We arrived back in the lower 48 after being
north of the border for 3 months and 18 days. The crossing went without
incident and we added a new state to our “Traveled to” map as we had yet to
spend any time in Montana since hitting the road fulltime. Since this is the
last few weeks of our “Camper Adventure” we are getting ready to list it. I
have included some details in the last paragraph for anyone who is interested.
Because
of our accelerated route through Canada we were now 10 days ahead of schedule
but our stop at Yellowstone will eat up part of that and now we hope to hit the
Tetons and maybe stop at a favorite trout stream for a few days as we pass
through Wyoming.
We stopped in Columbia Falls, did laundry,
washed the truck and made our way towards Glacier. Since it was later in the
afternoon we decided to see if we could find a remote quiet campground outside
the park before heading into Glacier.
We
saw that there were several National Forest Service Campgrounds just south of
Hungry Horse on the Hungry Horse Reservoir.
The first one we stopped at was full but we
found a nice site at Lost Johnny Creek Campground ($13/night). There are a
total of 6 sites at this campground, nice and quiet with deer walking through
the area. Exactly what we were looking for.
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| This one has it's tongue out! |
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| Our site at Lost Johnny |
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| View from shore |
The next day we got up early and headed into
Glacier NP. As we approached the check-in station we saw a sign displaying the
status of all the campgrounds. About ½ were full already but Avalanche, the one
we hoped to stay at still showed availability. Since it was well before
check-out time we were pretty confident we would get a site.
We stopped at the Visitor’s Center, Barb got
her National Parks Passport stamped, saw that Avalanche still had openings and
we headed up the Going to the Sun Highway. As we approached the entrance for
the campground we saw the “Full” sign had been posted. Driving each of the
loops anyway just in case, we stopped and talked to people who seemed to be
packing up only to find out someone had already snagged their spots. I guess
“Full” meant full. We did walk the Trail of Cedars since we were there, a short
but scenic hike through the cedar forest.
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Avalanche Gorge
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One thing I will say about Glacier was that it
was not nearly as busy as Jasper or Banff. The roadside pullouts were not
packed to capacity and the Visitor’s Center was not nearly as crowded. The
other thing we noticed is that most of the tourists were English speaking
visitors whereas in Canada it seems like they were in the minority. Up there we
noticed a lot of European, Asian and Middle Eastern visitors as well as French
speaking Canadians. After thinking about it we figured it had something to do
with the current status of the Canadian dollar. A lot of tourists from foreign
countries are traveling to Canada this year since their dollar is so strong
comparatively and the Canadians are not traveling out of country for the same
reason.
After striking out at Avalanche we went to Plan
B which was to stay at a remote campground on the northwest edge of the park.
#1 we like remote and #2 we figured there were be availability there. To get to
Bowman Lake Campground you actually have to leave the park on the western edge,
drive north about 25 miles and then east again back into the park. The first
half of the trip is on paved roads while the last ½ is all gravel. You reenter
the park just outside of Pole Bridge and then you take a narrow switchback road
6 miles to the park. Some of the switchbacks were really tight and the road is
so narrow we had to pull over if we ran into another vehicle. I personally would
not take anything bigger than a very small travel trailer down this road.
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| Narrow windy road all the up |
The 6 mile drive took us about 25 minutes and we
arrived at the campground to find it only about ½ full and after getting set up
and walking the park we were glad that Plan A did not work out. This place was
awesome! Bowman Lake is nestled between mountains on all sides, the water is
crystal clear and the area had some great hikes.
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| More deer right in the campground |
Over the next two days we kayaked, hiked and
relaxed getting out in the kayak a few times.
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| Does it get any better than this? |
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| Daisy did not fall in once! |
I don’t know what it is with us and hikes but
unless it has some significant elevation changes we don’t like to hike them. We
discussed this as we hiked the Lower Quartz Lake Trail with it’s 1,200’
elevation change in about 2 ½ miles. About ½ way up I asked Barb why we just
didn’t hike the Bowman Lake Trail which only had an 80’ elevation change.
Switchback after switchback we headed up the trail taking a breather now and
then. At one point we heard a shout down the trail below us and every 30
seconds we would hear it again a little closer and a little closer. Eventually
a young girl came jogging up the trail shouting every once in a while as a bear
alert. She jogged by us as Barb and I were huffing and puffing. If I could have
gotten off the log I was resting on I would have pushed her over just for
spite! Determined, we eventually made it to the top. The return trip was much
much easier.
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| One of the many swtichbacks on the way up |
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| Lots of different berry plants along the way |
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| View from the top |
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| Headed back down |
We left Glacier the following morning, again
vowing to return in the off season so we can do more exploring within the
interior of the park. Bowman Lake is a great little campground and I am glad we
did it now with the small camper as there is no way to even get close with
anything big.
We made our way south as Barb searched our route
for free campgrounds along the way. It is amazing the number of free
campgrounds in some areas. Montana seems to have more than many states we have
been in. Most are State Recreation Areas with campgrounds in them. Most free
campgrounds don’t offer a lot of the amenities you get in your fee based parks
but it seems like the ones we have run into in Montana do. Picnic tables, fire
pits and vault restrooms. Sometimes you have to put up with a cow of two
wandering through your campsite but it all adds to the adventure! Our personal
criteria for a free site is that is has to be within 5 miles, 10 at the most,
of the road we are traveling anyway. After all, it does not make a lot of sense
to drive 20 miles (40 round trip) off of your route to save $15-20. With the
fuel you burn getting there that just does not add up.
Over the course of the next several days we
worked our way south towards Yellowstone staying at free sites along the way. Inez
Lake only ¼ mile off highway 83 was a great site where we spent the afternoon
swimming and relaxing.
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| Another site with a view |
Of course there is always the Walmart which is
what we did in Helena where we stayed for a day while Barb took advantage of
the strong WiFi and did some work.
Then
it was on to Toston Dam site right on the Missouri River where they have 5 free
sites right next to the dam. The water did not look swimmable but we did get
out and do some hiking in the surrounding hills.
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| More Open Range country |
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| It is amazing what trees will grow out of |
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| This little guy was peeking out at me from a stump |
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| A cave I explored on the way up |
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| View from the top, our camper is the little white dot just right of dead center |
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| There's Barbie and Daisy down by the truck! |
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| I climbed to the highest peak on the right side |
This was great little spot right on the river
and really quiet except for the occasional train. The trains were actually
peaceful as well with one coming by every hour or so. That is until it was time
to sleep…. A train every hour or so ALL NIGHT LONG!
Our last stop before entering Yellowstone was
Carbella BLM Rec. Area off of Highway 89 just north of Yellowstone’s north
entrance. This is a dispersed campground situated right on the Yellowstone
River. Although there are trees right along the river, it is an open area with
sage, cactus and antelope. It was very windy the day we were there but a great
place to hang out before heading into the park. I talked to a BLM employee who
was doing some maintenance who said that normally this area is packed with
campers, tubers and fisherman but all water activity is prohibited right now
due to a parasite in the river. We read recently where this is killing a lot of
fish in the river as well and hurting the local economy. Hopefully they will
get that figured out soon.
Tomorrow we head into the park for 5 days,
cannot wait!
We will be listing our camper as soon as we get
back to Salt Lake the 2
nd week of September. It is a 1998 Lance Legend
945, 11’3” extended cab. Features include, AC, storage tote mounted on top, built
in propane generator, microwave, side awning, 3 way fridge/freezer, stove/oven,
thermostat controlled furnace, fantastic fan, bathroom/shower unit, power
jacks, jack extensions for a dually and lots of storage. It is in great shape
and has been stored inside by both previous owners.
We have not had any problems with it whatsoever.
We did have a minor drip during a hard rain around the skylight but I sealed
everything tight and have not had an issue since. We are asking $6,900, anyone
interested can send us a note in our comment section (I will not publish the
comment) and we will get back to you.
