Montana Camping
Always thought heaven must look something like the Rockies. Almost heaven? It is heaven. This time I thought I’d check out Northwest Montana. Haven’t been back in a while and never seen it all.
If the National Parks are America’s best idea, our National Forests might well be our second best. Anyone can camp there for free, following a few simple rules. Don’t make a mess, don’t make a fire where there were none before, and don’t take anything away as a souvenir. There are plenty of good camping spots. Worst thing about it, they seem to have become really popular in recent years.
They’re serious about two things in Montana, invasive aquatic species and bears. Not to mention all watercraft must be inspected, even canoes and kayaks. I was inspected three times and I never put in. Although there is a $10 fee for non-motorized craft, it’s probably a good idea to no try and skate around paying. A Native American guy in St. Regis tells me, “Brotherman, you’re better off dealing with me than the game warden,” and I had to agree. Paying fees and buying the necessary licenses is always cheaper than any fines.
This is grizzly country and bears can pose a problem. Many campsites have bear proof containers. People are urged to take great care in storing food. But things can still go wrong. A bear had to be killed near the Hungry Horse dam, he’d broken a car window in search of food. If a bear gets a taste for human food, it won’t stop. Sadly, they have to be killed.
With the West getting hotter and drier, the risk of fire appears to be at any time of the year. Absolutely no fireworks are allowed in the National Forests, a good thing. This makes a lot of sense after that big fire in Oregon a few years back, started by teenagers shooting off rockets. I can see a ban on campfires coming, it happens already when conditions are bad enough. Tough to enforce given the size of the place. Campfires are nice but not completely necessary. I’d rather eat cold food that take a chance on starting a forest fire myself.
I had my gazetteer and tried several times to get off the beaten path. Didn’t have much luck here. The Forest Service roads aren’t always the best, and I just didn’t have local knowledge. There were times I had to back out from where I was, just to save my oil pan. Campsites I did find weren’t bad- clean, quiet and usually free.
Looking for a quiet little stream with no one else around. I was hunting big trout, like Brad Pitt caught in the 1992 movie “A River Runs Through It”. I tried here and there, but didn’t have much luck. I’m sure things were better a hundred years ago. I hate to admit it, but all I caught was one little rainbow who reluctantly posed for a photo.
Been trying to find that trout Eldorado nearly all my life and it has remained elusive. The conquistadors never found the Seven Cities of Gold, either.
James Hoban is a retired Merchant Marine Officer and writer. He started off washing dishes and retired at the rank of Chief Mate after 34 years of going to sea. He’s lived in Chile and Thailand and traveled extensively in the Americas, Europe, Africa, and Asia. Now he goes fishing and plays the fiddle. Hoban makes his home in the Driftless.
