Halcyon days

 

Were you ever as lucky as these guys? Summer days spent camping at the lake, staying out till the sun went down, cold and freezing in the water but not wanting to come in? Then you probably lived near Flathead Lake in Montana, a pristine glacially formed 200 acre lake that wins awards for water quality in addition to scenery. The Montana brochure said not to miss sunset there, and what a sunset it was.

I took so many photos; it was so hard to stop clicking. And there were no bad ones. All the time, while I was clicking, there were the kiddos, playing till the last minute, mothers calling them from the campsites in vain.

Mozy thru Moise montana

 

Here in the middle of nowhere Montana, unless you happen to be from here, south of flathead lake and along the Flathead River, is the National Bison Range. It's on an indian reservation but part of the national parks system, meaning, one more place our Geezer Pass gets us into for nothing. There's a 19 mile gravel road through all the grazing ranges, and if you are lucky, you will see some of the 600 bison and their 60 babies. We saw a few, and a few antelope, and I think maybe a herd of elk off in the distance.

Best part of the whole deal is the road. It winds up from the river level to 4700 feet with a million panaramas, including the Rockies to the east, the river to the west, ponderosas and douglas fir. Nice drive, a little dusty.

We ended our day halfway to the primo hot springs at Challis by stopping in Hamilton, where we saw our next grill at the campsite next door. Ours had been pronounced DOA the night before, and for $20 after two years of service, it didn't owe us much. The ladies next door had just bought it at Albertsons and there was one left, they said. We ran to get it. It's a great little grill, just right.

I watched the neighbor put the grill together, and I could tell she was handy with the tools. We got to discussing why she was there. She had come to plant her husband, and I felt so sad I had brought up a sensitive subject. But she said no, he died five years ago, but this was his home and it was time to put his ashes here. They had come here every year from Washington to visit in their RV. I really liked her on the spot. She reminded me of Mom's cousin Scotty Irene. She had that strong independence that you respect in a widow.

Daisy had her third night of torture there at the Black Rabbit RV park. See her blog for the sad details.

White Sulphur Springs to Great Falls, Montana

White Sulphur Springs was our home for the night, in the middle of a wide valley, in the Conestoga RV Park. Daisy loved sitting outside greeting our Albertan neighbors, and at dusk a herd of deer passed in the nearby pasture. I have been feeling like a lonesome cowboy all day, and the remoteness of our camp enforced it.

Early next morning, I requested a latte stop at the local expresso/garden shop. I was greeted by a large yellow lab rolling seed potatoes on the floor. What a friendly lad....and good coffee too.

We moved on slowly into the Little Belt Mountains, having been warned by the potato dog's master that there would be snow on Kings Hill Pass. The snow was a light layer of powder over melted rivlets. We followed Belt Creek, swollen from snow melt, for miles, until the road broke away to avoid a chasm of 1000 foot cliffs. We rejoined the stream at an overlook for Sluice Boxes State Park, then descended into Great Falls.

After a hardware store stopover for RV mechanical supplies, we took a tour of the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center at the falls. There were five falls here before dams somewhat obscured them. The expedition knew they were really on the Missouri River because Indians had told them there would be falls. That was the good news. What a trek they had to go around them 18 miles overland with all their supplies and boats. The portage delayed them over a month on their quest to reach the Pacific.

The City of Great Falls has a 30 mile hike and bike path along the river and the falls, with 12 miles paved. We are hoping for the rain to let up so we can bike it.

We settled in at Dick's RV park, a two night stay with the Indi 500 Race on the docket for Sunday. Carl's favorites in the race all had mishaps, but then, we didn't bet any money either.

Carl replaced the door hinge, the drawer runners, the running light and a few things that had nothing to do with the guardrail incident. He's still got the tailpipe bracket to do, but we need the rain to stop.

Daisy really wants the rain to stop. She had a run in the dog yard during a brief respite. Felt so good! Same effect as me doing Yoga on the RV floor this morning.

Tomorrow we leave for St. Mary's just outside Glacier. Read about the RV Park run by the Johnson's at www.johnsonsofstmary.com and you will see why we are looking forward to the visit.