I probably didn’t even scratch the surface but I think I covered a good bit of Montana’s mountainous western side.
My opinion of it is mixed but mostly favorable.
The people that I met were friendly and engaging but not in a “in your business” sort of way. Compared to Seattle, it is nice that people acknowledge your existence in the Universe rather than stare right through you. To be honest, I have noticed this pretty much everywhere I have been since I got on the Eastern side of the Cascades. Still it is nice.
Except for the bears, it would be a great place to enjoy the outdoors. I think the locals recommend wearing sleigh bells and carry Bear spray to just to mow the lawn, let alone go hiking or camping. Having to listen to sleigh bells all day would make me feel like I am trapped in an open all year Christmas store at an outlet mall. And Bear Spray, it just pisses the bear off and makes them hungrier.
Whitefish walks a pretty good line between tourist town and locals ski town. Not too many T-shirt shops and limited condo and hotel complexes, at least there in town. Like most Ski towns, it’s real estate market is pricey.
I have tried to stay at State Parks as much as possible. So far available spots are few and far between as they are cheap and booked up way in advance for the summer camping season. They also tend to be pretty far away from any city life and I do like sitting in a coffee shop and people watching.
There are many reasons why I haven’t gotten into the RV Lifestyle until now. One of them is seeing RV Parks crammed full of the big monsters feet from the Freeway as I have driven by. Except for a tree or two, they are hard to tell from an RV Dealership. That being said, they do have electric to charge my trailer battery and nice hot showers. Even Wi-Fi.
I have also noticed that some RV’s have decks, little picket fences, garden gnomes, etc. The kind of stuff that you don’t put out if you are just passing through. It turns out that there is a big movement towards buying the monster RV and calling an RV Park Home until the weather changes or the grass gets greener elsewhere. Something to think about.
But I digress, As usual.
Rain was forecasted for Whitefish, so I hitched up and headed North for my first International birder crossing. I can never tell if the border guards are just making conversation cause they are bored or they are trying to trip you up into revealing that you are a smuggling a family of Norwegians under the floorboards. Being as I no longer have an address, a job or any visible means of support, everything I told the guy was a lie. Telling the truth under similar situations during previous border crossings has resulted in some serious brow beatings and time spent on the Group W Bench. (If you don’t get that reference, an 18min long explanation here ). But I passed the chat and the officer didn’t even ask about the trailer. The rain caught up with me just as I hit the border but I kept driving.
The drive took me up around the Northern End of Glacier National Park, Canadians call it Waterton National Park. Their park took over the cool little town of Waterton and turned it into a T-shirt shop. Not really that bad, I kind of liked its tree lined avenues but, I have plenty of T-shirts so I headed back into the states. There isn’t much on the Eastern Side of Glacier National Park so I just powered through and ended up in Helena for the night.
I didn’t get a good feel about Helena at first, It seemed a little quiet and perhaps a little impacted by the Meth and heroin problem. I went downtown and was lucky to hit a Summer Night out party and dance. Pretty fun. The highlight being the crowd of all ages lip syncing, acting out and if you can believe it, dancing to Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody. One of the funniest things I have seen on this trip. Good crowd of people out and about too.
The next stop was Bozeman. I hadn’t been to Bozeman in over 30 years when it was 40 below. I still liked it even in those tragic conditions. I was eager to see it in more temperate conditions. Seems like everyone else did too. There were no campsites available. I drove up the road to Livingston. Kind of a mini Bozeman and the home of travel adventure writers Tim Cahill and David Quammen. Doing a little research, I found out that it is sort of a Mecca for the literary crowd.
I even got my bike off the roof and took a 20 mile ride, had a couple beers and generally enjoyed my stay. Definitely on the list but it was time to continue on my journey.
On the way out of the state, I stopped into see the Big Sky resort I skied back in 1995 or so.
I barely recognized it except for the imposing Lone Peak towering over the lodge area. It had grown out considerably from the solitary hotel and condo complex that we stayed in. Grand log homes have been built up the sides of the mountain and condo complexes spread out among the base area. A whole town has been built halfway up the mountain road with shops, restaurants, government buildings and more condos. Like the rest of the mountain towns in Montana, it was all very expensive.
I had my first true squatter camping experience in one of the condo parking lots. Earlier in the day, I returned the air mattress system to REI and replaced it with a couple of firm foam pads from a mattress store in Bozeman. They worked great and I was happy that I didn’t have to fight my way out of a half empty air mattress in the morning. I was even happier that I slept all the way through the night with no interference from Condo Security. Not much to keep me there once the sleep got out my eyes so I was up early and heading toward Yellowstone.
My (and pretty much everyone coming in from Western Montana) last stop before entering the park was the overly tourist town of West Yellowstone, Montana. I hit the McDonalds for breakfast, walked around and then headed for Wyoming and the park entrance. I’ll be back.
