Not to worry, we are still alive and on the move! We have realized during our time in Montana that the majority of the state is a T-Mobile dead zone. It’s been a little over a week since our last post and we are now driving through our third state since then. We have seen some of the most beautiful landscapes of our trip over the last eight days and it was difficult to pick our favorite pictures, but we did our best.

So last we left you we were heading into Idaho for a quick stop before Montana. The width of the state of Washington is quite a drive and it was dark by the time we arrived at our prospective campground right across the border in Oldtown, Idaho.

We hesitantly traveled down a back gravel road in search of the campground and almost decided to turn around before we stumbled upon it. No matter how quaint a campground may be, they all look a little spooky at night. So we went to sleep hoping things would look better in the morning.

They did, much better! The Albeni Cove Campground is run by the Army Corps of Engineers and is situated on the banks of the Pend Oreille River directly upstream from the dam. It is a wonderfully run little campground, only thirteen sites, and has the cleanest bathrooms we’ve seen so far. (At this point we are not hard to impress, but it truly was very clean.)

We spent the day playing with the doggies in the water. It was wonderful!

Max was not happy with me for beating him in a game of Farkle!

The next morning we headed out early in search of a National Forest Campground just outside Glacier National Park.

Somewhere back in Oregon we started stopping at promising looking pawn/antique/thrift stores (there are a ton to choose from) to look for a used bike for Marc. Four states later we found a winner!

The South Butt Pawn Shop in Montana had exactly what he was looking for. We even managed to fit it on the back of the Jeep! 

Ha ha!

The area surrounding Glacier NP is stunning. We drove down the West side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir looking for an available campsite in one after another full campground. No dice!

Our grumbling bellies getting the best of us, we finally stopped at a day use area on the water to have a swim and cook some dinner. By this time we had resigned ourselves to the fact that we would most likely be sleeping in the car that night. Then nine miles West of West Glacier we found Timber Wolf Creek Resort. The office was open late, the tent sites are reasonably priced, and the owners are Midwesterners! This was a great find.

Hungry Horse Dam

Our last resort Day Use/Dinner Area

The drive into the park through the thick fog the next morning was beautiful. We stopped for some coffee and famed Huckleberry Pie. It made quite a tasty breakfast!

Oh my my, Huckleberry Pie!

Throughout our trip everyone we met who had been to Glacier National Park had raved about it. One guy simply put it, “It’s the kind of beauty you can’t explain to another person. You just have to see it for yourself.”

It is true. The grandeur of this park literally takes one’s breath away. Our drive along the Going to the Sun Road took us through a whole range of emotions.

Looking over the river at one point I turned around and started laughing out loud, not able to believe the spectacular sight behind me. The wild and pure beauty of the mountains also has the ability to bring tears to your eyes. 

We took nearly one hundred pictures in the park, but don’t want to bore you all with a dozen scenery shots. 

Even Max and Lucy appreciated the beauty, and the wind!

We were on such a high that we decided to keep on driving. Going on the recommendation of a fellow camper we pulled into Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park in Southwestern Montana.

This is a beautiful park with a very open, almost desert like feel to it. It sits in a valley next to the Jefferson River and surrounded by towering bald mountains.

We enjoyed a pleasant, yet hot, seven miles hike in the park the following day. 

Next we were off to our Forest Service Cabin. We found it online and reserved it (I know, so unlike us) ahead of time for three nights.

Wall Creek Cabin is located eighteen miles South of Ennis, MT overlooking the crystal clear Madison River. It has an amazing view of the Madison Range to the East which made for beautiful sunrises.

The Forest Service provided directions to the cabin on their website. It did require some effort and about half an hour of driving on bumpy gravel roads to get there. 

It is a primitive cabin, no water, no electricity, bunk beds, and a wood burning stove for heat. In other words, it was luxury accommodations!!

The cabin is located adjacent to the home of a real life cowboy and his wife. Our second day there they went out onto the range with their four horses and six dogs and didn’t return before we left. 

Our little home.

Cowboy Scott and his wife leaving for the range.

We did find that we had trouble sleeping the first night. We realized how accustomed we’ve become to sleeping in the tent. It was also a bit warm, definitely too warm to use the wood burning stove. Who knew it was so hot in Montana?

We spent our days at the cabin drinking wine, eating way too much good food, and swimming in the Madison River. Marc taught me how to split wood like a champ.

We even managed to get ourselves off our camp chairs on the porch and onto the Hyde Creek Trail for a short hike. 

Our hideout from the sun at the Madison River

A storm threatened to ruin our day but the blue sky won out!

Our first rattlesnake sighting!

Our luxury water closet

I found a horseshoe on our hike. Lucky? I think so.

One of the highlights of our stay was reading the entries from the Wall Creek Cabin Diary.

It was so interesting to read about other people’s experiences at the cabin. We recorded a bit of our story before we left as well.

With just a few more stops before we have to think about traveling back East, we are starting to get a little anxious. How ever will we adapt back into civilized society?!

Although our trip is winding down we still have some beautiful places to see before we head home. So we better get going!