We enjoyed a few days in Kalispell, Montana - mostly resting and doing housekeeping chores - cleaning our clothes, car and RV after 22 glorious days in Canada. But we were back near forest fires again. This dry summer season of western fires has caused a lot of re-routing of our travels. Several of the fires that we avoided earlier in the summer were still burning in Montana, Idaho and Washington.
Kalispell became increasingly smokey with air quality alerts from the fires burning nearby in both Montana and Idaho. We decided to move into the portion of the Flathead National Forest that was in the far west and north corner of Montana as that was about the only area in the state that didn't have an active fire.
A forest ranger recommended Upper Stillwater Lake in the Flathead as a good place to camp and hike. It was a short drive, about 40 miles north and west of Kalispell and the smoke was a little better.The campground was small, only six campsites and right on the lake. We discovered that most Montana campgrounds 'winterize' around September 15th and after that the ones that remain open are free to camp because there are no services.
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| Upper Stillwater Lake - still a little smoke in the air |
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| Hike to Finger Lake |
We took a pleasant 3 mile hike to another nearby lake, Finger Lake. When we returned to camp, Maya made friends with 3 little girls who were having a cookout with their family at the lake. Maya managed to mooch some bites of their dinner and a steak bone before they went home. We had the campground and the lake to ourselves that night. The solitude was wonderful and we watched a beaver in the lake as the sun set and the stars came out.
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| Give a dog a bone! |
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