Montana - Day 8 - to Flathead Lake

Finley Point State Park, Flathead Lake

Monday, 8 August 2022

This morning I noticed a camper from the site in front of us was outside, on his knees, presumably praying.  He stayed like that for a long time, and then - while still on his knees - started reading from a book, presumably some religious publication.  This went on for so long we left before he got done.  He had a decent-sized camper, so either he had several companions with him that were distracting, or he was trying to "witness" to the great camping public.  All he taught me is that the guy had really sturdy knees.

today's route

I went back through Helena and stopped at a liquor store I'd found online.  In Montana, the state owns all the liquor stores, so I chose one based on its convenience rather than because I thought it would have a better selection.  From there I took some back roads through town to a place called Centennial Park, where I'd accidentally found an off-leash dog park.  Dext wasn't interested in staying long, but I've been pleased with his ability to meet other dogs without trouble, unlike his younger self.

A man there told me he'd heard a news report that there's a shortage of railroad workers these days, and it's causing holdups in the supply chain.

Because of the Rocky Mountains getting in the way, the most sensible route from Helena was to go back to Missoula.  Part of this route, we had already traveled 2 days ago on the way to Bannack, only this time heading north I saw different signs than going south.  So that pass where the Frenchwoman sign was - the pass that was unlabeled going south - was labeled going north: McDonald Pass, named for the guy that took over the toll road from her creep of a husband who may have killed her.

A sign told me "All watercraft crossing the continental divide must be inspected before launching."  I don't know what the Continental Divide has to do with watercraft.

A sign said "WATER →" and sure enough, at the side of the road there was a guy filling large jugs with water that seemed to flow out of the mountain (and a sign that said something like drink at your own risk).

We crossed the Little Blackfoot River multiple times.

I saw white †s here and there, and one group of three of them was decorated with flowers - apparently a family.

Montana has a town called Phosphate.

We passed a turn for Camp Mak-A-Dream.  That is apparently a charity for cancer survivors and their families where, they say, they gain skills intended to "strengthen life skills" and "gain resilience."  Although I'd have thought anyone who made it successfully through a bout with cancer is bound to have already learned both.

I saw a large flock of sheared sheep in a field with 8 cows that were looking outnumbered.  And farther on, another flock of sheep with slightly longer coats.

I thought I saw beaver lodges in the river by the highway.

I saw a car with Hawaii license plates.

I came to a section designated the Jeannette Rankin Memorial Highway, and I decided to look her up.  She was the first woman to hold federal office in the US, going to the US House of Representatives in 1916, and is still the only woman Montana has sent to Congress.  She was a suffragist and introduced the legislation that eventually became the 19th amendment, allowing women the right to vote.  She was a pacifist and voted against the US entering both world wars, despite the hatchet those votes took to her political career.  She was a strong advocate for better working conditions for laborers.  You can read more about this remarkable woman on the Wikipedia page.   https://en.wikipedia.org/Jeannette-Rankin

I'd intended to stop in Missoula at an Albertsons I knew was there.  When I looked up directions on Google, I noticed a place called Gregory Park right by the exit, so that got included on our itinerary.  A sign as we drove up told me it was the Sgt. Don Gregory Park.

It turned out to be a little pocket park with an even smaller parking lot, where I could just squeeze in the RV.  There were tennis courts and a picnic area and lots of big old trees and grass, so I had a place to walk Dexter.  I was surprised not to see anything at the park explaining who this Sgt. Don Gregory was, so I looked it up and learned he was a Missoula police officer who was accidentally killed in 1976 while on the job.  A photo and an explanation of the incident is at this website.   https://www.odmp.org/sgt-donald-e-gregory  

At the park, Dext and I met a very nice Golden Retriever named Nicholas that was a service dog for a deaf young woman who was there with her family.  I learned she could lip read, because she and I carried on a short conversation about our dogs.  Nice dog, nice people.

Leaving the park, we went around a couple of corners in a very residential neighborhood and came across a deer with some nice antlers grazing placidly in someone's small front yard.

Local bus service in Missoula is provided by Mountain Line, which is a fairly reasonable name on its own, given the proximity to mountains around here.  But it has a picture of a cougar on the side of the buses, turning it into a pun.

Today was the second time I've tried to fill up with gasoline, only to have the pump stop too soon.  This has only happened in Montana, so I'm wondering if there's something different about their pumps.

Missoula hosts the Smokejumper Visitor Center at what they claim is the largest smokejumper base in the US.  I remember passing one of these in eastern Washington, too.  The visitor center says they've got a small museum and some short films about smokejumping.  Maybe worth a visit if I'm here with more time.

I came to the Flathead Indian Reservation, home to 3 tribes: the Bitterroot Salish, the upper Pend d'Orielle, and the Kootenai.  Throughout this part of the drive, I came to towns that the tribe labeled in both English and a native language.  For instance, the sign for Arlee Area said "Place of Large Diameter Aspen Trees," followed by the Salish: "nɫq̓alqʷ, nɫq̓a."  (I cribbed that off the town's website.)  

The reservation includes most of Flathead Lake, celebrated for being the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, and is of course Montana's largest natural lake.  A rest area gave me my first view of it.

Flathead Lake

I hoped those signs you can see in that photo would give me information about the lake, and one sign did, but the others wanted to tell me about protecting wildlife from getting killed on the highway.  It's apparently been a while since the highway department looked at these signs and some were indecipherable, but what I could read was interesting so I'll show you that.

the sign - enlargements below

This was from a separate sign.

And here's the one that talks about the lake itself.

enlargements below

I wanted to show what a pretty area this is, so I took this short video.  Turn your sound off because the traffic noise detracts from the scenery.

We went on through Polson, where the little bit I saw seems to count on tourism.  It's home to Miracle of America Museum, which bills itself as the Smithsonian of the West.  It says it's the largest and most diversified museum in the state.  I was already tired and decided to press on to the campground.

Finley Point State Park has 5 separate campgrounds, and I know 2 of them - on the east side of the lake - have been closed because of a wildfire in the vicinity.  I felt lucky to have gotten a site here, even on a Monday, because this seems to be a popular destination for Montanans as well as us out-of-staters.

It's also home to lots of fruit.  Just on the road coming in we passed several cherry orchards and, I think, some apple trees.  Also a small vineyard.

At the campground, my section was on a steep hill, ending at a marina and swimming area at the bottom.  I was at the top, so Dext and I could walk down easily, but coming back up was a bit of a workout.  That car in the photo below is only on the next level down; the lake is far below that.

This was the view of the lake from our site.

I learned quickly that the campground is heavily populated with deer.  Actually, the whole area is.  We had several deer cross the very rural road both in front of us and behind us as we came here, and they weren't in a hurry about it.  I saw one just amble across the road, and then jumped a fence from a dead standstill.  Those are some legs they've got on them

And then there was this one in the campsite below ours.  He gradually worked his way uphill past our RV (Dext was fortunately not paying attention) and then crossed up the hill above us.

It was peaceful here, but also hot and somewhat uncomfortable, because our site wasn't really level, and the hillside was so steep I was vaguely afraid we'd slide backwards down the hill.  But that didn't happen so we were okay.