Swan River

 Well, I tried in vain to secure a camping spot at Flathead Lake. The camp host was available, so I spoke with Kate from Colorado. She said the computer system is down, so there was no real way to confirm if there is space or not. But it was 9 a.m. and I would have to wait until 1 p.m. to know for sure, if space was available. I wasn't willing to hang around and wait.

In the meantime, her 2 cats were roaming around on harnesses, as I asked, and she talked about her electric bicycles, which are called Lectric, and are made in Phoenix, Arizona. The handle folds down, and the bike actually folds in half, and is 65 lbs. Her husband said that he drove 45 miles yesterday on the charge, and still had more to go. Fascinating! 

So I decided to take a drive to Swan Lake. I found a couple access roads into the National Forest, and after driving on one for quite some time, passing by logging trucks, I saw no such dispersed camping sites available. I did stop at another Wildlife Refuge located at the end of Swan Lake, for a brief hike.

I decided to drive down another National Forest Road and reached the Swan River. There was a boat launch by the bridge, and I managed to take a trail down to the shore. The sun was already bright and hot, but I nestled into the willows for some protection. While JoJo was taking a snooze, I walked along the shore, into the river, and managed a quick dip, although the water was absolutely ice cube cold, yet wonderfully refreshing, crystal clear, and clean. 

I stayed for a while, and occasionally saw a fishing kayak and raft. I would have stayed much longer, enjoying the shade, and access to water, except the horse flies, or deer flies, and mosquitoes would not leave me alone! I stayed in the sun to avoid them. And am getting quiet the tan. I did manage to find some unusual striped rocks, but not sure what kind they are. I liked the texture and the lines of the stripes along with the golden brown and butterscotch tones. I guess I will always have my eyes open for pretty rocks. If I was "into" driftwood, there was certainly plenty of that here as well.

At the end of the day, with some driving here and there, I managed to find another spot of dispersed camping in the Flathead National Forest. it was literally the only place I came upon, so I did a tad of backtracking hoping this place was still available, and it was. Bambi even paid me a visit in the evening.














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