From Big Hole to Darby

We spent three nights camped on the Big Hole River at a wonderful BLM campgound. $5 to us; we love the Golden Age Pass, which gets us half price camping at federal campgrounds.

One day we headed over the mountains, stopping at the Big Hole National Battlefield, where we watched videos and hiked the trails to see where this heartrending conflict between US soldiers and Chief Joseph's people happened.  It began with a middle of the night massacre of sleeping families, but the Indians mounted a counter attack. The story continued with Chief Joseph's people fleeing over a period of months toward Canada. Unfortunately they were forced to surrender while still on the US side of the border.

My captors--er, the guys--forced me to climb high up the hillside to get a full understanding of the event.

We continued over the mountain and north to Darby, where we enjoyed a rare visit with one of our grandsons. We spent the afternoon in Hamilton. It was wonderful watching the cousins enjoy their day together.

 They found fish, a crayfish, snakes, and this frog.

 We topped off the visit with a visit to Pizza Hut. It was a long drive back to camp, but completely worth it.