7/29/17 We arrived at Mount Robson River, BC, a dry camp ground with 16 sites. If you have ear plugs it is a great place, very clean, quiet and scenic (but for the roar of the highway only a few hundred yards away….this goes essentially quiet after dark (when the trucks stop traveling). There is even a shower house… very well laid out with hot water on a 30 second timer… 5 hits with soap ups and you are human again. The river is beautiful a short walk away.

We rearranged some gear from the back to the camper roof, then off to Alberta past Moose Lake…everybody has a Moose Lake. Seeing Mount Robson is a treat…clear sunny skies and a ‘wall’ of a mountain seemingly straight up. Very impressive. If you can swing it only do then Ice Fields Parkway in the shoulder season. The crowds with busses at each stop were insane. Pop into Jasper for a beer at the brewery and laundry then our plan was to head south an hour or so to a smaller, quieter camp sites. I will say there is nothing that can take away from the beauty of the mountains that seem to go on forever … mile after mile. Phenomenal beauty. 

Jasper looks different than when I was here last. I left college after a year to get away and think. 1973-4 Of course ‘youth clueless’ I hitched to Montreal in January and took the Canadian National Railroad ($68) for a seat to Vancouver BC. Three and a half day ride. I decided on the moment to get out at Jasper. It was 35 below zero but dry cold. I hiked up to Mount Pyramid and snow camped for a few days where I met a man filming wolverines. I camped by his fire and he gave me a bear claw I still have today. Jasper was just a stop on the line then.

Bit different now. Folks scramble for wifi that due to no cell for days are horrified at the lack of data speed. Withdrawal symptoms. For us it is par as our home has none either.  Jasper’s setting is glamorous…360 view of mountains and they have an issue with elk that wander to town. I must say again the road barn scene is obscene. I will write my senator that (and I do expect the RV Lobby is enormous) our national treasures should not be held ransom to these behemoths. I say give them a parking lot to “camp” in and then take a bus in to the parks. We should not be saddled with their support system. It is the wealthy expecting too much as a right. Canada is a land of splendor and the only thing better than Canada is the Canadians. They are warm, openly friendly, willing to help and have a way that says, “why hurry lets talk”. 

We headed south and knowing we are in for one last night in Canada at a provincial park where generators rule supreme… old ones….(people clapped when they stopped so the tide has turned and solar is becoming normal even for large camper units).  A member from the auspicious site ‘Wander the West’ was a goldmine of information on back roads, forest service roads and ghost towns of western US. He spent time outlining a few hundred mile route in the boonies where trout jump and boon docking is legal. Once we enter Montana we will skirt into these less known roads and enjoy the quiet and contemplation of the scenery… maybe catch a trout for dinner too. I am re-(may I use the word?) generated by the thought of wandering the west as we did in the far north again. Solar shower, solar panels, and BBQ grill… luxuries of the camp, all quiet. 

Our trip so far has been absolutely wonderful. My poor truck has taken a beating and kept running true. A new truck now ‘broken in’. We have far yet to go.  

Friday the 28th

As usual..man plans …God laughs. That is what to expect when on travels on the fly. We had gotten out late and so were a bit behind the good rule of travel till three then seek out the hole to sleep. And so it was that the area we entered along the Flat Head Lake was in full summer swing… we tried a First Nation site as well as the State and National but though there was room at one or two we decided to wing it and look for a boondocks site. We got to the ranger station before it closed and got a service road map for the national forest and advice of a few places to find. They were within a mile or so and others quite a few miles in on rough dirt roads. WE tried a couple and were finally down to one that was a few miles in ..on a road we were warned about. We ended at a small lake and found a van with a flat tire and a man that was ‘rough’ around the edges… there were three spots within a few hundred yards to camp. I offered him help with his tire but he declined… his name was James and had been there a week. It is also bear, brown and black, area. We got settled a hundred yards away took refreshing baths at the lake’s waters edge… loons, turtles and fly catchers. 

Up and out the next day. We had hoped to get to a special route laid out by a WTW contributor that is known as “if you don’t go where he suggests you are missing out” advice.

He spent time typing out all the service road numbers through the area for fly fishing and ‘dispersed camping’ in the National Forest. We followed to the letter… but God laughed… or nature struck … forest fires we saw in BC are also here. Hot weather and no rain. Just after I bought my Montana two day fishing license ($50!)… we got to the access to a 40 mile road of boondocks and fly fishing heaven… not to be. A couple hours earlier the fire had jumped the line and the whole valley was closed. A sheriff at a roadblock turned us around …plan B. Tis needed to be a plan B and C in the end but on the fly is as it is. We tried to skirt the fire line by traveling around the area to the south but was informed the southern area was also engulfed. 

Off to the ranger station for Lolo National Forest and he suggested a place he was familiar with. I would like to stress at this time how important it is to have both paper and ‘tech’ maps… A GPS is great and I mean the type of GPS that does not interpret your route but only gives location. This then is correlated with the atlas … then truth is known. I can not tell you how many times I have gotten bizarre locations or routes from the “all in one units” …. I laugh out loud as it announces “you have arrived at your destination”  and what I see out the windshield is the arse end of someplace I do not want to be. Being able to see where you are by GPS and then use the atlas book solves it all and you have your bearing in your head …the haha …. ya moment. And so we went into the forest and are now on a stream with little brook trout jumping …quiet sound of water over stone… every few hours a truck goes by maybe… until dark. The sky is black again… I almost forgot to look for the stars at the mid night pee. Yup there they are again as we are south. 

Tomorrow we will continue to follow our sage’s advice into the historic areas of the western Montana… the original “capital of the territory’ now ghost town and then the little towns on roads with big numbers… 593 etc. AND… to places for Rob to fly fish …. not fly catching mind you… just be in the waters thinking like a fish is good for me. Our sage also made aware of the fires has a secondary route into Idaho in the works and even a possible route from Boise east into Wyoming…then Nebraska …. avoiding the herd. 

PS… as I might add not all roses… carrying a load at 6,500 feet elevation at 85-90 degree temp the transmission has gotten hot. No computer alarms but I monitor it and normal low level temps are around 160-190…. today up here we hit 218…. that is why we are where we are… I did not want to push ‘Max’ to work too hard any more today. (up at over 7300 feet)