Republic, WA

We left Libby about 8:00 and it took forever to get to our next camp at Curlew State Park outside Republic, WA.  We stopped at Kootenai Falls, one of the world's prettiest and I took some pictures with Hardy's camera.  There was lots of road construction along the way on US 20 which is a windy, hilly mountain road.  We stopped at an old log flume and got a geocache.  Hardy called Nita Peck to find a place to eat.  The Pine Tree junction Cafe east of town was well disguised as a C Store but an OK cafe.  We camped at Cerlew Lake SP, pretty but Washington does not fund their parks from tax money .  They have a yearly pass for $30 that is required for campers.  We did not have to pay that fee, just the camping fee.  Republic is a nice little town and a pretty area but there really isn't much there to keep their young people.

Geocaching Marathon

We were up early, had breakfast at Henry's and then drove to Sanders, Mineral, Rivalli and Lake counties to get geocaches.  We had lunch at Fudruckers in Missoula and dinner at Minnies Cafe in Thompson Falls. We stopped at Giant Cedar National Forest area on Ross Creek near Troy, MT.  This is four miles back in the mountains and really pretty.  We head out to Washington tomorrow.

Libby, MT

Libby Dam

We drove to Libby, MT in a driving rain but it cleared up after we got camp set up (in the driving rain) and stayed at Woodland RV Park.  We had lunch at Henry's then found a Lincoln County geocache on the old sawmill bridge over the Kootenai River.  It was a long walking bridge on a trail which was an old paved road through the old mill.  The ground is being reclaimed as a wildlife preserve.  This was a nice short one mile hike.  We watched a man work his black retriever dog in the river and that was pretty interesting.  We took a drive out to Libby Dam and crossed the river and came back on the other side.

Glacier Park

Silver Staircase Falls

We camped at Summit NFCG near Glacier Park and stopped and found geocaches in Teton, Pondera, Toole and Glacier counties along the way.  The most fun was the Shelby Visitor Center when Hardy met a family of geocachers from Kansas.  The cache was under a plant with the geo logo by the flag pole out front of the center.  We had dinner then stopped at the monument of Theodore Roosevelt and built by Slippery Bill Morrison.  We drove to the Silver Staircase and saw a pretty waterfall.  Hardy also found another cache by the waterfall and we took a drive up the road behind the campsite and found another.  We met "Tom" who was from Harligen, Texas.  Tom was riding a Harley.  He said he didn't know Darryl but that his boss had told him he was such an unreliable employee and to just leave and they'd keep on paging him.  Quite a character.

Early Birthday Dinner

We got packed up to leave and Gary, Doreen, Frank, Shila, Damon, Hardy and I met in Helena at a Chinese place for an early birthday dinner for me.  We found another cache in front of the store where Damon works, an easy find!  We saw lots of deer over at Frank's place.

Maudlow, Montana

We had breakfast with Frank then drove to Maudlow via Manhatten.  Maudlow is a ghost town on the Milwaukee RR that still has a few building standing.  The school with it's playground equipment is still standing near the railroad tracks.  We drove up the well maintained road and through some no trespassing areas and on over to Ringling.  There were no gates, just lots of signs and we did not get off the road.  We had dinner at the Mint.

Crow Creek Falls

We drove into the Elkhorns to the Crow Creek Falls area and found another cache which was just a few feet off the trail near the parking lot to the falls.  We walked down to the creek and had a picnic and came back by way of the Earle Creek Ranger Station. We drove up to the Kimpton Cow Camp and reached the end of the road and had to turn around and drive all the way back out of the area. We saw a cute deer on Indian Creek near Hassel (St Louis). A small thunderstorm blew through about 8:30 p.m. but it didn't rain  much, just windy.

Outlet Project

Hardy started the outside outlet project and got the holes drilled and the box mounted.  He needed to wire the outlet and get a vertical cover.  We drove to Winston and had dinner with Shila at the Winston Bar.  We had a Pork Chop John sandwich and Hardy had a cold smoke draft pint.  We then drove to White Earth campground and found the geocache there.  We saw gophers, deer, pronghorns.  We went on a short four wheelr drive to where the fire had been on Sunday on the BLM land above the ranch..  We stopped to take a picture of an osprey in a tree but she got excited and flew to another tree and was too far away for a picture.  Three buck deer ran across the road right in front of us then stood on the opposite hill to look at us!

More County Caching

Hardy was up again around 4:30 to see Venus and Jupiter.  It was nice and clear at that moment and then we got a smattering of rain. We had breakfast at Penny's Diner then left on another county marathon caching trip.  We saw a large herd of pronghorns on the way to Harlowton. We also got a train cache in Harlowton.  The train is an old electric that was placed there after its last run when they closed out the Milwaukee RR. We went on to Lewistown and had lunch  then drove up to Fort Benton and found another cache along the river and under the bridge and then went on to Great Falls where we took a walk by the Missouri River.

County Caching

Hardy woke up at 5:16 a.m. to see the stars and planets. Venus was bright over Gary's trailer and Jupiter was three fingers above Venus.  It was a pretty sight. There were dry thunderstorms through the night with heavy gusts of wind and then an overcast sky.  We went geocaching after Hardy tried to install an outside outlet for Gary.  He needed a better drill and a hole punch to finish the job.  We got caches in Madison , Beaverhead, Silverbow, Deer Lodge and Granite counties.  We saw a cute fox near I90 and I15 junction between Butte and Anaconda.  Made it to bed about 12:30 a.m.  It cleared up and we could see the Milky Way at last.

Duck Creek Pass

We headed off to breakfast with Frank and Shila then went with them in their truck up over the top of Duck Creek and picked up a geocache along the way.  Someone has torn down the Sheepherders Monument which is a shame as it had been there for over 100 years.  Frank said it was the forest service and it probably was. Someone else has started another monument so we will see how long that one lasts.  We stopped at Gypsy Lake and had a picnic lunch then went on over to where we thought Vera' cabin was located  but did not find it.  We went into White Sulphur Springs and used the rest rooms and picked up water to drink. We took a back road toward the Castle Mountains looking for another cache but never did find that one but we did see a nice large herd of elk coming out of the trees into the meadow.  We took another road back into White Sulphur  Shila and I took a walk down main street then stopped at their little city park to pick up another geocache before heading back to Townsend.

Clyde Park, MT

We had breakfast and then went through Deep Creek over to Clyde Park, MT to meet up with Kelly and Shonas at Brian and Cheryl's.  Dale and Marlene were also there for a good steak dinner and  Marlene and I caught up on the news and gossip.  We got back around midnight.  Hardy lit the hot water heater so we could take showers in the morning.

Laundry

Hardy got up at 4:48 to take a look at Venus and Jupiter.  Clouds obscured them for a bit but Venus finally appeared briefly in a cloud hole.  Jupiter appeared later.  We went to Helena, again, for dinner with Frank and Shila at a Chinese restaurant.  That was good food.  Hardy spent the day working on the water system and had to go to Hardware Hank's for some more parts.  Mosquitoes are bad today.  We went to the library and did some much needed laundry.  Hardy paid bills from the library WiFi as they have a good connection.

Breakfast with Frank

We had breakfast with Frank in town after the Clairmont's left and then went into Helena for some shopping.  Hardy bought a 35 gallon plastic water tank to carry in the back of the truck.  He also bought a sprayer pump and fastener for the water system.  This way we can fill that tank with water and carry it in the truck and when and if we need water he can pump it into the tank on the Casita.  Once in awhile we get a little short on water, especially if we are dry camping like at Gary's.  If we take showers and do dishes the water runs a little short. We also bought two chairs at Murdocks.  I got a haircut and we met with Shila at Smith's for dinner.  We came back home by way of Canyon Ferry Road, stopped at Lucky Lil's and lost $10.

The geo-caching family

Geocachers

It got to 59 last night but it did not seem too cold.  It was a little cloudy early in the morning so Hardy could not see the planets.  He took the Clairmont kids, Sam and Jordan, caching with Shila.  They revisited the Silos and traded two travel bugs for a Veterans Hitchhiker.  They also revisited two in town.  It was very windy all day.  Camp is cleaned up and just Gary, Doreen, Frank, Shila and the Clairmont family are all that is left of the reunion bunch.

Post Reunion

Jordan and Frank

Jordan Clairmont loved to ride the four wheelers but he wasn't old enough to drive by himself so I went with him many times.  I did let him do the driving when we were around the ranch and on ranch property but not on the county road.  We would ride down to the stock tank at the BPM&I and one time Jordan found a baby bird in the stock tank.  I think it was a baby meadowlark and he was about done in.  Jordan pulled it out of the tank and we took it back to the trailers and put it in a shoe box to dry out. A couple of hours later I went to check on it and it flew out of the box and into the field so our good deed for the day was accomplished.  Shannon and Shay Clairmont along with Cindy and Kenny and their families are staying until after the 4th so we still have a nice camp.  Their boys are very hard workers and it would not have been as easy if they had not been there to help.  Ken and Cindy went geochaching with us and we rode clear to the Silos to find one.  Later Shila, Samantha and Shannon took the car and got the Bird Paradise, Water Tower and Welcome caches.  I think Samantha and Shannon are "hooked". 

The Wedding

Kelly and Debbie

  
After breakfast we had a marriage renewal for Debbieand Salam at Bonnie White Merritt's house in Townsend.  This was for close family and friends as she wanted a small wedding without any hoopla.  it was a beautiful day and Bonnie did a great job of hosting this event.  Dave and Trudy Miller were there along with Toni Simon.  Kelly and Shonas and Sharayah and Junior were her attendants while I got the better deal with watching Tristan.

 

Debbie and Salam with Gary officiating

  

Fire in the Limestones

The Container Party

 After the ceremony we spotted a fire out near the ranch in the Limestone Hills, west of Townsend.  The wind was blowing it away from the ranch but it was a bit smoky.  The Clairmont's were taking the tent down when we got back to the ranch and a hurricane type wind came up along with rain.  That helped with the fire and we got the tent down with injury to anyone although it was lifting me off the ground while I was trying to hold the poles in place. 

 Here we are in the container during the wind and rain storm.  Gary and Frank bought this container for storage and then Gary had it wired for electricity.  It made a very nice place to get in out of the weather and also was a good place to set up the coffee, juice and breakfast items plus a good place to store the food.