At Helena we left the Interstate and continued south on US-287 still following the path of the Missouri River. At lunch time we arrived at the town of Three Forks and stopped at the Wheat Montana shop for lunch. Wheat Montana is a third generation family run farm, mill, factory and shops in southwest Montana that raises their own wheat, mills, processes and bakes wheat products. They are headquartered in Three Forks. We always stop anytime we pass one of their shops as their breads and pastries are great. Three Forks got its name as it is the site where the three forks of the Missouri River: the Gallatin, Madison and Jefferson rivers merge to form the Missouri.
We continued south on US-287 following the path of the Madison towards its source. This is fly fishing and trout territory and as we drove along the Madison we saw lots of float boats with fly fisherman working the river. As we climbed the grade towards West Yellowstone we passed two very large lakes. The first is a new lake by the name of Earthquake Lake. It got its name as it was formed on October 17, 1959 by a magnitude 7.5 earthquake that triggered a massive landslide that dammed the Madison. Today the lake is 6 miles long and up to 190 ft. deep. Here is a photo I was able to download of the lake.
Just past Earthquake Lake was Hebgen Lake which was formed in 1914 to control flooding along the Madison and to generate electricity. It is 21 miles long and up to 4 miles wide. Would be a great place to have a fishing boat.
Shortly thereafter we arrived in West Yellowstone and found our campground. Here are a couple of photos of us set up at our site.
Tomorrow morning we will pick up a rental car and head in to Yellowstone and Grand Teton National Parks so we should have more interesting photos for you.
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