After leaving Kalispell and Glacier NP we headed towards Charlo...the countryside was magnificent and a lot of it followed Flathead Lake, which had the most crystal clear water I think I have ever seen. Again, these lakes don't seem to have much public access and if you did find a State Park you would have to pay...just to go and have a look at the waters edge. We did find some pullovers and I managed to get some photos of this amazing cloud over the water.
We had booked a few nights on a property on the outskirts of a small town called Charlo, in Montana. It was a self contained unit overlooking the Mission Mountains. This is the view from our accommodation, with the Mission Mountains in the background.
I had done some research on the area and found a place called the National Bison Range, which was only a half hour drive from where we were staying. We didn't know much about it, but the thought of seeing bison was pretty exciting, so that afternoon we went to the Range.
This is outside the Visitor's Centre and they are discarded antlers from deer, found on the range.
We got there around 5pm, and you had to be out of the Park by 9.30pm. So we had plenty of time (so we thought) to see it all. We watched a 15 min video on the story of the bison in the area which was really interesting, got ourselves a map and off we went. It is a 19 mile (30 km) circuit on a gravel road which weaves its way around and over small mountains and up through forests with spectacular views. It was one way, you drive slowly and there was plenty of room to pull over if you saw something . Within 1 minute we saw our first bison...way, way off in the distance...but we were really excited and were not let down. Down a mountain and around a corner..this is what we came across.....there were about 70 bison all within the same area.....
They are huge creatures (there are only 300 of them on this particular range).....still with a presence of the Ice Age.....and were totally oblivious to us, our car and Joshuah....sitting on the roof of the car through the sun roof. We sat and watched them for ages....they roll in the dirt to get the insects off them and make guttural noises. They certainly aren't gentle looking creatures but have quickly become one of my favourite animals in the US!
We were also looking for loads of different deer, wolves, bears, elk, moose...you name it...we wanted to see it!! The best part of doing this Range was the excitement in Joshuah.....his love for all things wildlife was becoming so apparent. We were also very fortunate as there were hardly any cars there at all, the skies were magnificent and the views spectacular!
We finally saw some deer....
and as we were making our way around the other side of the range and the sun was going down we wondered if that was the end of our wildlife spotting...it wouldn't have mattered as this was our view.
We had been driving and stopping (more stopping than driving) for nearly 4 hours, the park was closing in 1/2 hr and it was getting dark. Next thing we see a coyote....they are such shifty characters!
We were nearing the end of the drive when Stu spotted this in a creek....our first ever elk!!! So exciting and we sat and watched it for as long as we could.
We had had the best afternoon up there...no people, enough wildlife to almost satisfy us, great scenery...the perfect afternoon.
Here's a small youtube video Stu did of our afternoon there...
National Bison Range, Montana
Our hosts had told us about a lake up in the mountains which was only a few kms from their place, but they said you would need a tribal permit to go up there. It would only be $9, so we thought a swim and lunch up there would be a nice way to spend the next day. So the next morning Stu and I went into town to the local "sports shop" to get a permit. We must stand out like a sore thumb as not being locals, because as we walked in, the entire bloody shop stopped talking and everyone looked at us! What's that all about? And then of course when Stu opened his mouth and began speaking...well, we could have been from another planet!!
So we said we wanted a permit to go up to Lake MacKenzie....no worries....this guy asked Stu his name, DOB, address, driver's licence number, hair colour, eye colour, weight, height???you're kidding....then his Social Security number.....Stu said, we don't have a SSN....so he said "make one up with 4 digits'...so we said OK... 1234. Then the bloke said no, if you lie they will come looking for you? What the hell? He just told us to lie!!
We went to pay the $9 and he said no that was just for Stu...I had to do one and so did Joshuah. After all that we decided $27 to go and look at a lake and have a quick dip was way too expensive and walked out of the shop! We did go for a drive up there though and it was pretty nice....
We didn't have internet at the house we were staying in, so we stopped in at Macca's to check emails. This was where Stuart dropped an iced coffee all over the floor, which you would think would make him the centre of attention. Fortunately on this day, there was a bloke at Macca's who was off his tree, yelling abuse to himself and "damn the fires of hell". He had the undivided attention of staff and patrons, so Stu's little accident went unnoticed!!
That afternoon we went back to the National Bison Range to hopefully spot some moose. This time there were more cars and a big storm approaching. The bison were further up the hill, so we felt really fortunate we had seen them so close the previous day.
We really wanted to get back to the creek where we had seen the elk the day before, but as the road was one way we had no choice but to cover the same ground.
You are advised not to get out of your car, but if you do, stay close to it. We were driving down the track when we saw this is the middle of the road...a rattlesnake!! Again so exciting, but so revolting! He didn't rattle but he did stick his tongue out at Stu!
It was so well camouflaged that if you were in the bush you would be hard pressed to see it.
We were getting spits of rain on the windscreen and could see the storm brewing over the mountains...
so pushed on....stopping for more pronghorn deer.....
We were heading out onto the flats. lightning in the distance when we saw a "black thing" running across the flats....it was a black bear. It was one of the most spectacular things to see...not a tree in sight..this big, black bear racing to shelter....by this stage it was getting dark, so our photos didn't work, but we were able to watch if for about 5 minutes before it reached what we think was it's den. Such a buzz!
Reluctantly we left the Bison Range and drove back to our accommodation into the most magnificent storm....the lightning show was reminiscent of Kimberley storms during the wet season...such a sight!
We didn't get to see any moose, but the past 2 days had been one of the highlights of the trip. We had had a good chat with Tom, the owner of our accommodation and he put us on to a guy named John Weaver. John was instrumental in reintroducing wolves to Yellowstone back in the 1970's so the next day, on our way to Yellowstone NP we stopped in at his place and he showed us on maps where you may see wolves at Yellowstone NP. He had fascinating stories of his own and we are really grateful for the time he gave us and an insight into a totally different world. Montana had won our hearts!
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