An adventure in northwest Montana in late summer

[blacklbzbeauty]

Monday Sept. 3rd. We are staying at the Super 8 in St. Regis to get one last hot shower for awhile plus get some laundry done. We meet up with Ace and are introduced to and have lunch with Roger and Susan at a restaurant in town along with Dale our fearless leader. What a wonderful group of people! They are all headed off to camp for the night and meet back in town tomorrow morning.
Get back to the hotel and see a really cool red Ford Ranger with a Wildernest in the parking lot. Thinking that truck has to belong to one of our group. So I am tightening up my awning bracket bolts and enjoying a beverage when the owner of the Ford comes over and introduces himself as Gary with our group. Great guy and he, Terri, and I talk for awhile getting to know one another. Now that we have met everyone except ******** we are really looking forward to hitting the trails in the morning.
As said previously we meet in the morning at 09:00. Weather is perfect with clear skies and cool temps. Dale starts by going over the days route plan and checking to make sure we are all ready. As the fire bans have been lifted some of us pick up a few bundles. After a radio check we hit it.
The scenery is awesome and the radio chatter reflects everyone's excitement starting this adventure.

We stop for lunch at Knox Pass. The boys are pondering as Terri and Susan wonder what the fuss is about.

Dale confers with ******** who says what are we waiting for, let's go!



The first day was short on driving but long on beautiful country and flawless weather. Arrived at our camp at mid afternoon with plenty of time to relax and wonder who/what would use the near vertical trail going up out of our camp site. Only Kenda had enough energy to tackle it. As ROF's we have learned that "discretion is the better part of valor".

After a restful night's sleep, Day 2 dawned clear and crisp. Had a coffee and oatmeal breakfast, packed up and hit the trail. Went thru Thompson Falls and back out of town on dirt. The trails and scenery today were exceptional. Kudo's to Dale for putting together this route. Although I must admit as a flatlander with a fat rig these 2 tracks with no room for passing was a bit unnerving at first.

 

[Ace Brown]

Great story David, thanks for joining in. Give my regards to your gracious wife. Nanc and I expect to have our new trailer down in the Ouray/Gunnison area early next August. Can't wait to visit that area again as we lived in Montrose back in the mid-70's.

Dale

You will have to stop by in Cedaredge for a visit, of course if I’m home. You know how much I travel.

Ace


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[Ace Brown]

Great reporting David. I like some of your captions of the photos.

Ace


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[blacklbzbeauty]

We arrived at an empty Fish Trap Lake campground after a fantastic day on the trails. With plenty of daylight left Ace was anxious to put out the paddle board. Who can blame him?



Meanwhile the rest of the crew took the time to hike, set up camp, and relax.

 

[blacklbzbeauty]

Day 3 Teaser:
- Ice Cream Anyone?
- Ace somehow again finds awesome lunch spot
- Even a cold water shower feels good!
- Epic sunset over Cabinet Gorge Reservior
- Gary makes a heck of a camp fire

 

[Hypnotwist]

Great adventure and perfect weather. Waiting for your Montana Trip photos and story.

 

[WU7X]

Day 4 (Dale) or Day 3 for everyone else :

Some days just don't work out quite the way you thought they would. This is where having a group of experienced people really helps out. In the end, things turned out much better than I had expected. My hat is off to the entire crew. "Ya done good!"

A nice early start and we followed my original GPS track back west from Fishtrap Lake CG via my favorite road FS7593. I was wondering how Terri enjoyed looking out the passenger window of their Jimmy and seeing a nice shear drop off on her side. I love roads like this with their magnificent panoramas, but guessed she wouldn't enjoy them as much as I did. In camp that night I took a look at their GMC; it is wide! Plus the big tires add even more width to it. So David, did you ever feel like maybe an inch or two of the outside tires were hanging over the edge of the escarpment?

Heading west, we quickly peaked the next ridgeline and then continued down to Willow Creek. From there my plan had been to turn right (northeast) and spend much of the morning doing a leisurely counterclockwise loop up over Willow Creek pass then follow the valleys created by East Fisher and Silver Butte Creeks. Heading south once more, we were supposed to cross over final pass for the day then motor down to the Vermillion River. Next we would trend westward along the river to where it meet the Clark Fork River and then north on asphalt to our campsite for the night. Those were the plans.

It worked initially until we reached Willow Creek. On the roadway heading northeast an imposing sign notified us that logging activity was taking place up the road. With six vehicles, including three trailers, I decided to play it safe and turn southwest instead toward the Vermillion River and chop out most of the day's most scenic pathways. The resulting trip to the Clark Fork was, well, dusty. I was at a bit of a loss what to do for the next several hours as our planned campground was only a few black topped miles north up the road. The decision was made to drive up to Noxon and find a restaurant for the noonish meal. After a good meal we could plan out the rest of the day.

Noxon turned out to be a quaint, neat little town that unfortunately had no restaurants open. Actually there wasn't too much of anything open. But it did have a general mercantile/grocery store with ICE CREAM. I think I actually had two ice cream bars before we got underway. By now we decided to head south and look for a restaurant we had passed further back. Driving there we discovered that it too was shut down for the season. What to do? My original plan for the night had been to do some dispersed camping behind an old historic Forest Service ranger station. After chatting with a couple of the locals, that idea was discarded and we once more headed south in search of a more favorable FS CG along the river. David, if I remember correctly took the lead. About then some ethereal whisp of savory food must have found its way up Ace's nose because he suddenly took off searching for that elusive restaurant. And he found it way out in the middle of nowhere! After caravaning back and forth on dusty county roads we suddenly found ourselves in this park-like field with a huge two story palace of a building. Ace had investigated as we were catching up to him and radioed with the grand news that vittles could be had on site! The menu carried elk and buffalo burgers, fish tacos, salads, deserts, lasagna, and just about anything one could dream of. Ace, you saved our lives!

After the gastronomic carnage that was our mid-day meal, we once again set out to find a camp ground for the night. We succeeded. David led us to a pretty decent FS CG located on the side of a hill leading down to the river (Northshore CG?). As we were setting up camp the local FS ranger came by to say hello and clean up the bear-proof metal bins that were conveniently located at each camp site. It seems the locals liked to use these bins as garbage receptacles; they were all filled with old mattresses, sleeping bags, dirty diapers, boxes of children's cereal, clothing not fit for on the backs of bums, etc. The good ranger had the unenviable task of cleaning them out. While doing so, he regaled us with stories about the local history and the characters that filled it. It actually turned out to be a great time.

Near sunset Ace convinced us all to head down to the river to watch the sunset. A few of us were a bit hesitant at first but were easily cajoled into joining the crowd (all eight of us) at the lake edge. Looking west along the dock we viewed one of the most magnificent sunsets I've enjoyed in a long time. Everyone with a camera took a million pics. Ace and dog were sitting at the end of the dock leading us all in absorbing the splendor.





On returning back to our camp Gary stoked up yet another awesome fire for all of us to enjoy each other's company. Long tales and true (mostly) were shared. Roger again regaling us with memories of his days in the Corps and of previous ROF trips. These campfires and the community they create are what this ROF adventuring is all about.

 

[WU7X]

Day 5/4:

That date stamp really clears things up, doesn't it?

I had been fighting a cold, or something, for the past couple of days. It really flared up this day. This group is really easy to be with and lead. Everyone was ready to go by 9 in the morning again. I had planned on taking the group up past the historic Bull River ranger station then north over Snake Creek Pass. We would then have switchbacked our way down again and intersected State Highway 56. A quick pass up the road and then a turn west to visit the Ross Creek Falls and Ross Creek Cedars area. Well, that was the plan.

The valley was full of smoke and the further north one looked the hazier it got. So with all my leadership authority I decided to ditch the Snake Creek Pass route and just head up the highway. In my cold induced dopiness I cruised right past the Ross Creek turnoff, with my seven charges dutifully following behind. If I could call anything a blunder on this trip, bypassing the Ross Creek Cedars was certainly the one. So the plan is to visit Koonetai Falls and the suspension bridge, then to Troy for lunch and a visit with the local ranger district office. On the way up someone shouts over the radio that we just passed a dead bear in a local's front yard! Missed that one.

Kootenai Falls in the fall was stunning. I can't imagine what it would look like during the spring runoff. It was a short hike down to the falls themselves, but well worth it. Here is Terri checking them out. Note all the smoke in the air.




Being a retired geologist I was also amazed at the ancient ripple marks locked in the rock surface. My trusty "Roadside Geology of Montana" field book proves that my hunch these were part of the upper Belt rock series making them around 800 million+/- years old!



Herding the cats back together we drove the short distance into Troy. We gassed up, got supplies and enjoyed a great meal (warm, hot, filling and tasty) at a local restaurant before locating the local FS offfices. The ranger on duty gave us the bad news; my planned campsites for the next two nights were off limits due to the wildfires. So more changes were in store. First off though was a drive up to visit Yaak Falls. This water feature certainly is smaller than Kootenai, but in my mind much more aesthetic. David, Terri, and Gary hiked down to get a closer look while the rest of us snapped pics from the road.



Next...

 

[WU7X]

Day 5/4 cont.:

My cold was really beginning to sap the energy out of me by now. I knew we had to find a place to spend the night. Having lost my first two choices due to fire, we continue to caravan north toward Yaak. Every campground we come to is too small, too full, or just not right for our merry group. I wanted to stop at the Dirty Shame Saloon in Yaak but the parking areas around it were full of Harleys. Ugh! So onward we go. Me ******** is dragging and I honestly wanted to crawl into my sleeping bag and pass out. The afternoon is drawing on and we are almost out of choices. But we continue east and come upon the FS Caribou Campground. Eureka! Only one pickup and trailer in there and the lady owning them is packing up to leave. So we squeeze our five rigs together, Gary lights one of his magical fires and all ends well. Roger had left the group in the morning to take Susan to the airport in Spokane. Unfortunately for all of us she had work commitments and had to leave. We promised to meet up with him the following day in Eureka. The skies were cloudy and it looked like rain as we finally called it a day.

 

[WU7X]

Day 6/5:

It began raining in the dark hours of early morning. But like Camelot by the time we were packed up and ready to go the rain abated and the sun was working its way out from among the clouds. I awoke feeling totally refreshed. The cold was gone and I was excited about continuing with this adventure.

Our morning run would be on asphalt, but it still turned out a winner. We were headed east toward Lake Kookanusa a 40+ mile long monster that stretched like a witch's finger from the Canadian border south deep into Montana. Our little asphalt two lane swooped up and down the mountain sides before we reached the lake's western shoreline. The scenery was enviable.


Dale's 4Runner, ********'s Xterra, David & Terri's GMC, Gary's Ranger, and Ace's 4Runner. This type of scenery is what the Yaak area is known for.


I think David and Gary like it. Ace has a really well built and thought out trailer.

Scudding southward with baby blue skies above us and the sun dappled lake to our east we quickly came across a magnificent bridge that seemed to have been created solely for our use. I think we saw one or two vehicles that morning during this part of the drive. It felt crowded, almost.

Crossing the bridge we hit gravel again. A narrow, near two-track FS road guided us indirectly FS Campground 32. This was really a neat spot! I plan on taking Nanc back here in our new trailer soon. There were a few secluded individual campsites tucked in among the trees. But there also were several spacious grass covered parks where one could stretch out and watch the stars all night. The stop at this CG was a planned recce for future trips. We ate a quick lunch there and then continued eastward along a bumpy FS road to Black Butte Lookout, a very up to date FS fire watch tower and communications site. This mountain top lookout gave us incredible NW/SE views along the glaciated Tobacco Plains valley. One could easily see into Canada from this vantage point.

Remembering we had to rendezvous with Roger in Eureka, we scuttled down the mountainside and back onto an asphalt road that lead into this little gem of a town. Just as we entered there were a group of people standing on or next to the small bridge crossing the very clear flowing but narrow Tobacco River. A friendly inquiry let us know that the salmon were busily spawning in its depths. The Kokanee swam up from Lake Kookanusa. You could watch in awe as their orange bodies flashed in the sunlight. Dozens could be seen in a few of the deeper pools. But the were also pairs and threesomes dashing over the stream gravels spending their last energy ensuring their species future. I took several videos of their actions, but unfortunately don't know how to insert them here.

We continued through Eureka to the north side of town the local FS office. The air was incredibly clear around here compared to what we had been traveling through the past few days. But we wanted to make sure that our next planned camping spot was still open and accessible. It was Saturday and the office was closed. Fortunately for us a young FS law enforcement officer pulled in. He had seen us driving through Yaak the previous day and was curious about what we were up to. After explaining our trip and where we wanted to go he was a font of information. First, the next campsite was indeed open. Second, although much of Glacier Nat'l Park was closed due to the fires we could travel over to the western park boundary with no issue. Woohoo! We were set for the next two days.

I am discovering that old farts like to eat, and drink, well. Leaving the ranger with our gratitude we returned to Eureka's main street. Finding a suitable restaurant we hurriedly parked and and grabbed a couple tables in the bustling establishment. The food was good and the conversation even better. Once satiated, most of us retraced our way back to a small park next to the bridge and the river where we could wait for Roger to show up. It wasn't long before his voice came over the radio. He quickly refilled his tanks and we headed south.

In the early 1980's I had participated in a geological evaluation of the 10 Lakes Wilderness Study Area for the USFS. This area, located just east of Eureka, is tucked along the Canadian border and several lakes lie in the center surrounded by the Galton Mountain Range. I had never been to these lakes, having worked mostly to the west of them and north along the Canadian border, but I always wanted to see them. The two major bodies of water are the Little and Big Therriault Lakes. The mountains are dense with tree stands, so dense one can't see through them. It took us several hours driving from Eureka to get to these pristine beauties. After reconning both, we decided on campsites on the eastern edge of Little Therriault. At 5,500' this would be the highest elevation we would camp during the trip. Dare I say it, more good food and another of Gary's magnificent fires helped to end the day. It got cold and the night sky was again clear and full of stars and constellations. The perfect end for a perfect day.


******** on the pathway around Little Theriault Lake

 

[Ace Brown]

Nice detailed report. But that’s Richard, not Gary. You can easily tell buy the amount of hair each has.


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[WU7X]

Nice detailed report. But that’s Richard, not Gary. You can easily tell buy the amount of hair each has.


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thanks Ace. Fixed it. How about a little more commentary and pics from you?
Dale

 

[Toy Man]

Day 3 - It was the Amber Bear Inn where we had lunch after Noxon and then we camped at the Big Eddy CG.

Noxon


The Amber Bear Inn - Way off the beaten path.


As we sat down to eat, someone noticed the Inn had wi-fi. Out came all of our cell phones

Spawning Kokanee salmon at Eureka.


Little Therriault Lake

 

[Toy Man]

And while at the Caribou CG, some of us participated in the Great Bear Spray experiment.

Ace mentioned he had an extra can of 10 year old bear spray and wanted to know if anyone wanted to try it out.

Everyone else wimped out so I raised my hand and said 'Sure'. Ace, Gary and I walked about a 100' to the highway, across the highway and above the river.
Ace and Gary stood about 20' behind me while I held the can up, pointed away from camp and into the slight breeze moving downriver. I give the bear spray the shortest tap I can
and watch as an almost invisible fan of spray goes out about 20 - 30 feet. Hmm - Ok, that seems to work, lets try it again. Another short tap and more fog/spray heads away from us.

Ace begins to backup and we turn and walk back to camp. That's when my sinuses start wanting to empty and I begin coughing and hacking. I didn't think I got any spray on me but must have.
And then Terri (who stayed in camp), begins doing the coughing and hacking bit also. She and I continue putting a show for the rest of the group for about 10 minutes.
Terri is NOT amused and is pretty adamant about there being no more bear spray testing unless it is done a number of miles from her.

Damn strong stuff; not painful but it very discomforting.

 

[WU7X]

Thanks for remembering the bear spray. I was a hundred yards upcamp from you guys and my eyes began to itch and nose run. That is powerful stuff! Glad I wasn’t any closer.