N Fk E FK Bull RV

This is one road sign that we saw today and it took us a moment to interpret what it was trying to tell us. North Fork of the East Fork of the Bull River.

Yesterday we changed campsites again. We headed east then north into Montana and followed the road along the Clark Fork River past Thompson Falls and Noxon where the North Fork of the Bull River joins the Clark Fork. We visited several National Forest campgrounds and one state park before deciding to stay at the Bull River national forest campground (with our national park senior pass it is only $5 a night). We got a prime spot overlooking the river with the Cabinet Mountains in the background. For those who really want to know we are in the Kootenai National Forest in the Cabinet Mountain Wilderness Area, Montana.

John took me out to dinner at a roadhouse only a couple of miles from our campsite (the only restaurant within 10 miles) to celebrate our anniversary last night. We’ve been married 44 years! I mentioned to the young waitress that the place had a nice ambience and she said yes it had a nice atmosphere too! And I had to tell the the bartender how to make a martini! John kept reminding me that we are out in the middle of nowhere!

After visiting with a park ranger, we opted to hike the St. Paul Lake Trail up the road from us today. The ranger said it would take us through a cedar grove up to the lake and shouldn’t be too strenuous. I guess we look or act like we are in better shape than we actually are as we never got to the lake! 

Before we hiked we stopped to visit the ranger stations that was built in 1909. It was on the N FK E FK Bull RV. We had a lovely hike with mountain streams near by, shaded groves of cedar, quiet paths along moss covered rocks and felled trees. Then we started climbing. You know me and going up hill, I had to slow way down. We thought the lake would be about 3-4 miles up the trail but the further we hiked, the less likelihood of finding the lake. After hiking for 2 hours we came to a stream crossing where the trail appeared to just end. As we finished our lunch another hiker came along and walked atop a log to cross the creek and let us know that the trail continued on. So we very carefully crossed the creek and hiked for another half hour. At that point we got a view of the mountains we were hiking between and the peak we were headed towards. The trail in front of us was dauntingly steep, there was no sign of a lake, we had already walked 4 miles (or at least my FitBit said we had walked that far), and our feet hurt! Time to turn around.

The following is part of a poem I found called 'Ross Creek Cedars' by Elfstone. 

A grandeur unexcelled demands a quiet awe.

We stop and breathe a different air;

We speak in whispered tones;

We tread softly on the living earth;

We worship by our understanding;

Her, Nature is not an abstract.