Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 119

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 119

Canada

6/11/09 - Toad River, British Columbia, Canada

We are rested and ready to go.  We get up early – around 9 am – and are excited to begin the milepost countdown and countup. Fun! Fun! Fun!  We have all the books handy – so that we will miss nothing.  We totally ignore them. Rumor has it (there was no news on the one fm radio station, nothing on the non-existent television station and nothing on the internet) - if we can get to Liard Hot Springs, we will be able to get in line to be ushered though the fire area.  We are on our way. 

Moose - #1

I see my first moose along side the road and Sam has to pull me back into Brutus to get me away.  Such a weird looking animal. I take pictures, then some more. Rocky and Bulwinkle and …Sam is having fun in the Yukon – visiting Sgt. Preston with the Royal Canadian Mounties and Yukon King.  Men! Just when I think we are totally past the beautiful white-capped mountains – they show up again.  I really like them.  More lakes and other great scenery.  The roads are good.  Still no ‘wash-board’.  Not much traffic.  No smoke in the horizon. We take that as a good sign. 

Pink?

We go by Pink Mountain – but see no pink today. We pass Buckinghorse river and it’s very own lodge.  Prophet River comes up real close to the road. Fort Nelson, then Summit Lake comes and goes.  There continues to be an ample supply of beautiful, stunning mountains. Sam is getting a little tired driving.  We had stopped for gas and were told conflicting stories about the wildfire and road closure, so we decide to spend some time at the Toad River RV Park on Muncho Lake.  We really liked everything about this RV park.  Lots of good pictures waiting to be taken, nice people to talk to and fun to experience. We will look for it again when we go back home.

Bird At Toad River

Toad River 

 I got pictures of a bird peeking out of a birdhouse (yep! They have those in Canada too), and some kind of waterfowl.  I missed a beaver and a moose. Sam almost drove me a ways back to the place in the road where a real live beaver dam was overflowing a meadow beside it.  He didn’t. The lake is beautiful. As I am looking for toads, sleep whaps us both. Now I will never know why it was called Toad River.

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 118

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 118

Canada

6/09/09-6/10/09  – Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada

Dawson Creek.  Highway marker ‘0’ on the AlCan Highway. Counting mile posts so that you know how far you have traveled and how far you need to go.  The highway was built by the United States and Canada for war reasons in about 1942.  What a massive feat for then.  In fact, it is still a massive feat for today.  Just keeping it in constant repair - ignore trying to improve it.  The war now is with the dreaded winter.  This road is considered by some as the ‘Last Big Road Trip’.  We are almost up for it, but not quite.  We decide to spend a couple of rest days here in Dawson Creek, working on the trailer and Brutus.  The park has wifi – most of the time.  It has electricity, water that is drinkable and a dump.  We consider ourselves very high maintenance. 

The Road To Dawson Creek

We have little choice but to spend some time here, since there is a major wildfire charring the road just past Liard Hot Springs. This just happens to be our next planned stop.  The road is mostly closed, with occasional escorts through the fire area. The road Travelers that made it to Dawson Creek before us are backed up at and near Liard, and the firefighters are biv-wacked there.  So we stay here. We shop and look over this rather small town that is in the bend of a river.  The river was the main road in many of the northern ‘outposts’ in ‘eon’ days.  There is a dry–docked riverboat that had been in use in yesterdays.  Now there are speedy boats and pontoon planes for tours and fast go.  Sam says they are too expensive.  About $900 per person, if any fishing time is desired.  We both smile.  We have a fold-a-boat!  Brutus got a thorough cleaning. We walked and visited the AlCan Highway Museum.  They gave us a lot of useful information, including a brochure of all of the private RV parks along the road.  We already had other books, including the Canada/Alaska Milepost book. 

Aw! Come On! Is That Really You?

One interesting bit of info:  When Canada decided to go metric from regular measurement that sane people use, they were downright serious about it. They removed all of the mileposts.  Every mile post. They then placed historical milepost along the AlCan highway.  They also placed KM posts about every 2 to 20 KM’s.  Made total sense to me. Well, back then. 

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 117

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 117

Canada

6/8/09 - Dawson Creek, British Columbia, Canada

Sam and I get up and take it easy getting ready for this travel day.  As we pull out of the campground, we take pictures of more elk in the campground. We are traveling on highway 93, on our way to Dawson Creek – Mile ‘0’ of the Alaska-Canada Highway.  The road’s condition is good. The scenery is still beautiful, with mountains lining up to entertain us. What a day. 

Elk

We pass Athabasca Creek and head towards Grand Cache.  The mountains must be a little lower, as there are more of them without snow and a lot more green and trees, including aspen. It is cold. The water features continue - creeks, lakes, rivers, mud puddles, without the mud. We meet a herd of elk crossing the road. Two other vehicles  stop and the designated camera people jump out to take pictures. Sam said that he saw one of them in red actually chase the elk.  I was not wearing red.  A guy on a motorcycle slowed suddenly as he came around the bend and the elk scattered.  I have pictures. 

Canadian Flag

Sam and I enjoy sharing the road with animals, identifying and counting. We pass Rocky River, trailing along the side of the Rocky Mountains.  We are told to watch out for elk, mountain sheep, deer and caribou.  We watched, but see none of those in that area.  I think there is a ‘truth in advertisement’ issue.  Sam shakes his head.  We take a little break at the Berland River – two-hour snooze - tops.  We wake up refreshed and because of the long, long daylight hours, we are on our way again.  This part of Canada has a lot of gas.  The good kind.  Oil and gas. Lots of gas.  At times, the gas lines pass over or under the road.  In addition, some of the more remote areas have refineries that cannot be seen, but have nice signs.  Weyerhauser has a very nice sign pointing off the road and towards a dirt lane.  No buildings in sight. They must use gas.

End Of Day

We pass Wanyandie Road, Kakwa River and go through Grande Cache.  I am so excited to see the giant beaver sculpture beside the road at Beaver Lodge, but Sam is on a mission to get to Dawson Creek. We do not stop. On through Hythe – the volunteer capital of Alberta and zip through the Village of Pouce Coupe, that has nothing to do with a car. After driving about 400 miles (not KM), we arrive at Dawson Creek.  After going in circles a while, due to road construction, we land at Northern Lights RV park.  “With Wifi”.  What more could we want?  Good night.

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 116

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 116

Canada

6/7/09 – Jasper, Alberta, Canada

 

Just before Jasper, we pull over to the side of the road – only because someone else had.  We were able to spot the coyote right over there thanks to fellow traveler’s good eyes. It was a pretty, healthy, BIG, coyote. When we get camp set up, Sam decides we are going to experience the Jasper Sky Tram.  This is a two ‘car’ tram that runs up and down the mountain until about 10 pm (still light outside).  We pay and get into the short line.  These tram cars do not follow a loop of cable, but each stays on it own cable and they have to go up and down in exact mirror fashion to maintain balance.  It is way far up.  Much higher than the one at Wallowa Lake in Oregon and Sam thinks higher or at least at a sharper grade, then the one at Palm Springs, California.  Either way – the snowy/icy mountains viewed from this angle are stunning, as you are no longer craning your neck.  It is mighty cold on top and for whatever reason, I had to return to the bottom on the next tram as my head got the dizzys.  It was just fine when we got down again, so it might have been the constant altitude changes all day – or like Ray says “altitude sickness”.  Whatever, I believe in it now. 

Even Sam Is Hanging On

We went from there to see Jasper the town.  Got gas and groceries, saw the many elk in and around town.  We then went on a mini-lake tour in Brutus to see some of the lakes we could see from the top of the tram.  Beautiful, small, fold-a-boat sized lakes (one was lake Pyramid), but way too much wind today.  I pooped out.  This has been a long, long day.  I finally convince Sam that we have a few more days until July first, and we call it a night.

Mt. Kerkeslin

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 115

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 115

Canada

6/7/09 – The Icefields Highway, Alberta, Canada

We leave the campground here in Lake Louise and cannot help but compare it to National Campgrounds back home.  I think Canada is doing well by putting money into these parks, drawing people from around the world.  Almost every camping rig is rented by non-Canadians.  The cost is very, very reasonable for the services received.  We have not even seen a ‘washroom’ without paper of any sort.  Ever since entering Canada, we have seen bear-proof garbage cans on almost every turnout on the road and in the campgrounds.  Not a one is over-flowing, but they are regularly used.  We are very impressed. 

The Sign

Up Highway 93 we go – the Icefields Highway.  Just outside of town is a large Winter Travel Conditions sign.  The choices listed are: Good, Fair, Poor, and Closed. The green light is on good, so we are confident. Just on the other side of the sign it starts snowing.  Nice big flakes.  It is not 32 degrees, but it is still snowing.  Soon, it is sticking to the trees, bushes, grass, and ground. Not on the roads yet. Many of the mountains are just faint outlines through the snow screen. Stunning scenery all around. I start humming Christmas songs.  Sam just smiles. That may be because he was happy I was not singing. We pass lakes, ponds and creeks that are almost totally frozen. The Rocky Mountains at her best.  The road is open year round, according to a ranger, and as long as there is not snow sticking to the roads, a wonderful place to have your RV. You definitely would not see this by jet.

The Snow

The snow slows, but the clouds remain, gripping the mountain tops.  Once in a while, we see glaciers way up high, but the clouds are greedy today and not sharing.  It seems that where there are mountains with snow, beginning in the spring, you have many bodies of water.  Water is either plunging from the heights, trickling down the slopes, pooling at any low place, or raging wherever. We see lots of moisture. We start losing some altitude and see a sign “Saskatchewan Crossing Warden Station”.  We have no idea what that is or where it is, as we saw nothing else. The traffic has been extremely sparse.  Sam is not complaining. The mountains come out of hiding and are out to grab our attention from the road conditions.

Parker Ridge

Parker Ridge Climbers

We see a sign for the Rampart Creek Hostel, but the turn to it was blocked off. We see a few vehicles parked at a turnout with an information board, called Parker Ridge.  This area has hiking trails that go pretty much ‘up’ a snowing mountain right at highway edge.  We read the sign, looked up and could make out tree different hiking groups going up the snowy mountain.  I assume because it was there.  I was able to get pictures of all three groups and again, was glad I was getting back into the warmth Brutus provides.  We go on down the road, just to stop at a turnoff that allows us to get a good view of some of the Columbia Glacier Fields.  This is apparently the headwaters of the Columbia River that flows right by Portland, Oregon – pang of homesickness.  We were able to see glacier ‘buses’ that are set up to go right out onto some of the lower glaciers.  Needless to say – awesome it is.

Columbia River Ice Fields

We continue our adventure, stopping a few miles down the road to take about fifty pictures of a big black bear that was munching at the side of the road giving us the opportunity to take pictures.  So we did. We make it to Jasper and again choose to stay at the National Park Campground.  The road we have been on from Banff to Jasper – the Icefields Highway – is claimed by some to be the most beautiful stretch of road in the world.  My words just do not do it justice, as the beauty of everything just hits you visually all the time.  Not one foot of this road goes by without your eyes calling to your heart to “Oh!! Look at that!!!” You just have to see it yourself. 

Another Bear, An Another, Oh - Another

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 114

Sam And Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 114

Canada

6/6/09 – Lake Louise/Banff, Alberta, Canada

We get up early – even though it is cold outside.  We head up to Moraine Lake.  It is above Lake Louise and to the left.  A nice, but smallish lodge is located at the edge of the lake.  Since it is soooo cold, we decide to go into the lodge, shop and get a cup of coffee.  We then tackle viewing the lake.  It is a smaller lake with striated, snowy mountains standing tall all around. Dead trees litter the area, looking like a pile of pick-up-sticks left by an angry youngster. An information board indicates that it was originally named HeeGee and called a “dark and gloomy” lake.  The lake is still partially frozen. As others start their walk around the lake, we leave.

Lake Moraine

We return to Lake Louise – the lake.  It is a nice sized lake, very high up.  More high mountains, with streaks of white, surround the lake. The trees are thick and tall.  The wind is still blowing here and it is every bit as icy as it was yesterday.  It starts snowing.  We forego entering the large Lodge, but admire the many floored, more modern looking “hotel” that goes with it. We take many pictures as we return to the comfort of Brutus.  When we reach him, he takes us down the mountain road, back to Louise Lake – the town.  The town is a modest village that has a few shops, restaurants and gas stations.

Curly

We are not done yet. Sam fills up Brutus and off we go to Banff.  Sam has seen an information sign that indicates that there is an alternate road from Lake Louise to Banff, keeping away from the freeway.  It is called the Bow Valley Parkway or 1A, and is known for its wildlife. So we go.  I have my camera ready and if there was any scenery on this road – I did not see it. First we saw a deer, buck to be exact, bedded down near enough to the road to give me a photo op.  Fuzzy horns a growing. Then we see elk, mountain sheep with curly Q horns and orange eyes, birds, chipmunks, something we know not, ground squirrels, and one mountain monster grizzly bear snackin’ on the railroad tracks.  We were able to get quite a few pictures of him.  At one point, he put both front legs on the rail beside him, looked both ways and casually took one more bite and stepped off the track.  A train came through only a few seconds later.  It was so entertaining! Sam and I chattered all the way home about that big, big bear and how he must have felt the train.  The only other thing I am going to mention about this road is that near Castle Mountain, a statue and marker are set up to one side. It appears to be a remembrance that the area was the site of the Castle Mountain internment camp from 1914 to 1917, during the First World War. Some of the held “alien” enemies were Canadians. Man that sounds familiar.

Railroad Bear

That leaves Banff.  Surprises happen because you can’t imagine all the possibilities.  Banff was one of those.  It was a small town that appeared to be totally in existence to cater to tourists.  A mountain alpine, rugged, artsy place with unique shop after unique shop.  Restaurants specializing in all types of cuisine, matching the many different accents and languages you hear as you walk down the street.  Sam parked Brutus and we joined the throng (no clue where they were staying), ending up eating Greek.  Great time.  I wished I had known to dress for the outing, but I was expecting the bear – not this.  Back home we go. 

Banff

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 113

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 113

Canada

6/5/09 – Lake Louise, Alberta, Canada

We pack up, have a last breakfast at the KOA and excitedly head for the Canadian Border.  No reason to expect any problems, just the unknown awaits us.  We go back through Whitefish, enter Tobacco Valley, bypass Trego and continue on our route through the green, pine-filled, rolling hills.  Lakes dot the area. Sam has to restrain me when we pass Ant Flat Historic Site, which is near Laughing Water Guest Ranch. We cross the Grave Creek Bridge and enter Eureka.  This town has US flags lining the streets.  An occasional Canadian flag could be seen fluttering at random locations. Not sure why the pattern was that way, but is made for a grand visual.  This town also has an outdoor-indoor museum.  There is a turnaround street that has re-created old-time buildings (schoolhouse, church, cabin) lining the outside of the street. The buildings are furnished and have information kiosks, as well as a dedicated ‘museum’ building.  So interesting.  Sam missed the whole thing and he used the turnaround twice to get to gas stations.  Lucky for him – I took pictures – once.  We make it to Roosville, our border crossing location.  No lines. No other vehicles even in sight.  We show our passports, answer a few questions and we are told to have a good vacation. We grin – we can do this. 

Eureka

Street Museum

We want to see if the Canadian towns and cities are like ours, or more like those in Mexico.  We have a ways to wait. It appears that Canadians do not generally like to live right next to the road.  It also could be that the trees and underbrush grow so fast that you just can’t see more than a few feet past the trimmed wayside.  Whatever the ‘reality’ is, we do not see a town/village until … well… Lake Louise.  The map indicated that we had passed Grasmere, Elko, Galloway, Jaffrey, Wardner, Fort Steele, and Wasa.  We missed them. Even when we saw road signs informing us that we were there, we missed them.  They were either behind the trees and mountains, or we were distracted by the trees and mountains.  We missed them.  About 3 ½ to 4 inches of map – no towns.  Few bits and pieces of traffic. In the late afternoon we pull into the Lake Louise Campground in the Banff National Park.  We are warned that although there are bear in the area, the campground is actually located in an elk calf-bearing area and that the elk cause more physical harm and trips to the hospital than the bear.  We got it.  Beautiful campground with flush toilets, hot showers, great campground.  We drive up to Lake Louise, but since it is extremely cold and the wind is whipping down from the glacier-filled mountains, we felt encouraged to start our time here tomorrow.  We got that too. 

Just Before The Ice Caps

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 112

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 112

Mid-West  

6/4/09 and 6/5/09  – Whitefish, Montana

We are ending our Mid-West part of our Year Long Adventure by spending the whole day Thursday doing cleaning, laundry, shopping, repair and general resting.  We did all that, although the resting was hard. 

A Local

Friday the 5^th, we have minor anxiety issues as we pass into Canada via Roosville.  No hoopla, parade or noise-makers of any kind.  Good start in our opinion.

This Way

Now starts the Canada Trip section of our adventure.  Coming?

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 111

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 111

Mid-West

6/3/09 – Glacier State Park, Montana

We hop up, slowly. We are going into the Glacier National Park – without the trailer. We are leaving it behind on the recommendation of everyone.  We get to the main gate that is on the highway nearest to where we are set up.  The Ranger gives us our pass and indicates that the main scenic road that goes to St Mary is impassable about 16 miles into the park, due to construction on the avalanched road.  We decide to go in anyway.  What a wonderful choice. This place is a hiker’s paradise.  Many, many trails of various difficulties going to various lakes or wilderness areas.

McDonald Lake

The first part seems very similar to what we have already seen.  Very high peaks with snow-capped tops that keep your eyes looking up and your beauty gauge pointing to full. Very pleased. The mountains are dark green everywhere except for the areas affected by the major fire.  In these areas, the undergrowth and new trees provide the green color.  Still not overly impressed, as we have seen it before.  Then Lake McDonald starts playing peek-a-boo through the roadside trees.  Sam is driving slowly, the sun is shining.  My tears just start seeping – Sam drives slower. Although he has not ‘seen’ anything, he pulls over to the side of the road.  We have to walk through about an eight foot stand of bushes and very tall pines that encircle the lake.  We follow a trail, almost like an animal trail, through and down, parting branches when necessary.  Just before we get to the water, we see the shine on the smooth, almost polished, quarter-sized pebbles of many colors. I follow the pebbles to the lakeside and watch as they enter into the water. I search for them as they oh-so-gradually start to blur - far away from shore, down into the depths. When I can see no further, the focus of my eyes eventually, naturally, pulls up to check the surface.   There is no lake!  Only glaciers holding mountains, with clouds kneeling at their feet. Those meet with others that look hauntingly similar. It took my thoughts away and held me quiet.

Testing The Water

Someone threw a precious pebble into the lower mountain.  It broke the awe and Sam and I start talking and laughing -  his eyes gleaming.   Sam had experienced AWE as well.   We notice the trees and a spindly bush redolent with the same shining talent. I reached down and pocketed some of the smooth stones. We keep part of our attention on the phenomenon. Sam says definitely that this is the most beautiful place we have been.  Neither of us has seen such a massive lake so mirror-like, where not even one line of distortion could be seen in the reflection. 

Water Falling

We finally move on, although I admit, I had Sam throw a pebble too, just so I could get a set of pictures showing the ripples fade into nothingness circles.  We drive to the McDonald Lodge.  A very nice lodge built in the big-lodge mode.  We had a nice lunch and decide to take a boat tour of the lake.  We enjoyed this greatly and learned a lot about the locality and the lake.  I will share that the color of lakes made by glaciers, is from the rock ‘flour’ that is created from the crushing of mountains into powder. The only colors not present are reflected, hence the distinctive ‘glacial blue-green’.  Beautiful.  We then drive all the way to where the road has been crashed away and under construction.  We take a ‘hike’ on a path that goes about two miles, that was specifically wheelchair accessible, while not losing the rest of the ‘hike’ experience.  Great place.

First Bear

We return towards ‘home’ via Apgar Village, following the lakes edge past where we started.  We took an alternate road that went though the Flathead River State Park.  As we rounded a corner, I come eye-to-eye with a big grizzly, grizzly bear.  In a most uncalm voice, I yelled “bear”!  Sam slams on the breaks. While the bear totally ignored us (we stayed in Brutus), I took pictures of him as he foraged at the side of the road.  Our first bear sighting was very exciting for two out of three of us. We went home.  I was exhausted and not from the hike.

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 110

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 110

Mid-West

6/2/09 – Whitefish, Montana

We very much enjoyed this lake and the area around it. We did not see anywhere near all we want to see – let alone do it (Like Sapphire Mountain).  It is a beautiful lake in a beautiful area. We are going on anyway.  Our goal is Whitefish.  Still in Montana – but another “gotta see” according to everyone we have talked to. 

Tall and Handsome - Oh, Wrong Picture, I'm Talkin' 'Bout Sam

We get up early and find that it is still cold.  We have reservations at a KOA in Whitefish – so we know we have full hookup, and laundry in our near future.  No Worries!! On the road again.  We get back on Montana Highway 1 and go back by Philipsburg and on through Maxville.  We meet back with I-90 at Drummond Hall and head to Missoula.  We pass by Clinton, enter Missoula and turn right onto another scenic highway. 

Flathead Lake

We have the Rocky Mountains to our right, as we travel into the Flathead Indian Reservation Area.  Just After Pablo, we spy with our own little eyes – something big and blue.  Yep! Flathead Lake. It is soooo large.  Sam and I are impressed as it takes all the way to Kalispell to get around just one side of it. Big Lake! It has to be 25 to 30 miles long and 5 wide (my guess).  It has 5 or 6 state parks camped at its perimeter.  To me, it looks like a winter mitten, with the main fingers part pointed south – the thumb part to the west.  Big. We are still stunned as we find our Kampground, just this side of Whitefish.

And More

 

A few minutes after we find our spot, we are set up.  We check out the amenities of the park, eat and are ready to rest.   

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 109

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 109

Mid-West 

6/1/09 – Granite, Montana - More Fishing, Ghost Town, Rocks!

We are in a dilemma.  Fishing is good and we can only catch what we can eat – no reliable freezer.  So – we decide to hunt instead.  For Ghosts.  We had passed a sign on the way to Philipsburg that said Granite Ghost Town and we decided to go for it.  We take a right off of Hwy 1, and follow the first big, colorful ghost sign.  From there, it gets a little harder.  Another intelligence test.  The signs become very small, sometimes broken, indicating ‘Granite’ or ‘Ghost Town’ or maybe both.  The signs do not indicate a direction.  I decide it is time to let Sam show his puzzle capability and tell him repeatedly “I have no clue!”  Luckily, Brutus is a big 4X4 and can take a lot, because we wound up a gullied, rock-filled, narrow-narrow-narrow, high-as-in-straight-up, trail – of a sort.  I kept my eyes mostly looking up at the snow and cold looking clouds – peeking ever so quickly to my right and DOWN.

Tram Parts

We were just about ready to conclude that a wrong turn had been guessed, when a really cool piece of rusted metal, complete with gears, attached to rotting wood, popped into sight.  We jumped out and happily find an explanation written out that says it is remnants of an aerial tram used by the mine in Granite to transport ore down to the town far below. We get back into Brutus and continue our trip.  We go on and up and up some more.  Finally, we see an upright building ahead and down, but a space beside the road looks like a better parking place.  When we get out, we notice fallen buildings, brick and wood, in different locations.  We walk up the mountain road, as we were observant enough  to see that the road has a section where there is a metal grill-plate over a place where the road no longer exists.  Non-existent road. None.

Granite's Official Picture Rock

We finally find the remnants of the town of Granite, complete with Union Hall, super’s house, newspaper, bank, church and mine-related buildings.  The town and mine are located up the side of the mountain – very steep and narrow both vertical and horizontal.  I was pleased to note that there were no unusual deaths, other than economical, that made this town a ghost. It was fun to walk all over the area identifying the buildings, using the info-posters and board that was available.  Do no go ‘here’ without a Brutus of your own.

A Look At The Old Mine

We back-tracked to Philipsburg and went shopping at the Sapphire Gallery.  This area has sapphires in the ground!!  We did not allow ourselves to get too interested at this time.  But we will be back! On the way back to camp we stopped to take pictures of the awesome waterfall that is at the side of the road, falling many, many feet and can only be seen traveling that a way.  Awesome!  We went back and fished – catching another dinners-worth of trout.  We = happy.  

Another Water Falls - Goes Way Down!

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 108

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 108

Mid-West 

5/31/09 – Georgetown, Montana – Lake, Campground and Fishing

  

Georgetown is not big, but big enough to sell us fishing licenses, bait and peanut butter.  The main store/resort also lent us a small anchor-on-a-rope perfect to use as a second one on the fold-a-boat. Very kind of them.  The first day we drove all around the lake, taking a side trip on a gravel road that claimed it would take us to a reservoir, but we lost interest.  We went in to Philipsburg and filled up on groceries, then came back to the lake.  A late start – but out we go.  With the second anchor, the boat did not go around in circles even with the fairly strong wind. The weather had warmed and fishing was totally enjoyable. We each caught two take-home fish (only because Sam kept throwing mine back in).  We had enough for dinner – so went back to camp – after making an emergency run around the lake to the store to find out what kind of trout we could catch and keep.  Turns out Sam threw back my Bull Trout.  Can’t keep them.  But we can keep the Brook, Brown and Rainbow. One of mine was 17 inches long – and I have picture(s) to prove it.  Hee, Hee!   No one can fish on the store side of the lake – at least not too close to shore, due to spawning.  We have pictures of some of the trout that have ‘crossed the road’ to spawn in a pond that is made from an underwater spring that pools on the opposite side of the road from the lake.  The fish access it from overflow water that has escaped from the lake via pipes to the other side of the road.  Either way – lots of fish and good pictures. 

Here Fishy, Fishy, Fishy

Good dinner!  Sam cooked the fish on the BBQ sprinkled with the seasoning we got from Cabela’s.  Good!  We replenish our bait supply and are ready for tomorrow.

A Keeper

Sam And Saundra's Year Long Adventure - Part 107

Sam and Saundra’s Year Long Adventure – Part 107

Mid-West

5/30/09 – Georgetown Lake, Montana

It is time to go.  We say so long to Don and Carolyn.  They were so gracious once again. They showered us with kindnesses by giving us rides to/from the air port, giving us a very comfortable place to stay, feeding us, and providing us with entertainment on top of it all.  We look forward to spending more time with them and with Kim, David, Katie and Abby, in the future. 

Montana Art?

So, here we go again.  We have no more family on our route to Alaska and what we do and when we do it is up in the air.  No plans. Different.

The Sign To Opportunity Was Bigger Than Wisdom's

We are going to listen to those two ladies at Lake Elmo and go to Georgetown Lake.  We follow the road signs, watching snowcapped mountains every chance we get.  The Yellowstone River keeps us company as we travel new roads. We pass Bear Canyon Road (I mention this only because Sam is NUTS about bears), Belgrade and Amsterdam.  We thought about checking out the Missouri Headwaters State Park, but didn’t.  We go through Boulder … Montana, did not inhale at the Tobacco Root Mountains and glanced at an old tractor that was left for art on the top of a hill.  We gazed at Whitehall and boggled our eyes at mountains made of boulders.  In other words, we go through Bozeman, then Butte, on highway 90. We take the Scenic Loop Montana Highway 1, through Anaconda. Sure enough, the good scenery gets better.  After Anaconda comes Opportunity, then Wisdom.  Wish I knew this area when I was younger. Very carefully we pass a mountain of coal dust.

Don't Sneeze!

We look for, and Sam takes the turn to go around the lake, since the women said we would be rewarded by going to the more remote park (Piney Campground).  We find it.  There is actually a camp host on site.  The weather is coolish, but acceptable.  We are able to get a site right on the beautiful lake, with a space already set up for the fold-a-boat.  We set up camp and rest.  Ready for a new day of adventure and always hopeful fishing. I believe the ladies were right – we were rewarded.

Georgetown Lake