We realize that our overnight choices are not what everyone prefers, and it's a good thing. If everybody liked what we like, we'd have a tough time finding these sorts of places! But then it got us wondering... what is your "perfect" campsite?
We left our riverside spot early Thursday morning and headed into the town of Plains where we used their free library WiFi for a couple of hours.
At 7:00am, heading towards the town of Plains, Montana.
Then, we headed north through the big Flathead Indian Reservation.
On a side note, isn't it odd that here in the U.S. they call them "Reservations". In Canada, we call them "Reserves". Language is a funny thing, isn't it?
Great scenery.
But then it's hard not to find great scenery in this part of Montana!
Our first view of Flathead Lake.
Sherman, enjoying the view.
There are not a lot of easy overnight spots through the reservation because you have to have special permission from the band office for recreational use on their land. So we continued on through and stopped for lunch in a rest area beside Flathead Lake.
View of Flathead Lake.
Isn't it odd that we have never heard of Flathead Lake before? What a beautiful area. And only a few miles south of Glacier National Park.
Carrying on to the town of Lakeside, we stopped there to check in with the library internet but their library is closed. Not due to COVID, but because they are moving! No worries, we have cellular internet as a backup. We found a listing for an overnight spot at a trailhead in Flathead National Forest.
Only 5 miles (8 kms) away, but 1,200 feet up! The listing said that the paved road was good, but that the dirt road was steep, and not so good.
Plus, it had been raining on and off, so I was a little concerned about the condition of the dirt road. But, we figured Sherman was up to the challenge! He may not be 4 wheel drive, but he does have 4 wheels on the back!
The road up to the trailhead.
Ruth didn't take any other pictures. There were some deep ruts and she was hanging on to her chair! But Sherman plowed on through and made it to the top.
Our overnight spot!
GPS 48.009948, -114.300886
We got ourselves leveled up and set for the night. I checked the phone and was surprised to see a two bar T-Mobile signal that connected through the Mexican SIM card.
This was almost a perfect campsite that ticked all the boxes.
- In the middle of nowhere with nobody else around.
- Free
- Beautiful scenery.
- A variety of hiking and biking trails from where we are parked.
- An internet connection.
- No bugs
The only thing better would have been a fantastic view, but we get that by walking around the corner...
We went for a short 3 mile (5 km) walk before dinner...
Our trail is disappearing!
This is a preview of today's hike!
Back at Sherman.
Our drive since we left Missoula.
We are headed out on the trails... supposed to be a great hike.
We might stay here two nights!
So we are curious... what is your "perfect" campsite?
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Perfect campsite? Close enough to the festival stage that we can hear the music.
ReplyDeleteYep, for you that would be great! We know how much you love music and festivals from your past comments. :-)
DeleteI have always called them Indian Reservations. Not sure if this is an East/West difference but never heard them called Reserves before. Great place to park yourself for a while. Sucks the roads don't always co operate with that perfect box but then again, if the road was perfect, more people may find it :)
ReplyDeleteIf you look up "List of Indian reserves in Canada" on wikipedia you will see that this is what they are called in Canada, it even has a note saying how people sometimes incorrectly called them by the American term reservations.
DeleteSo very true about the roads in not being perfect, the harder it is to get to the "perfect" site the less people there will be trying to get to it! :-)
That little bird looks like it's got a cold weather fur coat on!
ReplyDeleteLol, I don't think he/she was too cold just a little windblown maybe. ;-)
DeleteDo you guys struggle with ticks at all?
ReplyDeleteI wondered about that too. You hear about them in the foothills.
DeleteMy perfect camping spot has to be quiet and a good view of the sunset.
Not so far we haven't but it is funny that you mentioned it because we were walking through tall grass and when we got back I mentioned to Kevin to check himself for ticks and this was before Kevin even wrote up this post.
DeleteYep, we love being able to see a nice sunset or even a nice sunrise from our spot. It is hard to tick all those boxes though.
Twice this happened to me while trying to camp in remote area - as I was scouting out a level spot, I detect movement and without letting intruder know I see them I go about my business. A man in camouflaged clothing with face painted studies me. I walk slowly back towards my sister and say 'lets get outta here!' Once in Yellowstone in dense forest and once in northern California also in dense forest. Except in California it was my sister who saw the guy. I don't know why they didn't make themselves known but I didn't stick around to find out.
ReplyDeleteP.S. so I tent camp in designed camp grounds but do boon dock if I feel safe.
DeleteOut of all our times boondocking we have never had anything like that happen.
DeleteI like a campsite that's away from most people, but it needs to be pretty easy to get to. But after about a week I want a full hook up site for a few days.
ReplyDeleteWe used to live in Lakeside up the mountain from the lake. Had a great view of the lake and Jim could be fishing in 15 minutes
Even after a week for us we would still be happy to be in the middle of nowhere. We do know that many people like to go to a campground at least once a week or so so that they can get laundry done, talk to some people and get a good cleaning of the rig done as well as dump and fill.
DeleteI bet it was the same mountain that we were up on. We were just off the Blacktail Road. The view of the lake would have been nice to wake up to when you were living there. It seems like a nice little town.
The perfect site:
ReplyDelete*Gets light in the morning through mid-afternoon, but still has some protection from wind. (We get a lot of it in Colorado.)
*Nobody else around! Agree with you on that.
*A good spot for a campfire.
*Somewhere we can level out.
*Wifi and cellphone coverage is always a plus. (Though we often don't have good reception in the mountains -- unless you hike to the top of a hill. Ironically, cemeteries are often good spots to pick up cellphone coverage. Is it the stones, or the fact that trees are cleared away? Don't know...)
*A miles-to-see view is always welcome.
*Sandy beach nearby with fishing/swimming possibilities.
No noisy 4-wheelers zipping through!
Boondocking preferred -- and since we're dreaming here:
*A commercial bathroom within strolling distance. Pit toilet is fine, too. For no charge, naturally...
That pretty much ticks all of our boxes as well. The washroom we could give or take, at least during normal times, right now we exclusively use our own bathroom rather than any public one.
DeleteWow, beautiful scenery! Love your photography 💚
ReplyDeleteMy perfect site is in a shady forested area, no close neighbors,no barking dogs or screaming kids and loud adults. Also,plenty of activities like hiking, biking, exploring. Cheers!!
We would want some sun for our solar panels, other than that is sounds absolutely ideal. :-)
DeleteFlathead Lake is awesome all the way around it! Great pictures.
ReplyDeleteWhen we head back from Glacier National Park we will be headed down the other side of the lake. :-)
DeleteIn Alaska the native lands are called Native Corporation Land. There never were reserves nor reservations. The Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act was only signed in 1970 approx. The Trash Alaska Pipeline could not be built without this agreement.
ReplyDeleteIt is pretty much the same for Canada's three territories. They are called settlements up there and not reserves and the territories in general are run differently than the provinces, also the majority of people that live in all three territories are First Nations People.
DeleteHope you try some huckleberrys and cherries from the Flathead Lake area......yum !
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it doesn't look like the cherries and huckleberries are ready until late July and by that time we will be out of the area.
DeletePerfect campsite (AKA Boondock site)? Most any spot that is fairly level with a nice view, open sky for solar and no other people around. A bonus is being able to see the sunrise and sunset or just one or the other. Also any place that is not a RV Park with the only view is the RV next to you on all sides.
ReplyDeleteThe perfect site doesn't necessarily have to be boondocking, for us it does but for some people the "perfect" site could be at an upscale full service RV Resort. Luckily everyone's idea of the perfect site is different.
DeleteWe like your idea of a perfect site, definitely not the RV Park where all you see is your next door neighbours unit.
I'm betting you didn't stop at the Syme's Hotel and hot springs....
ReplyDeleteYou should have, hot water, food; and many times music, all varieties...
It's a neat old building and the folks were great the times we stayed there..
Nope we didn't! Kevin isn't a big soak in the hot springs type of guy but the main reason is the times we are living in at the moment. We are just staying away from the public as much as possible, this includes things like the hot springs, restaurants and just large groups of people in general. To be honest I am not even sure if the hot springs themselves would have been open when we were up in that area, I know they are now but not sure if they were then. The only time we are out in the public is to do our grocery shopping or to get gas, and then it is only one of us and we get in and get out as quickly as possible.
DeleteYour idea of a perfect campsite is the same as mine! Looks like you found a beaut here!
ReplyDeleteLooks like a few of us here like the same type of campsit! :-)
DeleteThe only thing that could have been better at this one is if we could have seen that beautiful view from Sherman's window, instead of it being just a little down the road.
All the comments make interesting reading! Carry on! Safe travels!
ReplyDeleteThey sure do! Nice to see that many of us think the same way as too what we like in a campsite. :-)
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