bug

while scrubbing the bottom of this canoe

update n’ stuff

Greetings family, friends and fans of my books. 

A little update on our wanderings in Montana:

We are in the lovely town of Hamilton, halfway down the Bitterroot Valley, south of Missoula. Here’s where we’re currently staying.

Route 93 runs through Hamilton, and if you only saw the town from the highway, you wouldn’t be too impressed. But get off the highway and go just one block west, and Hamilton oozes small town charm. The downtown area is nice and the neighborhood south and west of downtown is downright tony! Our place isn’t exactly shangri-la but it’s solidly built and the tree-lined street in front is pretty. 

 

We’re only a 20 minute drive from Lake Como. Last time we came the boys didn’t have licenses or poles. This time they have both. You have a bit better luck on the lakes right now, with the river running swift and high.  

Allen caught a nice little rainbow trout on his fifth cast. 

He cleaned it too. Then I ruined everything when I tried to cook it. Anyway, it got eaten.

The owner of the house had his family up for a night, so we made ourselves scarce. Had our first sit-down restaurant meal in a long time at a pancake house in Missoula, then we camped along a branch of the Bitterroot. There are designated fishing spots with parking all over the state. You’ll see a brown sign from the highway or country road with a fish on it and there will be a nice place to drop your line. This one had a campground too, and if you had a fishing license, it was only $12 a night. Mosquitoes no extra charge. 

Hamilton is about a 35 minute drive from the Terwiligers, between Darby and Sula. We went back down for a visit- I made a taco dinner for us, the T’s, 3 workawayers and a cyclist boarding for the night using the Warm Showers program. Mr. T made his famous chocolate ice cream from goat milk.

The kids are getting bigger. 

Next: Crossing the continental divide. 

 

no name lake

There was a path at the edge of our campground, that soon became a bushwack through the meadow and forest. Our new campground friends the Stollmeirs knew the way to the Lake of Mystery.

 

 

Forgive us our trespasses.

Maybe not the best idea out here in gun country (nightly blasts fill the air from the Bitterroot to the Flathead), but the campground/RV park owners said it was OK.

 

 

 

 

Flathead Lake

Lake of Mystery. Mr. Stollmeier, alias Pan, had his flute (ocarina) and played enchanting, somewhat haunting melodies while the boys fished and swam. Look closely and you can see all four of them in the water on the far side of the lake.

Kalispell roundup

The road, or stream you could say, running next to our campground. Man, it has rained a ton in the last month, and cold at night.

 

 

Boys finally got their fishing gear but still await their licenses. In the meantime, there are plenty of pine cones to cast and time to tinker with the reels.

 

We got invited to a real nice BBQ on Little Bitterroot Lake. 

I decided to park here. The bumpersticker on the Dodge says, “I identify as a Prius.” 

Summertime and the living is easy (and the weather cool)

 

Signs of the times. I guess there are lot of Karens in the ad-copy and poster-making world, even in Montana.

 

I’m not including this as a statement on precautions during the second coming of The Black Plague, just the Karenesque last sentence. 

 

Curiously, most Montanans don’t want praise for showing up to work. I didn’t say “You’re my hero” to the clerk here, but she was courteous and efficient anyway.

Allen after I explain what a “Karen” is. “Give it a rest, pops.” 

I didn’t take enough pictures in the Flathead Valley region. We took a canoe down to the Western side of Flathead Lake and thought about paddling out to Wild Horse Island, but it was further out than we thought, and a mean thunderstorm with heavy rain came through and nixed the plan anyway. Hopefully we’ll come back for that one later in the summer.

I do have some pics of a nice hike overlooking Flathead Lake, which will be the next entry. 

Happy 4th of July!

Glacier NP

Hurray! GNP is open… well sort of . The Indians First Nation People on the eastern (more beautiful) side of the park have closed off the roads to the entrances for the year, so only the west side is open. The effect is to make the western side parking lots fill up fast, and traffic snarls up. So the rangers then close down two thirds of the west side, and the remaining third that is open gets further jammed. They also have the campgrounds closed, so every state and forest service campground in the vicinity fill up. Social distancing enforced by reduced available space, ewkay.  If only everyone would stay home and play video games, demmit!

 

There is an upside to the closures, however.

After the Avalanche Lake trailhead parking lot, only walkers and bikers are allowed. It didn’t feel crowded at all!

Word has gotten out and cyclists from all over are enjoying the Going to the Sun road- and enjoying coming back from the sun even more! This was our picnic site along the river that feeds Lake McDonald. 

There’s a beautiful old-growth forest grove as you leave the parking lot on the Av. Lake trail. Note the mossy rock that looks like a T-Rex head.

Spring runoff flooding.

 

Middle of summer is best for GNP, but I love the rushing waters in June. 

 

 

Avalanche Lake might be the most beautiful place on the West side. I can stare at those waterfalls for hours. Owen fidgets, thinking of food.

Better exposure and a little more blue sky on this shot. You can print it and frame it if you like!