Lewis and Clark Caverns ~ Montana

We left Missoula pretty early, we were on the road by about 5:30!  While we were driving I saw a sign that said "Cavern's Open" wondering what the caverns were all about I quickly changed lanes and exited the freeway. 

Along the way to find the cavern we found this.

I'm not 100% sure but I think its an old mine, maybe?

The drive up to the mountain felt like forever,

this is the view from the parking lot.

Lewis and Clark Cavern.

We got up here at about 9 and the next tour

was at 9:15!  Talk about good timing, the next

tour wasn't until 11:30.

If you click on this picture and open it in a larger view,

you can see a hole in the middle upper third of the picture.

That is the original cave entrance.  We hiked up past there

a ways to get to the entrance of the cave.

Waiting for our tour to start.  It was already

about 80 degrees out!

The view looking out at the Jefferson River and surrounding mountains

 from the path we were hiking on.

You can see the parking lot where we started from off in the distance.

Hayden made friends with a boy on the tour from Michigan.

He was 8 and they were inseperable for most of the tour.

Before we all left they exchanged address'

Farther away from the parking lot.

I am so out of shape and it was hot!

The view along the way

It was so pretty

The original cave entrance was found by 2 men in 1882.

They had heard of the caves from local Indian legend.

They kept this discovery mostly to themselves though.

In 1892, 2 hunters found the cave and returned 6 years later to explore the cave.

In 1940 electric lighting was put in the cave and tours began in 1941.

Lewis and Clark never went to the caves but travelled along the river,

so since they were nearby they called the cave Lewis and Clark Caverns.

We still had a ways to go though to get to the new entrance.

We made it! 

It was very pretty

This is a fossilized turtle shell in the limestone.

The caverns were once an acient sea.

The original cave entrance from the inside.

Can't say I would have wanted to climb down into a

dark cave.  But I am glad that the other guys wanted to.

Stalactites are formed when water drips down from

the ceiling of the cave.

Stalagmites are formed on the floor of the cave

by the water that dropped.

The stairs carved into the limestone.

They are beautiful!

The "Sundae Room"

I love that you are able to see different

things in the formations using your imagination.

There always seems to be great stories that come along

with these caves.

The "fingernails"

They think that this piece broke off at one point

and rolled to this resting place.

They love cave tours!

The "bacon" wall.  You can see the marbling here

and they were actually thin and protruding from the wall.

"Pig Ears"

The original stairs that were carved out

before the caves opened.