Monday, July 20, 2026 Across Idaho into Montana

Monday, July 20

First hint of smoke smell in the air when going outside this morning, but only for a minute.  A pleasant 57 degrees.  We have breakfast and then break camp about 8:15.  Greg spots a pretty deer as we leave the campground, but it is in thick underbrush so no pic.  

Continue to travel through lots of forest, lakes and valleys and cross into Idaho in just over an hour.  This is the thinnest part of Idaho and in two hours we'll enter Montana.

Odd road for many miles - it has paths, as though telling you where your vehicle's tires should go.

Back to roads that wind through valleys, so it is often the three R's - roads, railroads and rivers together. Pretty scenery.  

We have seen railroads carrying coal or Amazon and FedX  boxes , and now we are seeing lots of lumber. Some trains just have the plain cars and we wonder what else is being transported by train these days... 

We see bee boxes here and there.  Ran into a man who worked for a company that provided and serviced bee boxes once.   Interesting traveling job!   

Wallowing deters biting insects and soothes itchy skin.

 During summer mating season the dominant makes also urinate and roll in these areas to mark territory.

Gotta wonder what's going through his mind....

We decide to check out the Bison Range in Moiese, Montana.  It is an 18,766 acre reserve that supports bison, antelope and other wildlife.  It is on the Flathead Indian Reservation.  Used to be National Bison Range, but is now operated by the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes (CSKT).    $20 per car entry.  We take the shorter low trail which is totally bison.

Before the 1800's there were 30-60 million bison in North America, today there are about 15,000 wild, free range animals. 

As we've learned from news stories about interactions with thoughtless tourists, despite weighing 2,000 lbs and standing over 6' tall, bulls can run 35mph and jump 4-6'. They can live 20 years in the wild. Many are close to the road and while we do wind down windows for pics, we wouldn't dream of getting out of the vehicle.

 We find a campground not too far from the Bison Range called Jocko Hollow.  It is a small private campground that has 8 sites, water and electric.  Greg thinks several of the people are long term campers. The lady that runs it is pleasant and  has lots of pretty flowers.  She shows us around a bit  and opens the laundry room for us, so Beth runs a couple of loads.

A nice stream runs behind our site.  The highway is fairly close and a bit noisy until darkness falls and traffic dwindles.