From Holland Lake we had 2 days to make our way to Ennis, MT and on day 1, for the first time, we were denied a boondocking spot!
We started the morning with a leisurely walk near Seeley Lake, Montana in an old growth grove (called Girard Grove) to see Gus – the largest western larch tree. This was a flat loop in a pretty area frequented by deer. Did I mentioned the largest larch tree in the US is 1000 years old, believed to have survived 40 fires, is 153 ft tall, and 34 ft wide at its crown? That’s taller than the Statue of Liberty (without its base). What more do you need to add this spot to your list?
Gus
Not knowing how difficult it would be to boondock later that night, we meandered over to Missoula, stopping at McCormick park to pick up their river bike trail downtown. We stopped for lunch, rode back, grabbed a cupcake at a bake sale (which was dense, hard, and expensive but hopefully for a good cause).
Back on the road we passed Montana towns named Opportunity, Wisdom and Pray. Was Montana trying to tell us something? We stopped in Phillipsburg, a nicely restored mining town that flourished in the late 1800s, for home made ice cream and started our search for a place to bunk down for the evening.
Doug expertly navigated to the nearest forest service road, which is typically where we find a nice pull out or spur for camping. As we drove down it, there were no pullouts found and on either side we saw fence after fence and sign after sign noting private property. Not to be discouraged, we backtracked and found another forest service road with exactly the same results. As the sun sunk lower in the sky we started to look for nearby campgrounds. We found one but all the spots were taken.
As the day wore on so did our nerves. Could it be that for the first time we’d be denied a place to boondock? I soon started making ridiculous statements like, “I’d throw down $500 if a Marriott suddenly appeared.” I was getting hungry, tired and frustrated.
As we looked for other forest service roads on our downloaded map, I finally got a few bars of cell service and Googled an RV park in Anaconda, called and got no answer, but we decided to drive to it (and through it) anyway. RVs were crammed in like sardines! Not only unappealing, but not very Covid appropriate either, which is why RV parks are typically our last resort – no pun intended 😉 . As we reached the end of our rope….I mean, the RV parking lot, we stopped briefly to consider next steps. In the side mirror we could see the RV park host chasing us down to help us find a location so we tore out of there like Shaggy and Scooby leaving the scene of a haunted house. Zoinks! Now what?
We drove for at least another hour in a direction that seemed out of our way. We arrived at Beaver Dam Campground after dark, but were thrilled to find not just one, but more than one site that was open. We weren’t picky, grabbed a site, threw some food in our pie holes, and went to bed, glad the day was over.
Luckily, each new day brings with it new opportunities and a reset with the rising sun. When the sun came up, we were pleasantly surprised by how pretty the surroundings were!
Pleasantly Surprised at Beaver Dam Campground
Beautiful, quiet and there when we needed it – Boondocking Bailey gives it 3 paws up. Minus one paw for being a bit too far off the beaten path.
