Phase I: Montana

We loaded up as we completed fitting drawers and painting doors, setting off mid-morning, determined to make this an adventure instead of just a point-to-point run. We took the Chinook Pass route over the Cascades, a route we hadn’t taken in decades, probably since the late 1980s, and an alternate route through the Palouse, ending up for the night at a city park in a small town, parked on the street, our first venture into urban boondocking. We left early in the morning, stopping for breakfast at a riverside fishing spot on the Snake River in the Nez Perce Nation just before heading up the Clearwater River toward Montana. We arrived at our destination near Florence, Montana in late afternoon. In a typical example of Montana creative adaptation, we were invited to a neighbor’s office Christmas Party, held between the summer heat and smoke and winter cold, so it could be held outdoors, with live music and a catered food truck. We do miss Montana living!

We planned to spend a few days visiting and unwinding, as this was a real vacation from a furious seven months of van building for me and a hectic spring and summer for Judy. She had taken over coordination of resident scheduling and presentations for the women artist’s residency, Hypatia in the Woods, for which we serve on the board. That’s been a full-time job for her, with the learning curve and the workload.

Our new van worked well. Plugged in to friends’ house power, we had a chance to try out our small electric heater to see how it went with the better insulation. It did, to the extent we turned it off soon: we probably won’t need heat unless the temperature is below freezing, which will save us money camping this winter.

On the downside, our plan to lose a little weight during our trip by not snacking was scuttled by the hospitality of our friends with great meals. Nevertheless, it was good to be on the road again.

After nearly two weeks of visiting friends in the Bitterroot Valley, bouncing back and forth between them, it was time to leave. During our stay, we had taken a morning to ride our bicycle through the Lee Metcalf National Wildlife Refuge. I helped a neighbor assess his solar system, and helped a friend with her own van build. We helped modify her van doors to make space for storage inside the doors and cut the hole in the roof to install a vent fan.

We drove up through the Jocko Valley, stopping late in the day at the Garden of One Thousand Buddhas, as we usually do when we pass that way. We ended up in Polson, at the Super Walmart, with a view of Flathead Lake. Unfortunately, a young man who had pulled into the parking lot to make a phone call backed into us with an extremely loud thump and a jolt. Fortunately, he missed the bike, but we took it and the rack off to inspect it and the van doors. The doors opened normally and sealed, but the magnetic door stop on the left side had been pushed back into the door. This seems to be fixable without too much trouble, though we will have to remove the lower inside door panel and the insulation to inspect it.

After that, we moved back against the curb, just to make sure we weren’t in direct line of fire from traffic, and had an otherwise uneventful evening. After this, we’re not sure free parking at Walmart is affordable.

In the morning, we took a walk on the waterfront trail, which extends over the water under the bridge. Then, off again, through Ronan, Charlo, and Dixon. We found a great Lolo National Forest dispersed camping area on the Clark Fork River. Although we had an ideal campsite, and even cell service, a rarity at most remote camps, we got a weather alert of an approaching violent thunderstorm. Being a mile from the highway in dense forest on a dirt road seemed risky, so we buttoned down and headed out, seeking shelter in St. Regis. The storm hit as we approached the town, with wind gusts and flying needles and branches. Before it got dark, we could see the approaching wall of water at the edge of the storm, and it hit us just as we parked in an open parking lot.

The heavy rain carried no hail and the storm passed quickly. The lot was posted no overnight parking, so we drove on west on I-90, noting the power was out in DeBorgia and Saltese, as well as Haugan, our destination. The 50,000 Silver Dollar casino was dark, but we had stayed in their free campground before and found an open site in the pitch-black dark. The power was back on by morning. We left, thinking we were going to ride up the Northern Pacific Trail from Taft to Lookout Pass. But, there was heavy construction on I-90, as there always is before winter destroys most of the improvements. We couldn’t find the trail or a place to park, with the trail head a staging area for the road construction. I think the trail is a once and future undertaking, as there seemed to be a muddy, overgrown track where the trail should have been. We proceeded to the rest area 2 km up the road, where we could see the trail above, but no way to get to it.

(to be continued …)