Wednesday September 16, Peck Gulch, Lake Koocanusa, MT

The camp was in the trees, so very dark this morning when we woke and couldn’t see what the sky looked like. We took the Road to the Sun east as far as we could go, Avalanche Creek, but were very disappointed. The road followed Lake Macdonald most of the way and was mainly in the trees, and the last bit followed the river. The sun was still behind the mountain and made the whole drive feel quite gloomy. After the wonderful drive yesterday on the Eastern side it left us feeling quite flat.

Onto Colombia Falls, a small town where we stopped for a coffee at an internet café, needed to kick start the batteries! Then drove through Whitefish, a big ski town that appeared to be booming before heading to Kalispell, the biggest city in the north west region. By early afternoon the temperatures were rising and by the time we left, having done some chores it was 33 degrees.

Decided to head north to Eureka and the lakes. Read about some campsites run by the National Forest on the shores of Lake Koocanusa which turned out to be a great find. We are camped right above the lake, there are about 7 others camping in the area and it is so quiet. Appears to be a forest fire in the next valley, the hills are very hazy and there is a smell of smoke. Quite happy as there is a lake between us!