"Two roads diverged in a yellow wood... And sorry I could not travel both. I took the one less traveled by. And that has made all the difference." --Robert Frost

Monday, October 1, 2018

Mountain Camping in Montana

Carmen, Idaho
Morgan Bar BLM
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Florence, Montana
Chief Looking Glass FW


Missoula was where we were headed but we decided to break up the drive a bit more.  We were excited to stay at some BLM land on the Salmon River just outside of Carmen, Idaho for a few days.  More breathtaking scenery.
As I drive past the mountains I think how I just want to breathe them in.  So I don't forget them.  I know soon we'll be back into Oregon heading south and there will be a lot more flatter lands until we get back to Placerville for the holiday months.





It's mid-week and we need good internet for Steve to work.  I was very hopeful this area would work as it is right out of town and I've had great signal.  As soon as we make the curve around Tower Rock and pull into the campground we are a bit bummed as we watch our bars disappear quickly. For a moment we forget about the bars when we see how nice the park is.  Very small, maybe 5 spots on the river.
We take one of the huge pull-throughs and test our Verizon with the booster.  Nada.  Bummer.
The only other person across from us.
Lone fisherman.
I love how Idaho puts these signs up all along the Lewis and Cark route.
I did a bit more searching and found another BLM site on the other side of the river on Campendium.  The last people there reported 4 bars of LTE.  Once we got there we were so surprised to see we did indeed have great LTE, 5 bars!  Being across the river instead of around the mountain gave us a straight line of site of the antenna.  Perfect.  Another small campground on the river with only 2 other there.  We chose the best site, #4, right on the river with gorgeous trees in bright color all around us.
Morgan Bar BLM has no hookups like Tower Rock and both are $5 a night.  Our site was a deep back in.

There are nice firepits here too so we enjoyed more fires before it gets too cold out to sit by one.


I had a ball hiking along the river taking in all the color, water, mountains and reflections.

Found a bird's nest that had fallen on the ground.
Hurley had a ball because he could run all over.  Funny how he stays out of the river now.  So cold.
The reds were stunning against the dark mountains in the background under the stormy skies.

Our last night we went out to a brewery in town and decided to split a German sausage with red cabbage, mashed potatoes and sauerkraut.

 
Hello Montana!!
When we drove up to Missoula through many cute western towns.
Good thing my friend, Tina, warned us about the speed traps.  The speed limits changed drastically and quickly.
Chief Looking Glass campground is run by the department of Fish and Game/BLM and has fishing access at the river.  Dry camping is $18.  Many of these small towns have free dump and fresh water so we had no problems with so much dry camping.  Propane is everywhere, not that expensive and the temps are still not bad.  50s in the day, 30s at night.  Lot's of sunshine!
 
 
 

Grazing Buffalo
It's only 20 miles to Missoula and we have some fun things planned over the next few days.  This will be as far north as we get before we head towards Joseph, Oregon and then eventually back home.
 
 

12 comments:

  1. You find the best places!!!! Down to an elevation of 2,000, no more majestic mountains for another year :(

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    1. Great spots in ID for sure! I'm already missing the mountains!!

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  2. Replies
    1. Looking forward to much more time in WY and MT next year!

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  3. You found some great campgrounds at a perfect time of year. I love the red trees.

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  4. Glad you and Steve are Enjoying the Scenery in Montana as well as finding wonderful campsites.
    Soon be time to head down to the warmth for the winter.
    Be Safe and Enjoy!

    It's about time.

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    1. We loved our time. Glad we could carve out this little section and see it without snow! We're now in Southern Oregon and continuing south. Weather has been spectacular!

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  5. Those are a couple of beautiful campsites! Those maple reds are awesome when they are bright red like that, love this time of year!

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    1. I agree, the maples are gorgeous this time of year. We've really been surprised at the amount of fall color here.

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  6. Add us to the list of fans of the tree pics! We have been seeing amazing colors for weeks now since leaving Alberta Sept 19. We drove through Oregon this week and it is spectacular.In Standish Cal. right now and it's beautiful here too. We need camp finding lessons, great places you found!!

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    1. I'll bet you saw some great color on your way down! Idaho and Montana have so much great camping options!

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