Have you ever heard of Flathead Lake in Montana? M heard about it somewhere, researched it, and wanted to visit. Why not? We didn’t have any other plans. We left California on Tuesday, July 13th, and arrived in the Flathead Lake area on Thursday, July 15th. We parked our home on a pull-off, and before looking for National Forest land, we thought we would take a trip through the Swan Lake Campground. Maybe we’d get lucky and find a site. We found the last spot, paid our fees, and went back to the highway for our home. We leveled, put our slide out, and went to check out a little more of the area. We did not have cell coverage at our campsite, so we would need to find a place to work and school.
Flathead Lake State Park has 6 units around the lake. We made the Finley Point Unit and the Wayfarers Unit, on the shores of Flathead Lake, our office and classroom each day. We often worked and schooled at a picnic table, and then we’d take a break and float on the lake with our tubes and stand-up paddleboards. We’d go back to working and schooling at the picnic table before stopping for the day and having another float. Then it’d be time to figure out dinner, make dinner, eat dinner. After dinner, it’d be time to wander across the highway for more floating on Swan Lake. Maybe even make dessert in the dutch oven on the shore.
We explored the area without going into Glacier National Park. The reservation system was in effect, and a timed reservation to enter was required from 6 AM to 5 PM. The reservation is only for Going to the Sun Road, so we drove to Polebridge and checked out Kintla Lake in Glacier National Park. The campground was full, and we were exploring, with the dog, so we didn’t stay long before setting out for Bowman Lake, where we also stopped for only a few moments.
Friday, we went into Bigfork on the North end of Flathead Lake and found Flathead Lake Brewing Co. When we arrived, there was a sign that due to a fire, the upstairs was closed, but we could be seated downstairs. We made our way down the stairs and put in our name with the hostess, who informed us it could be up to an hour. And they do not allow dogs. We sat in the car using the car’s WiFi to get some work and school done. Then, Tom, M, and I went in to eat while Liv sat in the car with the dog and attended her Zoom math tutor. Because we live our life traveling, and our dog has separation anxiety issues, we try to take her with us as much as possible. Often this means she is not welcome when we stop to eat. Instead of leaving the dog in the car, we leave a dog and a child in the car. One of the girls volunteers to stay with the dog, we order to-go drink and food, and the one who gets to eat inside runs drink and food to the one outside.
We try to mostly eat at home, but we also enjoy exploring the local restaurants. We found Bias Brewing in Kalispell, and they allow dogs. Nothing on the menu kept me on the gluten-free, dairy-free diet I try to maintain, and I was glad I had dairy pills to help me through the meal. Breweries are easy to find, but beer contains gluten, so we thought we’d start searching out cideries. When we found Big Mountain Ciderworks in Kalispell, we were not disappointed. They are a newer hard cidery and restaurant. The food was delicious, and the cider was even better. We made a stop at Tamarack Brewing Company in Lakeside and had good food and better beer. We also found Buzz N Bagels coffee shop in Bigfork and had the most delicious coffee drink called THE Flathead. We bought cherries from multiple roadside stands and even found fresh huckleberries at one.
Do you know about huckleberries? Locals told us that huckleberries only grow in the mountains. You cannot grow huckleberries on a farm. Summer is huckleberry season, and people go deep in the mountains searching out huckleberries. Because huckleberries are difficult-ish to come by, they are expensive—$ 20 for a sandwich-size zipper-seal bag and $80 for a gallon-size zipper seal bag. Then there is huckleberry everything. Huckleberry chocolate, tea, coffee, syrup, jam, preserves, taffy. If they can add huckleberry, they’ll add huckleberry. While we were dispersed camping on the shore of Hungry Horse Reservoir, we would see huckleberry pickers whenever we were coming back to camp. We discovered the hillside next to us was covered with them, and we commenced picking our own fresh huckleberries.
After 11 nights at the Swan Lake Campground, with no hook-ups, we booked a night at the Whitefish KOA for the hook-ups, and so we could find dispersed camping. The following morning, we chose to extend an extra night. We had delicious BBQ at DeSoto Grill and watched as the chef made the best-looking sandwich we’ve ever seen. With full bellies, we went in search of a dispersed campsite. As we drove into occupied site after occupied site, our hopes were waning. I commented that the perfect campsite would be at the end and no one would be in it. After what seemed like forever, we pulled into the ideal campsite, got out, and set up the tent so we could return the next day. We were a long way from the main road, and there was no cell service, but the place was amazing. We went back to the KOA for the night and the girls set about completing their assignment of talking to at least 3 people their age. They went outside, made friends, and played all night long. We awoke the next day, excited to take off to our new home.
We pulled into the most fantastic site we’ve lived in yet, and while trying to get the view out our front door perfect, I stepped in and decided to drive the RV for the first time ever. I went 10 feet backward and 7 feet forward. After setting up, we put on our suits and went for a float on Hungry Horse Reservoir. We had the reservoir out our front door and a private cove in front of us. We could see three campsites across a larger cove that were full for the first 3 days we were there. After the weekend, we were the only ones in the area until we left. For 4-days we didn’t leave. We enjoyed no cell service, no electricity, nothing but nature.
Our 4-day weekend of bliss ended, and it was time to find cell service so we could work. We also wanted to explore Glacier National Park. Because we were 42.8 miles from the main road, we had a 1.5-hour drive back to it. Glacier was another 15-ish minute drive. We saw 2 AM and 3 AM more often than we would have liked. The first time we woke up early for Glacier, we drove from West Glacier to St Mary’s and back, stopping at turnoffs. Closer to the St Mary’s side, we saw 3 grizzly bears alongside the road. Between trees on a hillside, we saw a mama and baby black bear running up the hill. The morning we decided to hike Hidden Lake, we discovered that the reservation system destroyed how we visit parks. When we hike in a National Park, we are up well before the sun and on the trail before the sun rises. When the day is getting warmer and the trails are getting busier, we are done and leaving. Around 6 AM, we arrived in the parking lot at the trailhead for Hidden Lake with 200 of our closest friends. The mountaintop was shrouded in fog, and people were pouring toward the trailhead. We opted out, heading for Sun Point and hiking to Virginia Falls instead.
We were not disappointed with our choice. The trail was long and felt almost straight uphill at the end. We enjoyed Baring Falls and St. Mary’s Falls along the way, with our reward being Virginia Falls at the end. When we arrived at the top, a tree had fallen, blocking our path over a footbridge. We ducked beneath the ginormous tree and made it to the waterfall and the pool it created below. After taking a gazillion pictures, we ducked beneath the tree and descended back down the mountain. Glacier National Park is beyond words beautiful. Every part we saw.
We spent 9 nights, 10 days 42.8 miles from the main road. 15 of those miles were paved; the rest were dirt. .8 of a mile probably shouldn’t have seen our 38′ Class A Motorhome, but she made it like a champ. We had 100 gallons of water on board, plus another 7-10 drinking. We only ran the generator when needed and bathed in the lake. If we could live like this forever, we would. But it was time to get back to Oceanside again. We drove separately into Kalispell, where we washed laundry, had lunch, and bathed the dog. Tom drove off in the RV headed toward a dump station while the girls and I found our way to the grocery store. When the girls and I pulled into the parking lot to meet Tom, I knew something was wrong. There was a liquid pouring from the back of our home. That wasn’t normal. The radiator dumped what appeared to be all of its coolant. Saturday evening in small-town Montana meant no one was open until Monday morning. We were in a church parking lot and figured they would want their parking lot on Sunday morning. The casino next door allowed us to park there until Monday. We limped it out of the parking lot and next door, with it dying twice in the process.
A quick search and we had the Quality Inn in Kalispell booked for $350 a night. It was the most inexpensive room in town. Sunday had us paying the same price for the same room. Monday morning, Tom immediately got on the phone looking for a mobile mechanic with time to look at our RV. He scheduled a Monday afternoon visit, we checked out, and headed for 4B’s restaurant, where we had the friendliest server. When she heard our dilemma, she took our number and offered to have her husband take a look. I found us a room at Timbers Motel that was a little less expensive at $250 a night. The husband of our breakfast server showed up just before the mobile mechanic. The mechanic diagnosed a hole in our radiator and confirmed he could fix it. He had to order the part, have it shipped, then it would take him 2 or 3 days to complete the work. The only tow truck around that could tow something of our size was a flatbed semi at the cost of almost $1500. And we were going back to Oceanside without our home. Again.
Next Adventure Previous Adventure