Blog

After Butte, we headed to Helena, Montana. We stayed at the KOA located on the North side of town, which was nice as it was located far away from the hustle and bustle of the city. While the campground didn't have much in the way of amenities, it was very clean and located next to an elementary school with a large playground, so it worked out perfectly in the end. We ended up staying for about a week (Sunday through Friday).

A few days into our stay, the Governor of Montana issued a Mask Mandate, the basics of which meant to require the wearing of masks whenever inside a public building. Luckily I have been well equipped for this possibility. I have (and will continue) to refrain from going into much detail about the current pandemic / social unrest as I would like this blog to stay as positive as possible - but for us in the future looking back on this, I wanted to make sure the above photo had some context.

Missouri River Beaver Creek Trail

Our first family hike was the Missouri River Beaver Creek trail, located right off of Hauser Dam (pictured in the first photo above), which is near the start of the Missouri River. Starting the hike was a bit strange, as we had to walk across what looked like a very "off limits" dam, but after reading the signage it seemed that we were allowed to cross it on foot.

Speaking of signage, this was the sign that greeted us after crossing the dam and getting to the trailhead. Apparently when first built, this damn was made of the "wrong" materials which resulted in a catastrophic failure of the structure that ended up flooding the town. 

The hike meandered along the bank of the river, with very little real elevation gain. However, the heat and (billions of) bugs more than made up for that! Thankfully the bugs weren't the biting variety but they sure were pesky and plentiful.

Later on in the week, my oldest son and I went for a bike ride around Helena Reservoir, which was an easy 5ish mile ride around a small, uncrowded lake about 20 minutes from our campground. It was hot, but there was a breeze off the water for the entire ride that made it absolutely perfect. Very glad we did this ride!

The rest of the week was pretty laid back, and we spent a couple of the late afternoons at Clark's Bay Recreational Area. This was perfect as there was a lovely beach and opportunity to use our inflatable kayak. I also snuck in a mountain bike ride, which wasn't the most fun as one of the downhills resulted in a bit of a crash that dislocated my pinky. I will stay positive and say the view was worth it :).