Overnight at a Sheep Farm

We were amazed at the free and super cheap camping options in Idaho and Montana. Of course they're all dry camping, but I prefer that over full hook-ups in a city parking lot anyway. I found the Clark County Reservoir in Dillon, Montana has about six campgrounds along it's edge. Beaverhead Campground seemed to be the most popular and had the easiest access for our RV. It was perfect- peaceful, incredible scenery and fishing for Asher. Even Denali enjoyed the view and watching the Richardson's Ground Squirrels right outside our door. 

There's a popular birding hotspot at the south end of the lake, so as the sun was setting we went to check it out.  It was such a beautiful view, however......

It didn't last long as the bugs were INTENSE! The bug photo was taken thru the sunroof. There was no way we could lower a window or step out to scope the mudflats or lake. Still we saw quite a few birds from the safety of the truck. 

We made a quick stop in Butte, Montana to enjoy a pizza dinner and I noticed the Berkeley Pit was only a few blocks away. I was really the only person interested in seeing this former copper mine landmark, so I walked there while they waited for our pizza to bake. It's about one long and half a mile wide and 1,780ft deep. The water is so acidic it's on par with Coca Cola and causes dangerous chemicals to leach from the rock into the water. This has had devastating effects on birds who land in this deceptively attractive body of water. The worst loss happened in 2016 when several thousand snow geese died after taking refuge here during a snowstorm. Since then, they've been using multiple means to deter birds, a Phoenix Wailer emits an alarm call every few minutes and an employee is armed with a rifle to scare off any that ignore it. This plus the use of pyrotechnics, lasers and air cannons has been successful in preventing another mass casualty and keeping the losses to a minimum. 

Our next stop was our very first Harvest Host experience! Harvest Host is a membership based program that allows RVers to stay overnight at farms, wineries, museums, and businesses in exchange for a minimum purchase of $20. Locations can be found all over the United States and Canada. 

In Helena we were greeted upon arrival at KJ'n Ranch's Sheep Mountain Creamery, where the owner escorted us to a place to set up the RV with a beautiful view.  He arranged to give us a tour at 6pm and left us with a packet containing information about the history of the farm, what is available for purchase, and facts on the breeds of sheep and working dogs that live there.

We loved meeting their Pyr/Mar (Great Pyrenees and Maremma mix). Such a beautiful dog!

The farm has different breeds for meat, wool and milk. The milk sheep are being kept at a different location at this time, so we didn't get to meet them. 

The breeds they have include East Friesian, Lacaune, Awassi, Assaf, and Dorper.

We learned that covid had a huge impact on the wool industry. There are only a handful of people who are qualified to analyze and grade the wool before it can be auctioned. They all live in New Zealand and stopped working during covid, which backed everything up. Demand then began shifting to synthetic fibers and the price dropped from $2.60/lb to an astounding $0.03/lb! It wasn't even worth processing. So right now across the country there are wool farmers with literal barns full of wool just waiting to be graded and for prices to come up. Tough situation!

Month old Dorper lambs.

After our tour, we were treated with samples of their sheep milk, which is rich like creamer, packed with three times more vitamins and minerals than cow's milk, and is easier to digest, making it lactose tolerable. There is a huge demand for their sheep milk, so they are working on growing their flock. While a cow can produce 8-10 gallons per day, a sheep can only produce one. We sampled seven different cheeses that they make themselves. They were all delicious and we ended up walking home with a supply of cheese curds, milk and two types of seasoned sausage. Yum! Daddy has been trying to find more sheep milk ever since we ran out! 

This was a fantastic roadschool/homeschool learning experience! I highly recommend it!

Craters of the Moon

 

As we drove the highway that runs along the park, we quickly realized this place is different than anywhere we've been before. The earth was covered in a black crust as far as you could see. Because of its unique features, this area was one of the first designated national monuments in 1924. 

Our first stop was the visitor center for Jr Ranger books and to plan our visit. A display gave examples of the different types of lava rock formations we would encounter. There are a variety of caves to see, but unfortunately we were not allowed to enter because of the risk of White Nose Syndrome. If your shoes have EVER been in a cave, it is the policy of THIS park that those shoes are restricted from all caves (forever). The inconsistency between national park policies is frustrating. The national park we visited a week earlier had a procedure to disinfect shoes with bleach prior to beginning their cave tour. When we asked about that option, they initially said they didn't have the staff or time to disinfect shoes, and then we were told that we're not allowed to do it ourselves. We would have to buy new shoes to enter, not that there was anywhere to buy shoes. OK. So we skipped the cave tours and began the 7 mile scenic drive loop. 

You can really see how the lava flowed here and hardened in streams.

We climbed to the top of the Inferno Cone! It's only .2miles to the top, but it's quite steep!

At the top is a big flat area overlooking cinder cones lined up along the Great Rift.

It's very windy at the top, as this tree can attest. Despite its challenges, it's grown quite large, look closely to see the kids for scale.

The entire cone looks black from a distance, but when you pick up the lava rocks you're walking over, the first thing you notice is how lightweight it is. But then you realize there is a rainbow of colors sparkling back as you move it around in the sun. So pretty. 

Next we went to the Spatter Cones, three miniature volcanos. Visitors over the years were causing erosion, so walkways have been built to climb up and look inside the cones. The Snow Cone actually has snow inside of it year round! 

Before heading home we hiked the Tree Molds Trail where we encountered some really pretty flowers and Brewer's Sparrows.

It was fun finding this very large volcano crater along the trail. We had to talk Asher out of running down the side as it's much steeper and deeper than it appears! I imagine it would take seconds to run down and hours to climb out!