We finished up the Smith River and had the boat on the trailer by about noon. It was Thursday so there was time to take the slow road home. We headed over the continental divide to the Blackfoot river. After lunch at Trixi’s in Ovando we checked out the river access for a float the next day. There are a few questionable boat launches on the Blackfoot but the ones we scouted were great, so we had a plan for the next day. All we needed was a camp for the night. That part proved trickier than I anticipated, but after lots of driving and several camps and fishing access points we found our spot and watched the sun go down over a stream originally named for Meriweather Lewis’ dog Seaman, but is now named Monture Creek. Kudos to Montana for all the fishing access sites with camps that give you a discount for having a fishing license. Reason #101 that Montana is awesome. The next morning we called Ovando shuttles with our barely passable service (note to self: next time save the wifi password for Trixi’s) and with that bit of logistics out of the way we headed to the river. Just before reaching the launch we happened across a little tan bear who turned tail and ran before we could get a good look at him. Mostly we just saw ears as he galloped through the sage. He headed right towards the campground at the launch and disappeared into the timber. I’m sure he wasn’t headed for trouble.
We put in at Harry Morgan on the North Fork of the Blackfoot and it was running about as clear as water can get. McKenzie river, Oregon clear, yes that clear. I quickly pulled over to start fishing the pools and on the second stop found the largest brown of the entire Montana trip under a big log jam. After peeling some line it came to hand to be admired, then it was released and it hung next to the boat for quite a while. Eventually I moved and it returned to the deep hole and we moved on.
After a few miles we were on the main stem of the Blackfoot. It was not even close to clear, and the fishing action responded accordingly.
Even with slower fishing, it’s the Blackfoot. Storied waters. Yes, this is THE river that runs through it. We spent the rest of the day fishing eddies and enjoying the scene we were floating through taking out at Russell Gates about 14 miles later. I seem to remember some rule about the days fishing in Montana not being subtracted from the overall days you’re allowed on earth. Or some such thing. Even if it’s not true, I look forward to many more days floating and fishing rivers in Montana. I’m pretty sure my days on the river will show as a credit in the end.
After a night in Missoula to enjoy the first shower in a week and a cold beer at Big Sky Brewing it was on to Idaho for one more stop on the way home. The Stanley, Idaho area has a lot of fond memories of camping at Stanley Lake. We had the chance to swing by on the way home, so we did. I figured there was no chance to find a campsite on a Saturday night but we took the turn off the highway toward the lake just to get a good view if nothing else. Sure enough, the “full” sign was out. We took a drive through to confirm, as experience tells me that the sign isn’t always accurate. I may be guilty of leaving out a full sign a time or two with a camp or two still open, and apparently I’m not the only one, This time around it looked like the camp was truly full. The camp host flagged us down for some reason and I figured we were going to get read the riot act for driving through and kicking up dust when the sign clearly said the camp was full. She said “It looks like you guys are going for a float, do you need a camp?” Well, yes, yes we do. She was saving a site for someone that was supposed to be back to pay several hours ago, and she was giving up on them. We quickly moseyed over and claimed the site as ours.
There have been some huge changes at Stanley Lake since we were last there in 2017. In 2017 we camped at the Inlet Campground, like I had so many times before with Mom and Dad. Little did I know that was the last stay in that campground. The Forest Service decided to put in a huge day use parking area and boat ramp and remove the sites that were part of the inlet area. Then along came an earthquake to finish the job of campground removal. The entire area, including the boat launch, beach and several of the camps sunk into the lake and are now underwater. The loop we stayed in this time around was built in place of the sites lost at the inlet. They are hardly comparable in quality, but being able to stay at the lake was a treat I didn’t expect.
The photos from this post (link) and below, show how it looked back then.
Here is how it looks today. The same angle is not available without a boat, but you’ll get the idea.
It is still a beautiful place. Mt. McGown hasn’t changed much at all.
We were treated to a stellar sunset and a last night around the fire before the winding road trip home.
