MT -– Alberton, 7 & 8 June 2011

 

The next stop was Alberton, Montana.  We stayed in a campground right on the Clark Fork River.  Like most of the rivers in Montana right now, the Clark was at flood stage.  We’ll get to that in a minute…

Arleen got “practice” driving and parking the truck and trailer.  Shortly after she took the wheel, she had to tackle about 25 miles of construction.  Much of that was east and west-bound traffic flying opposite directions on one side of the highway with only cones separating us and little to no shoulder.  And this was through some of Montana’s very rugged country.  Arleen handled it like a pro!  The real challenge was backing into our campsite. 

The campsite was hemmed in by trees on three sides and the raging river in the  front.  I knew it was tight but thought we could do it.  We were offered another campsite, but I ignorantly turned it down.  I  even mentioned that my wife needed to practice backing up the trailer.  Boy that was a dumb decision!  Arleen parked the trailer perfectly.  Her confidence exploded and I was proud of her.

       

Unfortunately, getting out of the campsite proved to be too much.  We couldn’t overcome the angle of the trailer, the position of the trees, and the raging river.  Each maneuver made things worse.  We called in a professional when the trailer was tight against a tree.  After 3 hours, over $150, and some fancy maneuvering by the tow truck guy and the Alberton town mayor, we were free!  The only damage done was to our pocket book and our pride.  We knew we’d learn some lessons early in our adventures!

The town of Alberton is a small, quaint western Montana town.  Ellen, Arleen’s Mom, stayed at the historic “Ghost Rails Inn” that was built in 1909 and is now a Bed and Breakfast.  The couple that own it told us stories of the ghosts that they say still live there.  Ellen was very comfortable in the “conductor’s room”.    

I planned a 20-mile bike ride loop but we wimped out because of the weather.  Instead we relaxed in our trailer and went on a short, roughly 2-mile hike.  We walked up to the “Natural Bridge” and watched the flooding river pass underneath.  The bridge was built in the early 1900s and was anchored to a large rock in the middle of the river.  It’s single lane and cars continue to use it regularly.  Multiple cars drove slowly by us while we were on the bridge.  Between the vehicles and powerful river, I expected some movement of the bridge…it was perfectly still.  Many of the locals were going to the bridge to see the “historic” flow.  Though we couldn’t experience the good trout fishing on the Clark Fork River, we did experience something “historic”.

       

It was a nice two days and there is so much to do in this area.  Arleen and I would gladly make a return visit.