Helena - Part 1

From the Badlands we had a nice relaxing night in Billings, MT which made for a pretty easy drive to Helena. We met up with our good friends (and hosts!) Linda and Rudy and wasted very little time getting to the breweries. Helena has (in my humble opinion) two fantastic microbreweries, Lewis and Clark and Brewing Company and Blackfoot River Brewing Company. Their beer is excellent across the board, and their tasting rooms are a very pleasant place to drink 1-3 pints (but thou shalt not drink a fourth sayeth strange Montana liquor licensing.)

Anyway, here's me getting down to business. Susan is showing great restraint by taking this picture. This is probably one of at least four different beer samplers we photographed on this trip.


That night we drove up to Linda and Rudy's place in the mountains (named "The Lodge at Austin Creek," or "The Lodge" if you're into that whole brevity thing. We (and by that I mean Rudy and Linda who you can JUST make out toiling in the kitchen) cooked one of many nice dinners we had there. Rudy was a good sport this night as Susan, Aunt Linda, and I had already gotten a bit goofy from the beer sampling.


I think nearly all of the shots in this post were taken by Susan. This is one she snapped off of the cabin in which we stayed. If memory serves, it's about 100 years old. The Lodge is on an old mining claim and I believe this cabin was used by one of the prospectors. Rudy just did a lot of work inside replacing the floor, resealing it, installing a new stove and propane lights.


The next day Rudy drove us up Mullan pass (a storied road running through their land). Here's a picture looking west from the divide at the top.


They were doing a lot of work on the railroad at the top of the pass. In fact, the picture on the wiki I linked above shows a tunnel that they were trying to shorten. It's nearly a mile long and I believe they were having trouble with lack of oxygen choking the diesel engines. Again, this might be another fact I've gotten wrong (sorry Rudy). They had things blocked off or we would have taken pictures of the tunnel work up close. Susan did take pictures of some of their toys though. I'm guessing this machine shoots railroad ties. Right or wrong I want one.


This is an attachment which they use to scrape ice off of the walls of the tunnel in the winter. Good times.


Helena has a little "train" in which they drive tourists around the city and give a guided tour of some of the cities history. We did this later in the day with Rudy. I would recommend it! It was especially fun to see the mansions that gold built.


Rudy supplemented local info as we rolled through town. Can't remember whether Susan or I took this picture, but I'd love to take credit for it.