MT–– Canyon Ferry Lake, 5-10 July 2011

 

Back in the great outdoors!  Beautiful views, kayaking, biking, and hiking…what a great place!

We stayed at White Earth campground, a Bureau of Reclamation site, on Canyon Ferry Lake about 15 miles southeast of Helena Montana.  We had no hookups (also known as “boondocking” or “dry camping”), but were able to fill our freshwater tank at the entrance to the campground.  The solar panels and batteries provided adequate electric and conserving water made it easy to enjoy this area for 5 days.

We were camped just a few feet from the water and had great views, especially out the front door…

   

As I sat in the recliner and stared at the rippling water and distant mountains through the front door it occurred to me that people pay tons of money to have a house with views like this.  The view, the site, and all of the fun things to do were ours for only $8 a night!

6 July was a banner day for us.  We biked 17 miles, hiked 3 miles, and kayaked 4 miles.  We were a bit sore the next day, but the memories were worth it!  The pair of ospreys during the bike ride and the awesome sunset during the kayak paddle were amazing…

   

   

 

Lessons learned this round…

- We prefer to park the trailer east-west if possible.  Orienting this way allows us to have full sun or full shade as desired.  Our best view is out of the “curb side” or passenger’s side of the trailer. 

- We can stay “off the grid” “boondocking” for 5 nights if we conserve water.   We took 6 showers (total) and avoided getting too funky!

- We can tolerate mid-90F heat without air-conditioning and very little shade!  However, we do need a little breeze and the “Fantastic Fan” to make it bearable.  The “Fantastic Fan” draws air out of the trailer at the ceiling/roof which increases the flow into the trailer from the windows.  We can run the fan 24/7 because it uses minimal electricity and the inside of the trailer stays within a few degrees of the outside temperature.  Without the fan and a little breeze, the trailer would turn into an oven.

- We paddle our kayaks just over 3mph on flat water in no wind. 

- Never leave our dog chained up unsupervised outside of the trailer.  He can escape!

We’d love to come back.  This is going to be hard to beat…