Fancy Living in Trout Creek, Montana

We are staying three nights at the RV park in Trout Creek, Montana. This is a very nice campground, and we're even going to call our stay here "fancy." This is the first time we've had 50 amp electricity and full-hookups for over a month. If you live in an RV, that's a long time, so this feels pretty luxurious! We can take long showers, and run the microwave when the air-conditioner is on. We don't take any of that for granted any more. But that's not the reason we're calling this stay "fancy."

When we checked in, the owners gave us some great advice for kayaking and hiking during our stay. We wish we could have taken them with us because they work so hard every day! Our first day took us to Marten Creek for a little time on the water. We kayaked the wide area of Marten Bay, where hundreds of swallows were dipping and diving to snag the bugs near the water. We found it is very difficult to take pictures of so many of these fast-flying birds, but you can see a few as specks against the blue sky. We were glad those bugs weren't interested in us, as we realized we haven't had to wear bug spray in a very long time.

We had hoped to paddle up the narrow Marten Creek, but we soon ran aground on the rocks.

But those rocks make a great background to show just how clear the water was.

So we reversed directions and went under the bridge toward Noxon Reservoir.

Our channel soon widened, as did the number of water birds. We first found these ducks with their fancy spiked hair-dos.

Then we watched a big heron fishing in the shallows at the edge of the lake. Based on this picture, we would have sworn that this poor bird had only one leg.

But as he walked along the shore, we soon found out that he certainly does have two good legs.

When the heron tired of our stalking him while he was stalking fish, he flew to the top of a nearby tree. Even though the lighting wasn't good for a picture, the dark silhouette shows that characteristic two feathers sticking out from the back of his head.

We're guessing that this big lake could get quite windy, but we were certainly enjoying the calm weather today. We could see the tall cliffs on the shore line perfectly reflected in that still water of Noxon Reservoir.

We're even beginning to see some reds and yellows show up in the leaves along the shore. Autumn must not be far away here in northern Montana. What a great day to be out in the kayak! But this isn't why our stay here at Trout Creek is "fancy."

We still had time to make the trip to the nearby town of Thompson Falls. Our host had suggested a walk to the Clark Fork River that flows through town. We also walked across the bridge that took us to the town's island park.

A hike on the island gives some good views of the river, included the old high bridge that used to take cars across the Clark Fork River. Now it is a lovely pedestrian bridge. But that's not why we're calling our stay "fancy."

We also made a quick stop at Thompson Falls State Park because we had the Montana State Park pass that we bought a couple months ago. But we didn't stay long because we are on a schedule today. That's because the Trout Creek Farmer's Market opens at 4:00. We were there at 4:02, and lines had already formed at the  booths with fresh baked goods and home-grown fruits and vegetables. We bought a blueberry bar, plums, cucumbers, an apple fritter, and a pound of the biggest blueberries we have ever seen. We should have taken a picture of our farmer's market goods, but we started eating them as soon as we got in the car. But those delicious foods aren't exactly "fancy."

The exciting news about our stay in Trout Creek is that we have television! This is the first time we have been able to pick up over-the-air stations in the last 34 days. We didn't think we had missed television, but we did spend the rest of the evening in the motor home with it on. With our 50 amp electricity and full hookups AND television, this is some kind of FANCY living!