Reaping the Whirlwind - Leg 3 - Missoula - End of Day 3 through Day 6

Headed up to Rock Creek in the Suburban with Dave.  His dad and sister followed in a Nissan Frontier.  Dave looking serious driving the Suburban.

 We went to the north end of Rock Creek, to Stony Cabin Camp Ground.  The scenery reminded me of some of the formations in Yellowstone.

 The cabin was a log cabin, situated underneath some rock outcroppings.  We just hoped for no large earthquakes.

After we got unpacked, I borrowed the Nissan to go in search of cell signal.  Luckily, I was able to find it about 4 miles up the road near a private cabin so I could call and check on Katy and my parents.

The next morning, it was time to go fish.  Suited up in full gear and got ready to go.

We headed out to Rock Creek, which would definitely be called a river at home, to fish in the morning. After fishing a bit and thinking I didn't mind not catching anything, I caught a very small trout (5.5 inches) and threw him back into the creek.  The scenery from the creek was pretty impressive.

In the afternoon, Dave and I decided to ditch the waders and try fishing off of Stony Creek, which he and his family had previously had luck on the previous evening.  Dave and I had pretty good luck, each catching three fish on this outing.  Then, we took a dip in the frigid water to rinse the day and a half of stench off.  This was the highlight of my fishing trip.

 Me ready to go fish sans waders.

 One of my three fish.

One of Dave's three fish.

Headed back to camp for dinner and sleep.  Got up the next morning to fish again at Rock Creek.  Spent several hours near a bridge fishing.  Dave found a good hole after a trek upstream, but the rest of us didn't catch much.  Again, the scenery was beautiful.  Made a sign out of bone, rock, and sticks to send back to Katy.  Left it there in a secluded place.  Maybe someone will stumble across it.

Went out to call Katy that evening, and had to drive all the way to Philipsburg, a town 20 miles away, to get signal.  While there, topped off the tank and got a few supplies to tide us over.  Thunderstorms came in and I knew the camp may get hammered.  We did get some hail and rain that evening, along with a light show of lightning just before bed.

Cooking at the camp was easy thanks to the equipment Dave's dad brought.  Here's Dave and his dad enjoying breakfast.

While Dave and family were taking a nap one afternoon, hiked up a hill adjacent to the campsite to get a view of the valley from above.  Pretty nice place.

 Went back to Stony Creek a bit north of where Dave and I fished before.  Dave and his sister had good luck.  Me and Dave's dad had a bit of luck, each catching one cutthroat.  The scenery continued to amaze.

The next morning we headed south on Rock Creek, stopped to fish a bit at what seemed to be a good place.  Saw a 20 inch trout jump, but nobody caught a fish. 

Then, it was a slow crawl back to Missoula.  Dave and I adjusted the rear brakes on the Suburban and they were good to go.  Dinner, a call home, and then back to the hotel for a night's rest before the big drive . . . .