Blackfoot River - Montana

Another iconic fly-fishing river in Montana - and the setting for the incredible novel and movie A River Runs Through It. Leaving Rock Creek, we knew we were headed for the Blackfoot, but we should have known that we were going to experience our recurring problem of finding the right campsite. Relying on advice from an article, we first ventured toward River Junction campground which was an 18-mile round-trip on a dirt Forest Service Road. The rain of the past two-days made us glad we had 4-wheel drive. And after making the drive in, the totally empty campground, along with the posters along the way differentiating black bears from grizzly bears (for the benefit of hunters), convinced us that this wasn't the place. On down the road to another campground with no occupants and fresh bear scat and we were on our way to another. The next stop was perfect - on the riverbank and in the trees and occupied by other campers! The advantage of finding camping spots after Labor Day is that we don't have to worry about crowds - the disadvantage is that we don't want to be the only campers in Grizzly territory - such a dilemma! The river was a little murkier and faster due to the rains, but settled down by our last day and I was able to have some good fishing on dry flies - the ultimate. The pictures don't accurately reflect the multi-colored rock around here that results from some geological explanation that is over my head - but they sure are purty! Charlcie spent a lot of time around the campground taking shots of the rocks. Don't know what this guy's name is, but enjoyed his visit at the campsite We've seen bee hives all over the west and most are quite colorful Bow season starts this week, so this guy better do a better job of hiding Good night, Montana

Rock Creek - Puyear Ranch (Morgan-Case Homestead)

Deserving of a post of its own is the Puyear Ranch on Rock Creek. The Forest Service is maintaining the ranch and it is something to see. The more than 30-mile drive on rough, sometimes single-lane, winding road was worth it to see this place. It is an astounding old ranch to visit, even if fishing were not involved. Massive 300 year old ponderosa pines set among a massive meadow, bordered by Rock Creek, with the canyon wall lining the backside, groves of aspen, and the old homesite make this one of the most impressive places that we have visited - and not known to too many folks. Charlcie was most impressed as she relaxed on the riverbank while I fished - and the fishing was rewarding! Can you spot me among the monster trees? The river runs at the base of the canyon in the background Another example of the size of these special trees Beavers aren't intimidated by the size of the trees. By the way, I caught a couple of nice cutthroat trout right here We did have rain for two days which didn't affect the beauty Wild turkey making a quick escape Spruce moth which are plentiful in the forest. Flies made to mimic these beauties are excellent trout producers here

Rock Creek - Montana

Rock Creek is a 60-mile long freestone creek that is located about 30 miles east of Missoula. We had not known about it until I was checking some saved fly-fishing magazine articles. A little further research resulted in a very pleasant surprise. At the exit off I-90, there are only a couple of commercial establishments, a long-established fly-shop and and even older restaurant. And then you head up a mostly dirt road into the canyon. We found a very nice campsite overlooking the stream amid huge pines. The fishing on this stretch was not too productive, but we were pleased nonetheless. A half-mile walk down the road was a very cool swinging pedestrian bridge which we had to visit a couple of times. On the way in, there was a large herd of rocky mountain sheep just relaxing in a pasture - we saw them a couple of times and then they just disappeared. White-tail deer and wild turkey were the other wildlife we saw on the road. We experienced the darkest nights here - literally could not see our hands in front of our faces. They really are wild, but not too shy View from our campsite