Fires

I've made my way all the way back down to Cascade, ID where I'll spend the next two weeks waiting for the Great Solar Eclipse 2017. I've been dodging forest fires all over the northwest. As I wrote and posted in my last entry, there was a pretty big fire just west of the campground near Lolo in the Lolo National Forest.

When I drove from there to my next camp outside Grangeville, there was a lot of smoke over Highway 12 until I got near Kooskia, then it was pretty clear from there. I found a really nice Campground seven miles southeast of Grangeville. There were several trails around the campground, the temperature was perfect, the other campers were quiet and well behaved, and I had a prime site. If I'd had better cell signal, I would have stayed for a week, but I only had one sporadic bar of 4G, so I only paid for three days.

I drove down to Grangeville one day for an internet connection so I could catch up on news and blogs, but otherwise, Hanna and I stuck close to our camp, and did a little hiking.

On Thursday morning, I moved back down to Last Chance Campground just outside McCall, where I'd spent a couple of nights last month on my way north. I knew there was a little signal and the campground was nice, right on rushing Goose Creek. This time I snagged the best site in the campground and paid for another three nights. The creek was just over the hill from our front yard, and I left my bedroom window open, so I could hear the flowing water  all night.

The second and third days, I started noticing a "haze" in the morning sky and thought it was low clouds. Today, as I drove south to Cascade, I realized it was smoke from nearby forest fires. The closer I got to Cascade, the denser it got, and when I reached the lake, I discovered you could hardly see across it.

I'm set up for just a couple of days in French Creek Campground. I got a nice roomy spot, but there are mosquitoes here, so I won't be spending much time outside. I've already had to get out the insect repellant.

Tomorrow I'll take the Fit and explore the nearby forest roads, looking for a dispersed campsite to settle into until after the eclipse. I've already checked the MVUM and found there are lots of designated areas nearby, so I'm hopeful I'll be able to find someplace nice. I just hope the smoke clears before August 21!

No beating the heat

I drove 2000 miles north looking for cold weather (should I tell you how many pullover sweaters and jeans I brought with me?) but it is not to be found. Part of the problem is there are not a lot of mountains with forest camping in northwestern Montana. I have had trouble finding campgrounds above 3500 feet elevation (that are not too far off the beaten path), and you need to be a lot higher than that to stay cool during the summer afternoons.

The other thing I have been chasing is a cell phone signal. Short of staying in an RV park in some city, I've been hard pressed to find many bars of service. In the past ~10 days, I've only had four days with at least one bar of 4G. That's just enough to get an occasional text message through, but not even enough to check the internet news, blogs and Facebook. Streaming Netflix? Forget about that!

Faced with these challenges, I guess it's time to turn back south. I gave some thought to going into Canada and driving to Banff. Dale told me Canadian National Parks are free this year. But without internet availability to put plans and routes in place and also knowing I'd have to turn off my phone while I am north of the border (to avoid expensive roaming charges), it would be hard to travel in a strange location without the resources I've become dependent on. So Canada will wait for another year.

After I left the Glacier area, I stayed in a large, busy campground on Kookanusa Lake just outside Eureka for three nights.

A couple days, Hanna and I drove into Eureka for groceries and internet signal. We got our two walks a day and 10,000 steps in. We saw this on one of those walks.

This morning we moved south of Missoula to a small campground near Lolo.

Tomorrow, I'll take the car back into Missoula to print out a temporary 30 day license for Minnie. I didn't realize when I left home in June that it would come due at the end of July AND that I needed an Emmissions check this year. After many phone calls and run around trying to obtain an out of state waiver, I've decided it will be cheaper and easier to buy a $15 temp permit and pay the $8 late fee when I get home and can license it in town. But I need to print the permit and attach it to my license plate and for that I need a copy/print shop.

It's also time to do some laundry, so I'll take care of that in Missoula tomorrow and come back here for one more night. Then I'll take that beautiful road I wrote about last week back west where I have my eye on a campground near Grangeville, ID.

Here's the sun this evening. Unfortunately, the beautiful red glow is caused by the smoke of a nearby forest fire. But it's still pretty.

Incredible Beauty

I'm a bit behind on blog posts because I have been camping in areas without cell signal. That's been okay, though, because it has allowed me to be alone with my thoughts and to take in the special meaning of where I have been this past week.

It's been a very emotional few days for me. After Mom died in February. I gathered up her ~2 dozen journals and took them home to read. She and my dad did a lot of camp travel, especially in their retirement years. I've enjoyed reading about their many trips to different national parks, back to New York and Pennsylvania, and to the lakes in New Mexico. Sometimes they took a grandkid or two along with them; sometimes it was just the two of them.

She always wrote her diary days as they happened, with no details of plans or preamble, as if the reader would know where they were headed. I don't remember where they went and when, so it's always a surprise reveal to read through the years. In 1987 (I think it was about that time; but I didn't bring those journals with me, so can't be positive of the year), they headed north to Montana. It eventually became apparent they were going to Glacier National Park. They stopped to visit friends and relatives on the way, and came into Glacier from the east. They camped nearby, left the trailer and drove the truck over Going To The Sun Road. Mom didn't write many details, but the way she worded her experience of the day really struck a chord with me. "Incredible Beauty". Just those two words. It was unlike her usual way of describing things, and I knew it must be something really special. That's when I decided Glacier National Park would be my ultimate destination this summer. I knew I would be in a good position to go north to Glacier after dropping the boys off in Boise after our Rushmore trip. Well, you've read my recaps of my journey thus far, so no need to go over it all again.

As I started nearing Glacier, I felt myself welling up with emotion thinking about it. It was almost as if Mom had lead me there, and she had something to show me. Something she wanted me to experience, just as she had experienced it.

On Sunday morning, I arrived at Glacier National Park and was disappointed to discover the campgrounds were full. I turned around and went out to find a place to camp in the surrounding forest, and ended up in a large pullout near Hungry Horse Reservoir with two couples who were tent camping.

I got up very early the next morning and arrived at Glacier's entrance before 8:00. Apgar Campground (which doesn't take reservations) had open spaces! I drove right over, and joined about 40 other campers trolling for someone's spot the minute they pulled out. At 9:30, on my ~20th circle through the loops, the Full signs went up. Out of luck! I stopped at the Visitor's Center and gift shop in Apgar Village, then headed back to Hungry Horse, where I lucked into an available spot in a forest campground. I paid for 2 nights.

 Monday morning, Hanna and I got in the car and set out on Going To The Sun Road. I stopped at many many pullouts and overlooks just to drink in the beauty and spectacular views. Each time I did, I told myself, Mom was here and saw this. Often times, I couldn't see the scenery for the tears in my eyes. I tried to take pictures, but it's impossible to capture the grandeur on digital bits, especially when the lens is only an iPhone. But I captured it in my heart and will treasure the experience.

At Logan Pass Visitor's Center, I drove around the parking lot for over an hour trying to snag a spot so I could take a short hike and go inside the VC, but finally gave up and headed on down the mountain. I stopped a few more times, simply because I was reluctant for the drive to end. By the time I got back to my camp at Hungry Horse, it was mid-afternoon and I just curled up in my recliner. It had been an exhausting journey.

Maybe some day I'll go back to Glacier National Park, in May or September, when the crowds are thinner and the campgrounds and parking lots are emptier. Maybe the mountains will look different, with snow or a different angle of the sun. Maybe I'll have someone with me to share the beauty. Or maybe I'll just tuck this one special trip into my treasure box and let it be enough.

Wedding in the Woods

After leaving the McCall, ID area, I traveled north on Hwy 93 until I reached Grangeville, where I turned east on 13, then 12. I wasn't sure what kind of road I would find through the Nez Perce - Clearwater Forest which followed the Lochsa River in eastern Idaho, but it was some of the best driving I have had this summer. The road was wide, the grades were gentle, the speed limit was 55mph, and the scenery was gorgeous. I drove about halfway from Grangeville to Missoula, where I found a nice large campground with plenty of spaces available.

Only Loop A was off limits, because it was reserved for a wedding. Yes, a wedding, in a campground, in the woods! It really was a lovely setting, and the bride and groom must have been outdoorsy types, to hold their wedding there. They were a pretty well behaved crowd too, only playing their dance music until 10:30 p.m. when it abruptly stopped and all was quiet. 

I drove the rest of the way to Missoula on that wonderful road,  turned north and stopped into a state park on Flathead Lake, where I found one space available. Beggars can't be choosers, or I would have chosen a better spot. I was in a pullout (NOT a pull through!) along side the camp road, with just enough room for my step. It was pretty warm and I was in the sun, so I had to run my generator and AC for three hours, then my 12V fan until after 10:00 p.m. But it was on a beautiful lake and Hanna and I walked down to it where she had fun snapping at the little waves and trying to catch one.

Tomorrow, Glacier National Park!

Homeward Bound

We checked out of Echo Valley RV Campground on Monday morning and started making our way west toward Boise. I wanted to avoid the high mountain pass through eastern Wyoming we had come over earlier in the week (dropping my MPG to 5.6), so decided to take I-90 north through Billings and Livingston, where we would turn south to cut through Yellowstone again. But first, where to camp in between?

I used my Allstays app to again look for campgrounds about 275 miles from our starting point. It looked like there was a Forest Service campground near Ft. Smith, on a river. I turned at Lodge Grass toward the spot indicated on my app, and found a very bumpy road. After about 20 miles of that, I missed the turn for the campground, but fortunately it was a loop road and there was another one just a half mile down the road. We took that turn, and traveled over an even bumpier road down to the river and the campground. There were 3 trucks with boats there, but no campers and no real designated spaces. It was not very appealing, and Steven was getting nervous, so we beat a hasty retreat, and headed on up the road to Hardin. A storm rolled in during the last few miles, and we took refuge at a truck stop until it passed. As soon as it cleared, we drove on down the interstate to Billings, where we found a welcoming Cracker Barrel. We had dinner in the restaurant, and slept soundly in our little RV in the back lot next to a park full of grass and trees. It was quiet and lovely, and there were two other rigs there with us.

On Tuesday, we drove on to Livingston, turned south toward Gardiner, and then 2 miles NE to Eagle Creek Campground. It was a nice little campground, and by arriving early, we had our choice of about 8 open spots. They all filled by evening, so I was glad we had gotten there when we did.

The camp host came around to give us the "Bear Aware" speech, and also to tell us there was a buffalo who regularly wandered through the campground. She reminded us to give him space because he is a wild animal. Sure enough, by the time we finished our dinner, he was making his way into the campground. We watched him for quite a while, then he wandered up the road, and we went about our evening activities.

The next morning, while I was making breakfast, I looked out the screen door to find him eating our front yard. We stayed inside, and watched him from the safety of our rig, but another camper came over with his camera and tried to get a little too close. "Buford" lowered his head and charged the guy. The camper scrambled out of the way and back to his own space, and the buffalo went back to eating. Eventually, he wandered away and we got things packed up to move on south.