Clark Fork River Trail Lolo National Forest, Montana

For this trip we were coming back to a trail we had done last year. While we try not to do the same trails every year, early in the season we don't have a lot of options. When we did the trail last year, I thought that it might become an annual trip. It's starting to look like I was right. Harkpork River Trail number 223. Conditions seem to be very similar to our trip last year. Times are weird right now and here we are. We didn't want to camp in the same spots as last year so we decided to head off trail for the first night's camp. A couple miles in now. So we've gone off the main trail now and we're bushwhacking our way down into this peninsula. Should flatten out real nice down here. Perfect conditions so far. Just perfect. Once we had camp set up and the fire started, the celebration was on. We have just set out from our camp. Getting a really late start but it was a good morning to camp. Six, seven miles today probably. We had to bushwhack our way back to the main trail so we decided to follow the river until we hit it. Well we've made it back to the main trail. Love this section. Love all these cedars. Just cruising now. Over five miles in for the day. I thought we were closing in our campsite but evidently it's not quite where I remember it. It sure feels good to get out and be able to hike. Since it was still early in the season, we brought some food with us that we won't be able to take later on. Well we've been at camp for a while now. Had our dinner. I decided to come up the hill and see what this top bench looked like. It's really cool up here. Really cool down there too. I mean this is just a neat area. Longest hike of the trip tomorrow. Getting out. Maybe eight miles out. Great trail. So far we've gotten away without stringing up our tarps but as the clouds started to gather a bit, we started to wonder if we were pushing our luck. All right day three. We're on the trail. It's cold this morning. About eight miles out. Supposed to be a beautiful day. Waiting for the sun to warm this up but it's going to be awesome by the time we get back. Worst part of the trip. Going home every time. Well we're a little over halfway back. Kind of looking for a spot here. We might pull over and have a little sip of whiskey. Great day for hiking. Trail's in great shape. Well we just took our last rest break. Got a couple miles to go to get back to the trailhead. Ah what a great trip. Did rain on us a little bit last night. Just enough for me to have to put up my tarp but it was all right. Real spring trip. Pretty mild this year. And like that another trip was in the books. It's officially spring now but I'm guessing we haven't seen the end of the snow.