Traveling West
Since leaving Ken and Debbie at Kabetogama Lake in Northern Minnesota we have been slowly making our way West, literally driving US Highway 2 which runs almost straight West just below the US Canadian border. If you can stay off of the Interstate and want a very relaxing drive I highly recommend Highway 2.
The drive through Minnesota is fascinating because of all the lakes one encounters. North Dakota has enough lakes to keep it interesting. Montana for the first 400 miles or so is relatively flat with the fields of grain beginning to take life, but when one starts to draw close to Glacier National Park the scenery definitely changes.
We stayed at the West Entrance to the Park and wanted to drive the “road to the Sun” loop but the pass had not been completely cleared of snow yet so our drive was cut short. The RV Park we stayed at had experienced a pretty good snow fall just the week before our arrival. We stayed several days and our exploratory drives each day were fun and full of photo opportunities.
I had looked at the map before leaving Glacier and thought that going off route of Highway 2 by way of 93 North to Eureka Montana (8 miles south of Canadian Border) and then taking Highway 37 down along the Kootenai River and the Kootenai National Forest before hooking back up with Highway 2 at Libby Montana might be interesting, and we were not disappointed. The scenery in my opinion is as spectacular as anything anywhere in the US, Glacier and Yellowstone included. We stayed at Rexford Bench National Park camp site and made a couple of exploratory drives in the jeep. We left Rexford at about 10:00 a.m. to drive Highway 37 as it meandered for 48 miles along the river to Libby. Even though the highway is excellent I never drove over 40 mph as we wanted to enjoy the beauty. In that entire drive not one vehicle came up behind me and we probably only met about two other vehicles and I think they were bicycles. What a pristine piece of the USA this area is and it was as if it hadn’t been discovered yet. We will return to this area as there is so much we could have explored but just didn’t take the time, perhaps next year.
We blew through so much area that looked interesting from Libby Montana, past Bonners Ferry Idaho and on to where we are at present, Riley Creek Recreation Area managed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. This site #13 is as nice as anywhere we have ever stayed. We have 50 amp electric and water at the site and a dump station for our use when we leave. The river that runs along this Park is loaded with fish. The water is a little clear and as I walk along the bank I am never seeing less than a dozen or so large mouth bass. Getting them to bite is another thing. I can get them to chase my offering but have only caught one. We are going to be here a couple more days and I have a hunch I will figure it out.
I hope to load a couple of slide shows. The first will be of Glacier National Park area and the second will be from Glacier to the Riley Creek area of Idaho. Enjoy.
