July 11 Montana, Falls, Cedars, Missoula area

Saturday, July 11

49 degrees this morning as we head into the little town of Troy.  Set amongst the National Forests and rivers, Troy caters to the outdoor folks with a few stores, gas station, ranger station and practical establishments like the "Booze 'n' Bait" store.  We see a few deer this morning as well as more turkeys and an eagle before 8:30.

First stop is Kootenai Falls and swinging bridge.  A few other cars in the parking area already, but we see only a few people on the trails.  We go to the swinging bridge area first.  Depending on the lighting the water can look beautiful blue, deep green or nearly black!

Then we walk to the Falls.  Wow!  What a power display!  There are warning signs (Beautiful but Deadly) about entering the water - and with good reason.  Several folks have died here and there are no fences or railings.

From here we take 56 South to Ross Creek Cedars, 4 miles down a narrow, single lane dirt road. We park and walk the trail.  Wow!   It is like being in a huge cathedral, awesome, quiet and still with a silent presence.  You can feel your mind expanding to take it all in.

These trees would dwarf the other cedars we've seen on this trip. There are also huge spruce trees.



The atmosphere here is dark and moist, with lots of moss, ferns and fallen needles that cushion our silent footsteps.  Sunlight makes it through the canopy here and there, illuminating the green undergrowth.

 Near the end of the trail in a mostly dry creek bed, folks have stacked rocks in silent homage (and some just because it's fun to do). A mother with two small girls are creating their own stack.  I knew cairns were used for trailblazing, and have seen them more and more often for what I thought was no apparent reason.  I looked it up and found  "Rock stacking has carried spiritual meaning across cultures for centuries. The act of balancing stones carries with it a practice of patience and a physical effort of creating balance. Each rock can signify an intention of grace for thankfulness, or offered up for another in need. ... A stack of rocks is called a cairn."

SIGH

We continue south and east.  We have seen frequent "boat check" areas both here and in Washington and Idaho.  Even canoes and kayaks are being checked in an effort to avoid introducing any non-native invasive plants or animals.    There are frequent "fishing access" signs.

Here is a pic of the Flathead river.



We planned to stop at the National Bison Range, but look it up on line and are surprised to read that it is closed.  Must be a staffing issue, we think, since the entire range is a large outdoor drive-through area.  There is a visitor's center and picnic area, but....disappointing.

Just past Missoula, we head to our boon docking site for this evening about 10 miles off Gold Creek Road in the Lolo National Forest.  We've read about this on a camping website.  This is our warmest day yet and Greg finds a spot of shade here in a small valley near a robust stream.  A few others have the same idea but are not near.  We run the overhead fan plus a small hand held one.

We check out the area, then Beth does a little hike up the mountain across from the Trek and finds a few interesting rocks, and a deer who pricks up its ears and then silently melts into the woods.

Ham and mac 'n' cheese for dinner.   And Greg continues his winning streak in cribbage.🙍


Things finally cool off around 9:00 when the sun is setting.  Several folks in the area leave with the sun, so we assume they were locals doing some fishing.  Nicer spots available now, but not worth re-locating.