Thursday, September 22

TRAVEL DAY

From: Edgewater Inn & RV Park, Malta, MT.

To: James Kipp Recreation Area, south of Malta, MT.

Day 346 – It’s September 22; Fall begins today. We think lots of people will be glad this past, hot summer is over. It was raining when we got up this morning, a bit muddy out, and it continued to rain until a little before noon on our trip south to the Elk Viewing area.

We departed at 10:05 a.m. and headed south on the 191. It was 46 degrees. There were no towns between Malta and our destination, the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Flat ranch and farm lands turned into rolling hills, and as we approached the Missouri River, the hills were larger with more greenery. We saw Antelope, Coyotes, Cows, Horses, Hawks, and other smaller birds. No Grasshoppers!

The Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge is located in the hills and valley by the Missouri River where it crosses Route 191. The Wildlife Refuge is one of the largest in the contiguous United States. The Refuge runs along both sides of the Missouri River for a long distance encompassing the entire Fort Peck Reservoir. It was named for the cowboy artist, Charles M. Russell. There are hiking trails and a long self-guided auto tour within the Refuge. There are no cities or towns nearby. No motels, restaurants, or gas stations. There is a campground at the James Kipp Recreation Area just south of the Refuge on the Missouri River.

The Slippery Ann Elk Viewing Area is within the Refuge. The name Slippery Ann is a twice-butchered name for a nearby creek. On old topographical maps, the creek was written “Cyprian”, possibly a reference to the early Christian Bishop of the same name. Somewhere along the way that got changed to “Siparyann”. Because no one could understand the refuge staff when they said the word on the phone, it was changed to Slippery Ann.

During the Elk rut (or mating) season, people come to view the six-week-long process as the males gather females into groups and then try to maintain control of their individual harems until the females become ready to mate. The on-going battles between the males to enlarge their harems and maintain superiority is a spectacle people line up to see. During the early morning and especially the early evening, the males can be heard with their low hoarse bellows and the clear high tones of their bugling. The dominant males will fight and challenge each other to keep their harems intact.

We had read that the Slippery Ann Elk Viewing Area allowed camping near where the Elk hang out. It was on Refuge land. There was no official campground, just an area where people pulled off the road and parked their campers – no hook-ups, nothing but a couple of pit toilets. We were hoping to get a camping spot there, but weren’t sure of the condition of the dirt road that we’d need to travel in the RV to get to the “campground”.

To check out the road, we parked the RV at the entrance to the Wildlife Refuge and drove the Honda. The road was not terrible for the Honda, but definitely not in good enough condition for the RV. It was 5 ½ miles each way, to and from the Elk Viewing Area. Once we got to where people pulled off to camp and tried to maneuver the very small driveways into one of the camping areas, we knew we could never get the RV in without becoming permanently stuck in the mud and ruts of the road. This was ATV and Jeep country; big 4-wheeled drive trucks could do it. Driving a little further we saw a grouping of campers on a hill above the Viewing Area. We drove up there and found we could’ve managed the RV up there, but the parking lot was nearly full, we’d have to squeeze ourselves in, and with all the ATV’s we didn’t want to camp there anyway. Luckily there were other alternatives.

We drove the Honda back to the RV and I followed with Rob in the RV and me in the Honda. We drove a very short distance south across the Missouri River to the James Kipp Recreation Area. We drove through the campground (it was first-come, first-served, no reservations). There were others in front of us driving through and people behind us, too. And not many campsites available. We saw one we liked, grabbed it, and quickly paid the fee to secure it. Within a short period of time, the campground was full.

We arrived at 12:20 p.m. It was 55 degrees, the rain had stopped, and it was partly cloudy. We unpacked, set up camp, and had lunch. Rob put up the screened tent. We were so lucky to get a site. Throughout the day people drove through the campground trying to find a place to stay. We paid for three nights, and at the end of that time, we will evaluate how many more nights to stay. There are no hook-ups. There are restrooms and a dump station, but no water. There is a boat launch to the River. The sign at the kiosk at the entrance said there were Coyotes, Wolves, and Rattlesnakes. We did hear Wolves at night. We were worried about a dog that campers left tied up outside their trailer while they left the campground for awhile. Dumb!

At 4 p.m. we left to drive to the Elk Viewing Area. We stayed for three hours. It was amazing. Vehicles were lined up along the road with viewers sitting in chairs they’d brought along. Evidently before we got there, two males had a confrontation that everyone was talking about. We saw some threatening but no fighting. We’re kind of glad about that. We don’t want to watch them tear each other up. But the posturing between the males as they show their dominance is fascinating. And when they take the time to sniff a female, it’s pretty amusing as the ladies let them know they aren’t in the mood yet. LOL. There were two younger males with short antlers who were practicing head-butting. And in the distance a large male with an amazing rack of antlers and a large tribe of females following him around, kept coming to the bushes in our area and checking out the males in our area. A very interesting process. In addition to pictures, we have a few videos. Hopefully if you turn up the sound, you might be able to hear a little of the bugling. A flock of Turkeys marched through the area, seemingly without a care in the world while the show went on with the Elk.

The weekend is coming and we are sure the Viewing Area will be too crowded. We’ll be doing other things and coming back to view the Elk probably Sunday and Monday nights when it’ll be less crowded. So we’ll be at this campground for a little while. This makes us, and the cats, happy.