Montana

Whitefish


Whitefish is in the northern part of Montana, about an hour from the Canadian border. Unfortunately we had been to the farmers' market in Canmore the day before our drive down and bought some vegies including parsnips, corn and beets. The border guards were not impressed but as we were only going to Whitefish, and promising we would eat these vegies before we left Montana we were allowed to cross the border. For a minute there I thought we might end up on the border control TV show.

Our house in Whitefish Montana was located on the Whitefish River only five minutes walk from town.

The town is also on Whitefish lake and 15 minutes from the ski area of Big Mountain.

Deer were resident in the field next to house - one in particular was there every time we came home.

It became apparent that this deer had an injury and on closer inspection we realised it had the lower half of its front leg missing. It seemed to be managing and the location was protected affording it a type of refuge (we hope).

Glacier National Park
Within an hour of Whitefish was Glacier National Park. The park was originally occupied by a number of Native American tribes. At the time of the first Caucasian people in the area the tribes of Blackfeet occupied the eastern side and the Salish, Pend d'Oreille and Kootnei on the western side nearer Whitefish. Early Caucasian settlers were trappers with later explorers looking for logging and mineral resources.

The park was originally part of the Belt Sea (1600 to 800 million years ago)and then with uplifting and glaciation has formed this spectacular park we were privileged to visit. With constant uplifting the park has many mountains over 8000 feet.

One of our day trips was through the park over the 'Going to the Sun" (the Sun) Road. There was a number of versions re the origin of the name of the road with most claiming it was part of the Blackfeet legend. The road crosses the park between Apgar on the west and the town of Saint Mary on the eastern side.

It twists and turns through many nerve-wracking hairpin bends and along narrow roads with steep gorges on either side. Luckily for us the day after us the high parts of the road were closed with no  access because of snow and ice.

Near Apgar at the western start of the road is the beautiful Lake McDonald, a glacial lake and the largest lake in the park, being 10 miles long and a remarkable 500 feet deep.

The valley leading from the lake before we really started to rise offered spectacular views of rivers, waterfalls and the mountains we were about to get much closer to

The peak of the Sun road was Logan Pass, at the point of the Continental divide, over six and a half thousand feet, and icy cold.
Of course the views were spectacular.

The Going to the Sun mountain towers over Logan Pass at 9642 feet high. It is sacred to the Blackfoot native Americans with legend describing the Sun God Napi climbed the mountain to get back to the sun after helping the tribe in times of hardship.

Another of the peaks, Heavens Peak is a rock climbers delight. Interestingly, it has a lookout, reached only by rock climbers that was built in 1945 by WWII conscientious objectors.

On the eastern side of the park is an area called Many Glaciers which once, obviously had many glaciers some of which were still visible.


However climate change has meant that many have retreated or disappeared.

One of the features of the rivers and lakes all around the Glacier National Park is the beautiful coloured rocks and pebbles in the rivers and lakes and on the shores and edges.

Purples, green and maroons dominate making the waters with the colours determined by the amount of oxygenated iron.

Fly-fishing
Of course you can't come to Montana without pulling out the fly rod and flicking a fly in one of the many famous trout rivers in the area.

Interestingly most of the rivers we went to had signs regarding bears which did not build confidence. But lucky we had the bear spray with us and heaven knows how we would have used it if we came face to face with a grizzly or black bear.

The north and middle forks of the Flathead river  were closest to Whitefish and the national parks so received a bit of a workout without success. Despite this, in scenery like this what better way to spend a lazy afternoon than by one of these beautiful rivers.


South of Whitefish and closer to the town of Big Fork was the Swan River. Our last afternoon in Whitefish was spent here, shared with a number of deer in this beautiful setting - again to no avail other than the pleasure of the scenery.

The drive from Whitefish to Wyoming was very long. Of course when we came across the Blackfoot river, east of Missoula and famous as the main river setting in the book and subsequent movie 'A River Runs Through It" we had to stop. Alas without current fishing licence a photo was all we could take away.

Also en route was the Madison River where we stopped for lunch. Set in a beautiful gorge this part of the river was a haven for fly fisherman with many along the river's edge or in float boats on the river. With some degree of jealousy we kept going on the long trip to Dubois in Wyoming.