We continued on our trip along the Lewis and Clark National Historical Trail, traveling across Montana and seeing many of the famous Lewis and Clark sites. We completed another 10 Parks On The Air activations along the way.
The expedition took two different routes going westbound and coming back eastbound. We were not going to do both, so we had to choose our route. In Montana, we mostly followed traveled west on the route that Clark took eastbound on the Yellowstone River. (Lewis and Clark split up for a while on the return trip.) This allowed us to see some particular sites such as Pompeys Pillar and Clarks Overlook. When we got to Three Forks, MT, which is the headwaters of the Missouri River, we backtracked north on the Missouri to the Great Falls. So we were able to see most of the particular sites we are interested in.
Along The Yellowstone
This Lewis and Clark display is in the small town of Hysham, MT. As you can see, it has a small town, kitschy look to it. But we liked it.
Pompeys Pillar was named for Sacagewea’s son, who’s nickname was Pompy. This is an notable rock formation in the Pompeys Pillar National Monument. This is the place where Clark’s signature can be seen etched in the rock from over 200 years ago. Pretty cool.
We stopped at Tower Rock State Park two times. The first time we hiked to the summit (W7M/NF-125) and did a short SOTA activation. The second time, we stayed in the parking lot and did a POTA activation (US-2601).
Great Falls, MT
So far, the best interpretive center we have visited on this trip is in Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center in Great Falls, MT. The quality and depth of the displays were excellent. Great Falls has a lot to offer in general, so it is worth exploring there for a few days.
What I am not showing are photos of the falls. This series of falls, spread out over ten miles, have been dramatically changed by hydroelectric dams and are no longer very scenic. They had a large impact on the expedition, causing a difficult portage of canoes and supplies to avoid them. They are worth a visit to see the vertical drop that Lewis and Clark had to deal with, but the scenic value is gone.
Lemhi Pass
The big POTA activation that we focused on was from Lemhi Pass. This is where the Corps of Discovery reached the Continental Divide, coming from the east, and realized that they had a long way to go to the Pacific Ocean. I discovered that this could be a 3Fer POTA activation that includes the Lewis and Clark Trail (US-4572), The Continental Divide Trail (US-4558), and the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest (US-4499).
We found a open area right at the pass to operate, on the Montana side of the Continental Divide.
Parks On The Air Activations
Our typical POTA operation uses our Yaesu FT-991 set for 50 to 80 watts of RF output, into an end-fed long wire (9:1 unun from Palomar). about 41 feet long. We usually start on 20m SSB, with me making 10 or 20 contacts, then handing it off to K0JJW to do the same. We are usually operating somewhere between midday and late afternoon, depending on our travel schedule. We used 17m and 15m a few times but they did not yield as many contacts. After the SSB contacts, I usually made some digital Qs on 30m or 20m, mostly FT8 but some FT4. Joyce declined to participate in running digital.
Here’s the K0NR log for the most recent activations. The K0JJW log is similar but without digital.
| Date | Park | State | Data | Phone | Total |
| 16-Sep | US-4572 Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail | US-MT | 0 | 23 | 23 |
| 16-Sep | US-4548 Pompeys Pillar National Monument | US-MT | 0 | 23 | 23 |
| 18-Sep | US-4572 Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail | US-MT | 0 | 15 | 15 |
| 19-Sep | US-4572 Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail | US-MT | 12 | 15 | 27 |
| 19-Sep | US-2601 Tower Rock State Park | US-MT | 12 | 15 | 27 |
| 20-Sep | US-4572 Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail | US-MT | 21 | 20 | 41 |
| 20-Sep | US-4558 Continental Divide Trail National Scenic Trail | US-MT | 21 | 20 | 41 |
| 20-Sep | US-4499 Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest | US-MT | 21 | 20 | 41 |
| 21-Sep | US-4572 Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail | US-MT | 5 | 14 | 19 |
| 21-Sep | US-2602 Travelers’ Rest State Park | US-MT | 5 | 14 | 19 |
Next up is driving across Idaho and on to the Columbia River.
See you on the air!
73 Bob K0NR