Starting Mileage leaving West Yellowstone: 5781
Ending Mileage arriving Ennis, MT: 5854
Miles Driven: 73
Avg. MPG: 7.2
Overnight: Ennis, Montana
Ennis RV Village
Travel Day
Sightseeing Day:
- Quake Lake
This morning we were up late, puttered around, and then maneuvered out of our tightly squeezed RV site. Ken was there to say goodbye to us. Got to know him so well, and he's so personable, felt like we were leaving an old friend. He "winters" in Flagstaff, AZ. So, he'll be closing the campground the first week in October.
We headed north on MT 87 to west on US 287, heading for Ennis, MT, so that we could tour Virginia City and Nevada City, Montana.
We hadn't driven but a few miles when we were stopped for road construction. We had to sit for about 30 minutes. Because we were first in line, we got quite chummy with the road crew.
Our first vista was the beautiful Hebgen Lake. You'll notice that it is quite hazy from all the fires. But, calming and peaceful nevertheless.
We hadn't been able to decide if we would stop at Quake Lake or not. It's really hard to relive the devastation of an earthquake (we lived 6 blocks from the Veteran's Hospital in Sylmar, CA, when it collapsed in the 1971 earthquake--61 people in the area died in the 1971 earthquake). When we saw the visitor's center, we decided we'd stop. And, we are glad that we did.
The visitor's center had a great video about the 1956 earthquake that hit the area. It was about midnight when it struck. The 28 folks that died were mostly from the campground in the area. The hillside slid down upon them. Others were killed because the force of the landslide hitting the lake caused a tidal-wave-like back splash that forced houses to be washed away (up stream). Many of the houses are still sitting where they landed in farmland. These are kept there as a memorial. Now, I hope I can explain this through the pictures that I have to share with you.
In this first picture (below), on the left side, you can see the barren hillside where the land slid into the river/lake. In the center of this picture is a flat, black structure; this is the visitor's center. On the right side of the picture is where a lot of hillside piled up, across the river. There are 19 people still missing and it is presumed they are buried under the debris--they were campers. When all the dirt from the hillside dammed up the river, Hebgen Lake began to fill up and the dam started to crumble. So, townspeople feverishly worked to dig a trench around the dam to let the water flow out of the lake and reduce pressure. All the time, there was rescuing going on. The dam held and further destruction below the dam was averted. The landslide created a new lake, which is, of course, called Quake Lake.
There is a seismograph at the visitor's center, and we could see the 5.4 earthquake that occurred in Pomona, CA, a few days before our visit.
There is a picture of Dave walking on the visitor's center patio facing the hillside that slide. The parking lot picture shows more of the hillside that crossed the river--and see our sweet little ol' RV?
After coming out of the hills surrounding Quake Lake, we dropped into this beautiful valley.
The rest of the drive was in the basin of the valley. We arrived around 2 PM. The town was really cute. Very western looking. We didn't bother to completely set up camp as we were really hungry. So, we unhooked the car and dashed into town for lunch.
After our late lunch, we returned to the campground to finish setting up. In the early evening we sat at the table in our campsite to enjoy this incredible view. Dave set up his powerful binoculars to look out at the deer in the field. He was happy watchin' his critters!
No dinner tonight as we had the late lunch. We'll check out the sights tomorrow. Adios amigos!
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