August 14th, 2017
The kind of day JP hoped for! He had been waiting for this kind of fishing experience! So I thought he should be the one to blog about it – so here goes:

We needed to get away from camp for a while so I found a route that would take us along the Continental Divide and put us through some small towns to explore. We left Holter Dam campground at 9am and traveled NW for 50 miles to a town called Augusta Montana.

On the way, we mapped a lake called Bean Lake and decided to check it out. It was an alkali lake that looked more like a cattle trough than a lake. We continued along the edge of the Divide and marveled at the gigantic mountains.

We arrived in Augusta. This town was founded in 1883 and was a Blackfoot Indian travois trail and later became a stage and freight route, the founder, Phil Manix’s store still stands today. We walked the entire two blocks of the town and stopped in at the general store. We were greeted with “Hello, we have guns bullets and booze” I bought a few things I needed and asked about the local fishing. I was given a simple map and pointed in the general direction. We stopped for lunch at the Western Bar in town before we headed out.

We headed to Wood Lake, a lake not on any map, I had but was assured it had fish. 25 miles of dirt road through the Lewis and Clark forest and we finally arrived at Wood Lake. (We were cautioned that this was bear country so Cheri wanted the bear spray close.)
It was the lake I had traveled to Montana to find. Circled with pine trees, spring fed and about 20 or so acres. A shallow lake with lots of beautiful, hungry Cutthroat Trout. We had the pontoons boats and were in the water in no time. Cheri not being a flyfisher person was at a disadvantage as these fish were looking for flies and worms were not on their menu. I lost count of the trout I caught and several that I missed. The trout were fat and healthy and were eager to come to a fly. It was a perfect day.

On the way home I put a rock through the front tire and we limped home. The tire was destroyed so the next day was finding a matching tire but that’s another story.   JP

Note: Lucky isn’t a 4 wheel drive trailer. If he were I’m certain that somewhere in our adventures we would come back here and camp. We do OK dry camping but its a long way in and though I love all the wildlife – BEARS not so much!

July 13th, 2017
JP was up early and evidently the early bird does get the worm!  He caught a couple of nice trout and had a great morning on the river. Later in the day we took a short hike up to Holter Dam and bait fished there for a couple of hours. JP caught a yellow perch and that was about it. It was much hazier today. It was a beautiful evening though and the haze lifted so the since could shine through until dusk. Another good day on the river!

July 12th, 2017
Up at 5:30 this morning and headed to the new location. It had rained a little bit last night so there was less of a smoky haze. Our new camp site is dry camping but you can’t beat the location or the view!
JP got a shuttle from a guy at camp so we could drift the river in our pontoons boats. I’m just bait fishing with worms but caught 2 nice trout. In the picture, it looks like I’m pained to have caught one but he was big and struggling to get free and not excited about the photo op!

Later in the day we went back to Helena to meet up with Marlene. JP had met her on previous trips to Helena when he came with Tim to fish with Marlene’s husband Dennis.  She is also a good friend of my friend Jean! It’s always fun to meet a friend of a good friend. It kinda completes a circle! We went out to lunch and then picked Marlene’s brain on the best routes and fishing for the days ahead. A fun visit all the way around!

July 11th, 2017
We headed out of Missoula and on to Helena. We’ve developed a routine for when we move on from a place. JP does the outside maintenance and all that goes with disconnecting the trailer and getting it hitched back up to the truck. I do the inside cleaning so we arrive at the next destination fresh and ready to go and secure everything for the trip. Other than the inconsistent internet and occasional cell lapses the only real pain is going to the laundromat. We only have so many clothes with us so there is no way around it!

We arrived at Lincoln Road RV on the outskirts of Helena and got settled in.

Hmmmm….Stay here?

Or here?

Jerry wanted to go back to scout some of the places he had fished years back with Tim and Dennis. So, we went scouting and found Holter Damn and the Missouri River. There was dry camping there, right on the water!  So back to our trailer to pack up and head to the NEW camping spot in the AM. The view was MUCH better at the new location!

We were without technology (or power) for our stay outside of Helena so there is a lag time for the posts for those days!

Friday August 11th – Wednesday August 16th 

August 10th, 2017

We went crazy and ate breakfast at IHOP. There was a teenage gal and guy in the booth next to us. It looked to be a first date kinda thing. The entire conversation though was about hunting and where they liked to hunt followed by a detailed description (yeah, made me queasy) of how they field dress their kill. I’m thinking these 2 are a match. Romance Montana style? Maybe this is where they’re headed?

Onto a bit of shopping and then to downtown Missoula. Going to the old town center of a city is one of my favorite things about travel. Its a good way to get the vibe of a place. Missoula’s downtown is near the college and feels a bit like Corvallis but with a fishing and hunting theme.

There is an awesome carousel called Carousel for Missoula. It the first fully hand-carved carousel built by volunteers since the Great Depression. It’s  one of the fastest carousels in the world, and spins at almost eight miles an hour.

There is an awesome playground right next to it and a park along side that. Really nice place for a family outing!

This evening JP went to the Blackfoot to fly fish. He said it was a nice evening even though the fish were small. It’s on to new fishing grounds tomorrow!

August 9, 2017

We headed north east to Brown Lake with our pontoon boats. Happily, mine has its replacement pontoons and is water worthy again. It was about an hour and a half drive. We stopped at a little town called Ovando on the way. Its pretty small (50 residents) but its claim to fame is that its where Lewis and Clark split up for awhile and went their own way.

“Lewis was the first white explorer to visit the area of what has come to be known as the Blackfoot River Valley. On his return trip from the Pacific Coast, minus William Clark, on July 6, 1806, he camped near Ovando at the confluence of the Big Blackfoot River and a creek, accompanied by nine mounted soldiers, 17 horses, and his Newfoundland dog, Seaman. Lewis named that creek Seaman’s Creek after his dog. Today Seaman’s Creek is called Monture Creek, named after George Monture, an early day U.S. Army scout. Lewis described this part of the valley as “prairie of the knobs” because of the mounds along the trails, some of which can still be seen today. These knobs are souvenirs of the Ice Ages.”

Brown Lake isn’t very big and is out in the open with cows grazing on its shores and a whole lot of private property surrounding it. It isn’t very deep but we saw a few fish rising. We were only there for a few hours but it was mid-day and not the best time for catching. So we headed home and called it a day.

Aug 8th, 2017

Our new RV Campground is Jim and Mary’s RV in Missoula. Very nice, very clean with lots of lawn and shade. Travel days are always busy because besides getting cleaned up, packed, rollin’ and reset up there’s the grocery shopping and such. The bonus is there’s usually “other shopping” too.

We got settled and headed into Missoula to get JP some new waders and boots since his had seen its last best day. Oh! And we had to get BEAR SPRAY! Yeah, the bears aren’t happy with the wildfires and are venturing into new areas. One Walmart was actually sold out. “Not to scare you” JP says, “You just need to know how to pull the pin and point.” Uhhhhhhhhhh OK then? I paid attention!

After shopping and info gathering at Cabela’s and Sportsman’s Warehouse we headed out to Garden of 1000 Buddahs in Arlee. It was a nice drive even with the haze of the fires along both sides of the corridor.  You drive until Siri tells you to turn on what looks like a farm road and then you see a sign that says ENTER AT THE NEXT DRIVE. No sign on the big road, no sign on the property – nothing. I guess if you find it, its because you were looking for it. I’m thinking not the usual tourist attraction, but I found it online and was intrigued.

It rates in the top #1 of the top #5 places we have been on our trip. The Ewam Garden is also a center for Tibetan Buddhist Studies where a Festival of Peace is held every year. It’s all about the union of wisdom and compassion. It appears there are actually 1000 Buddahs plus other statues. The many statues each have a name plate with their name, their parents names and a line that tells their story.

So in the middle of the hills out in the farmland of Montana there is  Garden of 1000 Buddahs. It was an incredibly peaceful, amazing and unusual spot to find in Montana. It has a great website too if you want to book a wedding or plan a stop there. Until then . . .

August 7th, 2017

We hung at camp and took care of a few things. After a refreshing (think chilly) little dip in the pool and some sun we took a drive to Superior which is about 30 miles away. It doesn’t feel like 30 miles because the speed limit on the freeway is 80 mph and on the frontage road 60 mph. Flying . . . .

Superior is little town but there wasn’t much to see. What was there is closed on Sunday but we hit the car wash and grocery store. Nothing eventful to report –

Except! JP did get into some fish tonight and will be up early in the AM to hit the spot he found this evening. A beaver swimming by snuck up on him and slapped his tail in the water. I guess he thought this close encounter would send JP packing but other than being startled (and then peeved) the fly fishing continued. He only has the AM and PM tomorrow to give it a go since we are rolling the next day to new territory.

Note: This campground brags big time that they have “Extremely Clean Restrooms & Showers.” Having been in countless campgrounds that did not have this claim to fame, I must admit this place took clean and well maintained to a whole new level. It could be because they close to clean from 11:00AM – 2:00PM.

August 5th, 2017

JP passed on his AM fishing and we took a drive to a couple of small towns to the North. Plains is pretty small, not much to see but Thompson Falls had a cute downtown. We visited the Old Jail Museum which was built in the early 1900’s and closed in the late 1970’s. The original jail housed the inmates as well as the sheriff and his family. The sheriffs wife not only cooked and cleaned for the family but the inmates as well (lucky gal)! Back in the day if a woman was locked up in the jail her kids were often locked up with her. The cells were really, really small so that’s hard to imagine!

We headed south again and saw a “Watch for Bighorn Sheep” sign and shortly after saw some young ‘uns by the roadside. Yet another addition to our wildlife list.

The homes of the Bighorn seems to be in the rugged cliffs. Bad Rock Trail is a pretty good example.

This was a portion of the sign in front of the above Bad Rock Trail: 

“It was used by a parade of western notables, including explorers Isaac Stevens and John Mullan and by copper king William A. Clark.  Shortly after crossing over Bad Rock in 1841 Father Pierre-Jean DeSmet wrote “I had before seen landscapes of awful grandeur, but this one surpassed all others in horror.  My courage failed at the first sight.” Bad Ass Trail might have been a better name!

We stopped outside of Plains on our way back to meet the Gene the Uncle of our friend Chuck. What a lovely gentleman.  He and JP talked hunting and fishing while I admired his awesome home and view.  He leases land to a fella with a buffalo heard. How cool is that?