.

I found a place to eat on the way back to the hotel that was excellent. The Roadhouse Diner serves mostly hamburgers and fries, but very good ones.

Tomorrow is Lincoln, Montana, near the Continental Divide. Missoula follows, just before riding into Idaho early next week.