Yurts on Flathead Lake offer a luxurious way to rough it

Sounds of laughter drifted along the shore of Flathead Lake, and a delicate crescent moon dangled over the Swan Mountains.

Even though it was about 2 a.m. and the laughter — a woman’s voice — from the shoreline woke me up, silently I was pleased … that summer is here, and that people were enjoying their weekend freedom, full of laughter and song.

Our abode was a roomy yurt, which we rented from Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks at Big Arm State Park. I’d been in this same yurt a few months ago, when I was filming the bighorn sheep transplants on Wild Horse Island. But instead of the yurt filled with biologists, we now had friends enjoying a lazy weekend.

The state has three yurts available at Big Arm State Park. They’re all easily accessible from your car, and the one we stayed in was disabled-accessible. They all provide gorgeous views of Flathead Lake and are convenient to boating, fishing and fun on the West Shore of Flathead Lake.

For our Saturday excursion we ventured down the road to Lake Mary Ronan, only about a 15-minute drive. Fishing for kokanee salmon is especially good this time of year, and anglers know it. Although we were only the second boat on the water at about 7 a.m., there were about 14 boats in our area by 10 a.m., all hunkered over an underwater upwelling of nutrients that draws the salmon in.

We were a bit off the bite.

While we had moderate success jigging, the boat next to us hauled in salmon after salmon, and by 11 a.m. they were motoring back to shore with full limits (10 fish each).

We spent idle day fishing at Lake Mary, then returned to Big Arm for our afternoon naps. An eager spring rainstorm pounded us for 30 minutes, but we enjoyed the sound of the rain from inside our yurt, steam rising off the green lawn outside.

The rain drove our neighbor campers inside, until evening, when they came back out, full of laughter and celebration of summer.