Our second day on the lake was very peaceful. Tim got a bunch of work done while I researched our journey north to Glacier park. Montana has a plethora of campgrounds so the options are practically limitless. After looking and looking, I decided on a state park on Flathead lake for the weekend. It’s a small park with only 40 sites and of those half are right on the water. If we’re going to stay at a campground on the lake we want to to have a waterfront site, so I did what I haven’t done in a long time- I made a reservation. There was only one available water site left for the weekend so I think we got lucky. The thing I don’t like about reservations is the finality- if you don’t like the campground then you’re stuck there because you already paid. In general we like our travel plans to be a bit more fluid, but from everything I read online this campground is awesome so we’re going to risk it.
Morning nap with a lake view
In the afternoon we walked a few miles down the to main road. We considered going a bit farther so we could check out the marina but the road had a very skinny shoulder and a very high speed limit (this is montana after all) so we decided that we had gone far enough. In contrast to the main road, the road we walked on was pretty sleepy with just a few trucks passing us and an occasional house or camp scattered along the side. Here’s a few photos from the journey…
Horses + barn
Rustic fence
Lake + mountains
Only in the west…
We’ve noticed that most of the entrances to the ranches out west are adorned with intricately cut out metal signs. We keep saying that we need something like this to post at our campsite, but in addition to a design we also need to find someone to make it for us, and then we have to figure out how to mount it. I think for now it will remain just an idea. This one we passed was in front of what I would describe as more of a homestead than a ranch, but the entrance was no less grand. The sun was high in the sky and very bright so I couldn’t quite capture the detail in the sign.
Welcome sign
A closer view
The best thing about the day was that the rain storm the night before had cleared the smoke from the sky. You can see by the photos that the sky was bright blue with lots of white fluffy clouds. Very different from the persistent haziness we’ve experienced for the past week. Unfortunately, in the early evening the wind shifted and the smoke returned. I could tell right away because within an hour of the smoke returning, so had my headache. Remember yesterday when I told you that we’ve both had scratchy throats and stuffy noses from the smoke. Well, the latest infliction is an intense sinus headache that no amount of ibuprofen will cure. Last night it was so bad that I was ready to pack up and make a beeline for the Pacific coast. In the light of day things are a bit better (though no less smoky) and I think I can endure another week of smoke while we explore some more of Montana.
