Montana

7/22/23

After breakfast at Cracker Barrel this morning, we ran errands in Missoula. We stopped at a local RV store to dump our tanks, fill the water tank, and fill our propane. Next was Target, where we all got new swimsuits and we did some grocery shopping. Then we found a laundromat for some clean clothes. While the clothes were washing, we sat at the coffee bar and worked on our computers. We ate a quick lunch and headed out of Missoula. As we were driving East on I90, I was playing around with the Campendium App, and found a BLM campsite near an old ghost town. Both Mia and Kathy jumped with excitement. Coincidentally, the next exit was the one we needed to take. We turned onto a dirt road and found a sign for Garnet Ghost town followed by another sign stating that the road was not recommended for motorhomes or trailers. We had neither, so we proceeded. It was only 10 miles on a dirt road. How bad could it be? Really bad is the answer. It took us an hour. It was mostly single lane rough, rocky, washed out and straight up the side of the mountain. Kathy was driving, and I was clinging to the door handle for dear life. At some points we were on this single lane path with a sheer drop off on one side. I could not look down. When we finally arrived at the ghost town, my hand had fallen asleep from gripping so hard. After all of that there, was an easier way up to the ghost town, but it would have taken us another 1.5 hours to drive to the other side of the mountain first. It turns out the Garnet Ghost Town is a Federal Park, and the most intact ghost town in the country. The rangers had already closed most of the buildings by the time we arrived, but we got to explore quite a few. Mia went into one building and was scared by a deer that was inside. We met the park host, and he and his wife led us down the road to a camping spot with the most amazing view of the valley and surrounding mountains. He told us to come back to the Garnet at 9am when he opens it to see the rest of the town. Kathy and I set up our chairs on the overlook and had a glass of wine. We witnessed a fire break out on a mountain range about 60 miles away, and later when it got dark, we could see the flames. We looked at the Montana Fire map, and saw that we were in no danger from it.

7/23/23

Mia was so excited to go back to the ghost town this morning. We arrived just after 9am, and went straight to the ranger station, where Mia discovered that there was a junior ranger program for the ghost town. We visited all the building while Mia did a scavenger hunt to find all the items for her badge. The site has been preserved well, and there are a lot of original equipment and household items still around. Garnet was an old mining town, that at one point house over a thousand people. Mia earned her badge, and we drove down the mountain (this time on the sane side). We spent a majority of the day driving the back roads of Montana. It is incredibly beautiful. We found some free camping along the Yellowstone River, but when we arrived, it looked like a homeless encampment. We moved on. We ended up driving into Wyoming and found a cheap campsite right on the shores of Lake De Smet. It was still 80 degrees when we arrived at 8:30 pm, so we all cooled of with a night swim in the lake. Very refreshing.