Huh? What? OK, OK . . . no nearby palm trees, no soft white or cream colored sands, but beaches nevertheless! Just make sure you wear shoes! Let’s go . . .
Welcome to the Swan River. A 95-mile river heading about 4 more miles to Swan Lake. We are parking on Porcupine Creek Road and searching for the trail to our beach. Ah, found it! Steep drop, narrow trail, dew drenched foliage making us very wet, but we made it. A typical Montana beach–stones.
Montana has many, MANY, lakes, ponds, rivers, creeks and streams. Many of them offer beaches, some are even dirt that we call sand, but it is nothing like the ocean beach sand. Ahead through the trees are the Swan Mountains. Well, we’ve run out of beach and the water is very cold. Let’s head back.
Why don’t we take a look at what’s on the other side of the bridge. The Swan River is a very twisty-turny river and we’ll see that even along this short distance. Those logs at left is where the trailhead is. It is so hard to see covered with tall grasses, so remember that marker.
Close to the bridge we have a few flowers. This is a Long-leaved Aster (Symphyotrichum ascendens). They bloom through October and not many wildflowers last that long. Dew covered and we got wet along the trail too!
Just on the other side of the bridge the river makes a wide turn heading north. Yes, the Swan River runs south to north. Coming from the East Coast I never questioned–rivers always run north to south. What a shock to move west where they flow “backward”!? The direction rivers flow is determined by one thing–gravity. Our north, south, east, west determinations mean nothing to the waters that flow the path of least resistance. Since we are in the Rockies the rivers are flowing downhill in all different directions.
Wow, the sun rising above the Swan Mountains is creating haze. The end of our beach is just ahead.
To be honest, the real reason I came here this morning was to see if the American Dippers, who had their young here this year, were still around. The aren’t. Matter of fact I have not seen a single bird. One small, fast duck few over but that is my bird watching experience today–except now. Up ahead . . . ! A bird I have never seen in my life! An American Pipit (Anthus rubescens).
Pipits are the size of a small sparrow. They mostly eat insects and their larvae both on land and in shallow water. As walking along they bob their head forward. Pipits nest in the far north tundra but also in the higher elevations of the entire Rocky Mountain range! That means through Montana, Wyoming, Colorado into northern New Mexico.
Heading back to the trailhead we are looking west.
Starting back along the trail we find Common Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare). It also booms through October. The yellow balls are their flowers.
Almost to the short, steep climb up to the car . . . still wet in here.
Now that you’ve seen one Montana beach, here are a few more we’ve seen over the years.
Lake McDonald in southwest Glacier National Park has some wide beaches. Weddings sometimes take place on these beaches.
And what a view!
Along the Yellowstone River . . . flowing through Paradise Valley below the beautiful Absaroka Mountains.
The “sand” beaches along Yellowstone Lake in Wyoming.
Bowman Lake in the far northwest North Fork area of Glacier National Park. See? We even have some grass on our beaches.
So how do you like the beaches of our landlocked states?
See you next time my friend!
