After Missoula, I made my way to Whitefish, Montana for a little family vacay. We rented a big house up on Big Mountain, the ski hill, just outside of town. The Whitefish, Kalispell, Big Fork, and Glacier Park area is incredible during the summer. So much beautiful scenery and endless outdoor adventures. It isn’t possible to get bored.
Although I hear it is amazing in the winter, Big Mountain isn’t just used for skiing; in the summer they offer zip line tours, scenic chair lift rides, alpine slides, hiking, and mountain biking. It is also right next to one of the most beautiful National Parks around, Glacier National Park. Driving in and around the park you find hiking trails, river rafting, horseback riding, helicopter tours and an option for a guaranteed bear sighting at The Great Bear Adventure on Hwy 2 East near Coram, Montana where “your car is your cage.”
On our way up to Glacier Park for some hiking, we stopped off at the Montana Vortex and House of Mystery. It is an area that unexplainably defies the laws of physics and nature and is described as a gravitational anomaly. The guided tour with Old Man River was way too long but a few of the phenomena were very cool, especially the House of Mystery section. It’s an old shack that was built in 1970 as an attraction on the sight and the second you walk in there you sense the strange gravitation; you can’t stand up straight, your sense of balance is a little skewed and marbles roll upward in one section of the house. Ten minutes in the house was enough for me. Much more and my motion sickness probably would have gotten to me and I just may have vomited upward. Very cool though. It’s located on Hwy 2 East near Columbia Falls and you can check it out at www.montanavortex.com.
If you aren’t up for the outdoor games and activities, the drive in and around Glacier Park alone will put you in awe. The windy roads lined with tall pines, the snow cap mountains, and the cold teal water rushing past rock beaches and around rocky islands of land. Even if you decide to do an easy hike through the park you can see beautiful gorges with rushing water and huge trees growing every which way. The smell of the forest air alone is such a sensory euphoria. It’s so amazing. If you have a family of hikers at every level, just take the Trail of the Cedars where some of the path has boardwalks or is paved. It’s easy, shady and cool and has bathrooms near by. Otherwise extend it a little and take the 3 mile hike up to Avalanche Lake. It’s fairly easy and of course BEAUTIFUL! For you hard core hikers, I have nothing to recommend, only because I’m not a hard core back country hiker, but I do know that you won’t be disappointed in any back country you decide to check out.
***Trail of the Cedars in Glacier National Park
There are also other attractions in the towns in that area. Anything from farmers markets, craft fairs, and music festivals. All summer long there is at least one thing happening every day. We went into the Farmer’s Market in Kalispell on Saturday. You know you are in Montana when you find hand-made jewelry being displayed hanging off of antlers, crafts made from stressed barn wood and horseshoes, jean quilts and feather dream catchers. The majority of the market was crafts but you could also purchase local honey and fresh produce if you get there early enough.
While at the market, we stopped in the Montana Coffee Traders for a cup of local brew. They have a chain of coffee shops in the area and pride themselves in buying organic, fair trade coffee whenever possible and use local milk from the Kalispell Creamery. They have been roasting there own beans since 1981 and you can try out their most popular signature blend, Montana Blend, their Grizzly Blend, Glacier Blend or summertime favorite, Flathead Cherry coffee. Their cafes offer a variety of treats and menu items for breakfast or lunch. I enjoyed a cup of the dark roasted Grizzly Blend and it was delicious but as usual it put me into quick caffeine ADHD and the eventual caffeine crash. I willingly never learn :) Good Times! Check them out at www.coffeetraders.com and be sure to drop in for your caffeine-high needs.
If you are looking for other local food items, it isn’t possible for you to miss an opportunity to try Montana Wild Huckleberries, Flathead Cherries, and Elk or Buffalo Jerky. Signs line the highways in the area, advertising fresh berries, cherries and jerky, huckleberry pies, huckleberry milkshakes, huckleberry jam, and wild game jerky. You can even find Wild Huckleberry Beer, brewed at the Great Northern Brewing Company in Whitefish. Besides the beer, you can stop at the touristy stores along the highway to pick up most of these item or at the rundown stands selling “fresh” picked berries and cherries. Be sure that if you stop by the shops for the packaged products that you check the ingredients. I spotted huckleberry licorice that didn’t even have any huckleberry in it. Tourist Trap....suckas! You may has well go buy a bag of Twizzlers.
On the way out of town I was sure to pick up some fresh huckleberries and Flathead cherries at the stand on the side of the road. Nothing like local, in season produce. The huckleberries cost an arm and a leg right now so I would suggest just going and picking them yourself. There are bushes all over the place. I never got to it but have it on my to-do list for next summer.
I did also grab a jar of Montana Made - Wild Huckleberry Jam. I couldn’t pass it up, as I was very impressed with the first ingredient, WILD HUCKLEBERRIES! Just as it should be. It’s a local product of Huckleberry Haven, Inc in Kalispell and they have a variety of other delights such as: syrups, honey, coffee, candies, pancake mix, bbq sauce, and vinagerettes...all with a huckleberry twist. Check them out at www.huckleberryhaven.com. They ship all over the USA.
***Uncle Don wasn't the best salesman but we grabbed some cherries and huckleberries anyway :)
With only a quick 4 days in the area and most of my time spent with all my family, I was able to take in the most of the area that I could but am ready to plan another exploration and experiential trip again next year. Time to leave the mountains behind and make my way into the prairie.
No comments:
Post a Comment