Helena Montana

07-18-21: A longer than expected drive from Cody to cover the 304 miles and I arrived at Hellgate campground just outside Helena Montana, managed by the Bureau of Reclamation it is next to the Canyon Ferry dam which backs up the Missouri river to create Canyon Ferry Lake. I scored a nice spot right on the water with my own beach about 50 feet away.

Wanting to get in the water and knowing much more water is coming on this trip, I’ve been shopping for either an inflatable stand up paddle board or kayak. Having tested a SUP, I’ve decided that I’m more of a yak kinda guy. Helena has plenty of outdoor shops but inflatable kayaks are hard to come by with the post covid rush going on all outdoor products. I did manage to find a very nice Solstice Flare 1 in stock and I made it mine.

Here is some live action paddling for you!

The kayak does really well and it was great to be able to go for several paddles to explore the lake. On Wednesday I packed a lunch and went for a long all morning paddle to a big cove maybe a mile from camp. A local boy scout troop had placed picnic tables there for visitors to enjoy, thanks Troop 212! It was great being out on the water and I saw fish jumping like crazy, I chatted with a local fisherman and he said they stock rainbow trout and there are also carp as well. Not sure what they were jumping but they looked good sized!

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The weather has been crazy here, very hazy during the day due to all the wildfire smoke in the air and then each afternoon it would get muggy and thunderstorm with super high winds. The second night I was here it blew so hard I got up at 1am to check my tire chalks to make sure I didn’t get blown into the lake! Of course I had to google it, it takes an estimated 75mph wind to blow over a 24 foot trailer 😱. Good to know.

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Next stop is Glacier National Park about 300 miles from here. I wasn’t able to get a camp site for the entire stay, so I will be boondocking 2 nights at Harvest host locations in Polsun, MT which is about 100 miles from Glacier and then I can move to an RV park in Kalispell, MT (right outside the park) for 3 more nights.

Glacier has moved to a ticketed admission system to try and deal with the overcrowding, so in addition to your park pass you need to have an entry ticket just to get in. This is the same system that kept me out of Yosemite. Something like 75% of the days tickets are released online 60 days in advance and then the remainder are released 48 hours in advance.

Well I’ve had horrible luck with this, in spite of being online at the exact time of the release. However, I found that if you have a reservation for a service in the park, things like a stay at one of the park lodges or even a boat ride or guided hike that service reservation will count as your entry ticket. Not wanting to chance it I have booked a boat ride on St Mary lake for Friday the 23rd which will be fun and also ensure that I can get in for at least one day.

Hopefully lots of Glacier park photos coming next week!