Western Montana

In my hometown of Bozeman, Montana, skiing is king. This shouldn’t come as much of a surprise; we have a world-class resort just 45 miles down the road at Big Sky, as well as the local favorite, yet still impressive Bridger Bowl ski area. But lost in all the downhill excitement is the soothing experience of cross-country skiing. I’ve found that many residents are surprised to find that the city of Bozeman operates several cross-country trails within the city limits.

I was on the return leg of a short trip on Highway 200 and decided to take a side trip to Garnet, the well-preserved, goldminer-era Ghost town. There are some spectacular views along the drive which is all uphill, and I took advantage of a beautiful day to shoot some photos too.

The secrets of the west have attracted people to Montana throughout history. Some came by train; others traversed the rugged landscape by horseback or covered wagon. And what were they coming for? The big sky, the land, the mountains? How about gold, silver, even Sapphires? There is a place in western Montana where still today anxious prospectors are plunging there screens into a trough of cloudy water and sifting though gravel and earth in search of the ever prized sapphire. And guess what, not only are they finding the brilliant gems, but you can too.

We took a trip in late May to Glacier National Park. I was pretty excited to see the glaciers since they’re melting and are on track to be completely gone by 2030, so I wanted to see them before they melted away. It was still pretty early in the season so there was a lot of snow in the mountains and over the trails to the glaciers. I figured since my boyfriend and I were not going to make the trek in the snow that we had to do something in order for me to achieve my wish to see the glaciers. So I broke out of my normal vacation mold of planning and budgeting everything and spontaneously told my boyfriend to pull into the Glacier Heli Tours.

I love brewery tours, mostly because of the beer at the end of the tour. I’ve been on the Kokanee brewery tour so many times that the staff actually recognized my friend and I the last time we went. It was a little embarrassing to say the least. So on a recent trip to Glacier National Park my boyfriend and I were driving along highway 2, heading towards Kalispell and I saw a sign “brewery 1″. There was a little confusion about the sign between my boyfriend and I.

hould have been near where the falls where. There was no sign but the guardrail separated and a path headed down the hill where I could see rushing water. I climbed down the steep hill for a few feet and decided the path was a little more than I could handle and I headed back, so I still have not seen the falls. We got back on the highway and continued to head home. Although we had a few mishaps, like not being able to find the falls and that darn eagle flying away, it was an enjoyable drive with lots of beauty. If you are interested in driving the highway 56 you can connect from highway 2 east of Troy or highway 200 west of Noxon. The highway is about 35 miles in length.

I have always been fascinated by old cars, so on a vacation to Glacier National Park I decided that my boyfriend and I were going to take a tour on the Red Jammer, or the Red Bus as most people call them. The buses are called Red Jammers because they originally had manual transmissions and the drivers could be heard jamming the gears as they drove around the park.

To step on the DeSmet tour boat you might think you are going to see Gilligan, maybe even the Skipper, but don’t worry , there is no fearful three hour tour here. We arrived about 45 minutes before the boat tour started and enjoyed the Lake McDonald lodge as we waited. The lodge was a delight, filled with many animals mounted on the wall and Native Indian decor.

Just off the side of Highway 2, five miles west of Libby, are the Kootenai Falls and the swinging bridge. As my boyfriend and I pulled into the roadside parking lot for a stop to stretch our legs during our trip to Glacier National Park we walked down a paved pathway. There were restrooms available and informational signs about the fish in the Kootenai river along the trail. The path parte

On a recent visit to Glacier National Park I asked the park ranger at the Apgar visitor center for easy hikes for my boyfriend and I to do as we are not avid hikers. She suggested the Trail of the Cedars near Avalanche Creek and a unnamed path near Fish Creek that goes along the Lake McDonald shoreline.