Day 8: Stevensville, Montana to Hamilton, Montana

In the morning Kevin woke up bright and early to take Scout on a hike. They hiked to the top of the ridge nearby. Kevin took some great pics while he was up there. My favorites are of the ones of Scout sneezing. 

After he got back from his hike we had breakfast and slowly packed up camp. Today's planned drive was only an hour or two, so we took our time. While we were putting stuff away, a man who maintains the campground came by to restock the restroom area and Kevin walked over to talk to him. The man--a science and math teacher who works at the campground as his summer job--gave us a tip about where to camp next and then mentioned that "the best brewery in the state" is in the town of Stevensville. And just like that...our day was planned.

Once we got everything loaded up, we drove into the nearby town of Stevensville in search of the Blacksmith Brewery. Stevensville's claim to fame is that it is the oldest settlement in Montana. Their slogan is "Where Montana Began." We found a shady spot to park near the one-street town and put the pups in the Scamp so that we could explore the town. When we started this trip we weren't sure if we would be able to do this, but we have found that if we wear Scout out, he is happy to sleep in the Scamp for an hour or two. For a five month old puppy he sure has been well behaved! 

We strolled through a few antique stores and eventually found the brewery. We were there around noon on a weekday, so we were the only customers at first, so we began chatting with the tap-room manager (a high school English teacher who works there in the summers) and the brewmaster who makes all of the beer! We sampled their brews--including their rootbeer--and talked about what it is like to teach in Montana and Ohio. 

Moments like this are a major reason why I love taking road trips. For the briefest moments in time our paths cross with other people and we all get to share in a unique conversation before heading our separate ways once again. 

As we finished up our drinks, our new friend recommended a brewery in next town south--the Bitterroot Brewery-- so we decided to head that way for some lunch. We didn't like the beers there as much as the first brewery, but the food was good and we met yet another teacher--an art teacher--and chatted with her for a bit. We found out that snow days are hard to come by around here. She said that in twelve years of teaching they have had only two snow days in all!!! She laughed when she heard how many we got this winter. Everyone around here is concerned about what this summer will bring, though. They say they had a "bad" winter--meaning they didn't get much snow--and they fear that the wildfire season will be rough. 

With full stomachs we headed back to the Scamp and hit the road to our next campsite. It meant taking a 15 mile drive down a gravel and dirt road, but it was absolutely worth it. And...it was nowhere near as bad as the road we took to camp at Bowman Lake at Glacier National Park last year! At the end of Lost Horse Road there are two lakes, known as "Twin Lakes", and 12 campsites. Only one other site was occupied, so we set up camp and had the entire area pretty much to ourselves. It. Was. Spectacular. Our campsite was so perfect it almost felt fake. And the craziest part of all is that it was free to camp there! 

We hiked around a bit and made dinner before Kevin had the idea to heat up some of the water so that we could wash up. All night I had to keep reminding myself that we were in Montana at what felt like our own private lake surrounded by tall pine trees and  mountains. After scrubbing my skin with the warm water and putting on fresh PJs, I crawled into the Scamp for a solid night's sleep. Today was definitely one of those days I will remember when I close my eyes on a particularly stressful day at work--I will just picture my hammock and the lake and the feeling of calm I had here in this secluded place at the end of Lost Horse Road.