The Clearwater River in Idaho, is a very pretty river with lots of Native American, and Lewis and Clark history. It also is known for some pretty amazing fishing. There are many spots along the highway that follows the river with wide turnouts, a few campgrounds and a couple RV parks as well. We decided to stay at McKay’s Bend campground that is operated by the BLM. Bonus for us with our National Access Pass is that camping fees were 1/2 off. Full hookups for $9.00 per night, amazing.
We got to our spot around 3pm on that Friday, we wanted to be sure we could get a spot there as it is first come first served, no reservations. In the end there was hardly anyone there and it was not a problem at all to get a spot. Something I am sure changes when the summer season rolls around.
After we got things set up we walked around a little bit. It is not a giant campground but it does have a good amount of river access to explore.
We eventually went back to the camper and started up the Treager. Joanne would smoke some chicken for our dinner. After that we simply relaxed at camp and took in the sights of the scenery around us.
The night came and the skies were clear. Venus was very bright and was shining its light way before the rest of the stars came out. My simple phone camera never could pick it out though. It was a nice relaxing night.
The next morning we sat inside and listened to music and had our breakfast. Hmm…seems those very large Ponderosa trees are too close to us and are blocking the XM Satellite from working like it should. Bummer. I did get some more tin signs hung up around our dinette window. Dachshunds and pin up art, two things I like.
We then went down to the river to sit in the sun since we were in the shade at the camper. We sat down there and watched different duck breeds, geese, vultures and even a bald eagle flying around. We ended up sitting there for well over an hour. It was really nice. Especially in the sun.
When we walked the short distance back to the camper we saw we were still in the shade. So we decided to move one spot over that was in full sun. With only a couple people there, it was not a problem. We quickly got readjusted in the new spot. Th XM was working correctly again now that we were away from the large trees.
The rest of the day we hung out at camp. Joanne started the ribs in the smoker, it would be in the smoker for about 6 hours. It turned out great as usual. We walked around the campground loop a couple times but mostly sat at camp. We did watch deer up on the hill for a while along with many other birds flying around. After dinner it was beverage time, including some moonshine we brought back from our trip to Branson Missouri a few weeks ago. A little of that goes a long ways.
It was an enjoyable night. The whole weekend was another very enjoyable time. The next morning we had a relaxing start of the day before we packed up to make our way home.
We really like the Clearwater River and the steep river valley it flows through. There still are many more sections to explore it. So many places with only so much time to explore it. I am sure we will come back again at some point.
The TC Life 