Montana Meanderings

I loved Bozeman (and Brad!), but there was really very little options for free camping and after the Friday night party of noisy college boys, I decided to try other places. First stop: Elkhorn, the ghost town I've been reading about for years!

Above is the view from the trail to the cemetery which is up a mountain. I didn't mean to hike, but as I walked around town I saw a sign and followed the road UP...to the top! I kept wondering how they transported heavy coffins in wagons up this steep, dirt road? The cemetery is filled with children's graves which always unsettles me. I knew there was a trail down the mountain as I saw signs coming into town for it. I followed it back, very steep switch backs but absolutely gorgeous! 

The weather was finally cooperating, but my camera battery gave out so I didn't get many photos. I planned to stay close and come back in the morning...but the monsoon rains poured down all night. The road in was miles of dirt washboard so I was a little nervous about what I'd find on the way out. I stayed on the side of the road on a grassy road behind some trees.

Next was a visit to Helena. This is the state capitol. I could have taken photos of buildings all day long even in the pouring rain! Lots of history.

I ended up taking Hwy 1 through Anaconda and Philipsburg (beautiful historic town!) and on to Missoula. Out of Anaconda the highway crawled up and it started snowing. As it dipped down into the valley, the snow stopped, the temperature increased and even with the sharp twisty turns of the mountain road, it was absolutely gorgeous with little farms along the way.

I continued to Missoula and constantly expressed profound pleasure at the landscape. The interstate cut through the mountains and kept going down, getting warmer, the sun appeared, and the greenery was a shocking shade of bright emerald! Such a beautiful area! I headed to what I think was Big Pine Fishing Access just north of Alberton. It was four miles off Interstate 90, 2 miles of fairly flat dirt road down to a little fishing park. I found a spot right on the river! 

Beautiful and quiet, but an hour out of Missoula and NO INTERNET! If I didn't have to work, I would have stayed a week. The next two nights I stayed in the parking lot of a very welcoming Cracker Barrel which was very quiet and felt very safe.

I'm not sure I like Missoula. Parking downtown is a nightmare. Parking at park even costs! Even the parking at the library was a limit of two hours IF you can find a spot! There are four free parking spots in front of the library and I was told I'd have to get there early to snag one. Around 8am, library employees took them! Lucky for me I'm an early riser and got there at 7am. 

Big Blue outside Missoula Library in free parking.

Even in the city parks it's paid parking except after 5pm and on weekends. Lots of beggars and more bad-driving men...rude men in big trucks who believe they are entitled. However, they have a superb store called Good Food Market on 3rd Street that is much like the Bozeman Food Co-op, and very much like Whole Foods was before they went to the dark side. After too many rude people and one bad encounter after the other, I left.

Road Trip

I had planned an elaborate escape vacation only to be delayed, then disappointed, before I finally asking, Is this contributing joy to my life?  At that point I had to be honest with myself and I decided I wasn't having a joyful time with all the worry and stress it was causing. I look forward to someday being able to vacation without having to worry about Internet access. Actually, a vacation with absolutely no worries whatsoever is my goal.

So I limited my adventure to the backwoods of eastern and central Oregon with a short, unavoidable trip into eastern Washington. Here are some highlights:

I was driving down this deserted highway in the middle of no where and saw a sign that read:

STONEHENGE

 

Did I read that correctly? I was intrigued. What is Stonehenge, prehistoric rock architecture normally found in Britain, doing in eastern Washington? In the middle of no where? Ah ha! My first vacation adventure!

 

Someone, Samuel Hill, thought to commission an exact replica of Stonehenge as a military monument honoring soldiers from World War I. It's really cool. You can see a person to the far left dressed in red as a size comparison. It's made from cement and textured to look like stone.

 

 

 

 

It sits high on a hill over the Columbia River. The view was spectacular:

 

 

The first night's search for free camping was a failure. I had lined up two different campgrounds with a third option just in case. The first two were filled with homeless people. They created a shanty town using cardboard, tarps, and other found materials along with well-worn tents. I'm sure these people were kind and honest, but one never knows. Poverty can make people desperate so I didn't feel comfortable parking my van in amongst them. Granted my van is fourteen years old, but it looked brand new compared to their housing. Besides, the campgrounds were filled to the brim. The third camping option was closed to campers. It was a beautiful park and I can only assume they were tired of homeless people taking it over. I doubt if picnic lovers or parents were feeling safe using the facilities during the day. I kept driving late into the night and ended up at a run-down RV park for cheap.

 

The next morning I headed for eastern Oregon through the Umatilla National Forest. LOTS of free camping here, but unfortunately, even with my extensive online planning I had no idea. I'm learning. Beautiful area. I wasn't really excited to realize it was hunting season and not sure if camping remotely would be safe. Some eager person might mistake me for a moose. Still, free dispersal camping has sites that are far apart AND a benefit to camping at the end of summer is the fire restriction. Everything is too dry to have a campfire for fear of forest fires and this ban eliminated air pollution from smoke. There were some warnings in the area of forest fires, but I never smelled smoke.

Being a single female camping out in the middle of no where is a little unnerving especially when four-wheel trucks filled with men would pull up, drive through the camps looking the place over. Shiver. I constantly asked myself, What the hell are you thinking? Especially when the vehicles would pull up in the middle of the night and I wonder if I'll still be alive in the morning. I laid there at this campground, on high alert, and imagined how I would defend myself. This was not sleep productive.

 

 

 

The paved road to this campsite was through ranch lands so cows were all over the road, ON the road, and barbed wire surrounded the campground. I could hear mooing until dark. It was kind of cool and the area was beautiful which made up for my unfounded fear. Other than the few vehicles, it was incredibly peaceful and quiet.

 

My next stop was Granite, Oregon, a ghost town. It wasn't very ghostly. I stopped in the little country store and the man told me it was a ghost town until the mid-1980s when people started moving in. Lots of eclectic tiny houses used as hunting cabins intermixed with the old buildings. Unfortunately, I didn't take any photos of them.

 

Old School House, Granite, Oregon

 

Desperate for Internet not found out in the country, I headed to Bend, Oregon. I wasn't planning to stop there, but I knew I would find Internet and another MCSer asked me to check it for her. Many chemically sensitive consider Bend as it's very health-oriented located in the valley under the Three Sisters Mountains and Mt. Bachelor. The mountain scenery is gorgeous and everyone was wearing shorts and hiking boots. There is a Whole Foods located in the suburbs and the historic town center is beautiful. A huge plus is it's much drier than the rest of the state so there is less mold. I'd been to Bend in the past, once about 20 years ago and again passing through about 12 years ago. It's currently suffering from horrible urban sprawl. Of course, this means it's no longer the small town it once was and it is filled with convenient amenities. This means no driving long distance to find health care or organic food, but you'd have to like traffic. And auto exhaust. And people. There is a bus system, but of course, for many MCSers this could be problematic.

 

My next stop was another ghost town. I read Oregon has more ghost towns than any other state. I love ghost towns, but I really like REAL ghost towns where the buildings are abandoned and one can walk around and in them. Shaniko, Oregon, is another not-so-ghostly ghost town. People are living in most of the buildings. But it is a great example of a wild-west layout and many of the old buildings are still standing. They've preserved it for tourists.

 

Post Office

 

Hotel and Saloon

 

 

I love you can tie your horse outside at the hitching rails.

 

 

Bank

 

 

Mercantile

 

 

Prison Wagon

 

 

Jail

 

After Shaniko I headed back to the coast. Lots of green and fresh air. It made me appreciate where I live. I stopped and joyously walked the beaches and meandered through the little towns along the way.

 

 

As I pulled into Rathole I realized with new eyes if I didn't live there, I probably would consider it the prettiest town I've seen so far. I just wish I didn't know about the sociopaths and trailer trash. Then again, I bet every one of the little towns I've admired have their share of undesirables. I was happy to be home.

 

In the next few weeks I think I'll supplement my vacation with mini-camping trips to the ocean. Walks on the beach are very joyous.