It is nothing special as it is an example of just a regular, Ho-Hum sort of view that does not even get the little red dots alongside of the road on the map that indicate a “Scenic” road……. not because it’s not scenic, but because all of the roads would get little red dots if this was indicative of the criteria!
North Dakota is right next door to Montana so in we went! Our destination was Seeley Lake, a quiet little spot about an hour or so northeast of Missoula which, in turn, is in the western quarter of Montana. For those of you who have accompanied us on this trip before, you are familiar with our circumstances here, but for all you newbies, we come here to visit with my partners from The Chatterbox, Phillis and Steve. They live right on the runway here in a hanger/apartment sort of building which is very convenient if you have a penchant for airplanes (which would be an understatement here!)
In any event, Montana needs no more support in the ‘Reasons to Visit’ category, as this place lives up to its moniker, Big Sky Country and then some! It seems that the moment that you cross the border from a neighboring state the sky in front of you automatically transforms itself into something even more grand than that of the place that you left and that’s saying something as the Dakotas, Idaho, and Wyoming, have visages that are incredibly grand in their own right! But something does change and we’ll just leave it at that!
We have our own dedicated RV Site here courtesy of Steve and Phillis, complete with full hook-ups! And it comes with a full view of the runway and about 15 billion deer who do their darndest to scare the wits out of the pilots that fly in and out of here. The S.O.P. of the airport is to kind of ‘buzz’ the field first and scare any potential “runner’s into” away so that on the next pass you can touch down and taxi without having worry about Bambi and her kin.
Our goal here was to visit with Phillis and Steve as we don’t get to spend a lot of time with them because they winter in Santa Fe and summer up here. While we’re here, they always manage to keep us busy with tons of great experiences in the area and I’ll try and show you a few of our “outings” from the past week.
Please enjoy some photos from Big Sky Country!
Hum-vees and have all the comforts, heat and A/C, and are allowed to be driven on the road. They can traverse almost any terrain.
This is Marshall Lake, a glacial lake as clear as it could be!
It sits at 4750′ of elevation, is about 85 acres in size, and about 60′ deep.
Larch (or Tamarack) are deciduous conifers which means that they lose their needles in the fall, just like the rest of the leafy trees. But they are, in fact, conifers! And big ones at that! They can top out at 200′ tall and up to six feet in diameter which puts them firmly in the size category of Douglas Firs and the like. But they can grow as much as four feet a year!
Gus is the largest Larch in the world and has impressive specifications to prove it.
He is 153′ tall, 53′ in circumference, and over 7′ in diameter!
He totally resembles a Giant Sequoia, maybe even a Redwood, but their only connection is that they are all conifers.
This was a Drive-By photo! He flew down and perched for a second, then took off and that’s when he had his pic taken!
Left to right, Phillis, Paula, and Ali.
The little passengers, Mia and Blair are in the seats in front of them.
They are veteran travelers even at their early ages!
Just a few more photos from around the mountains!
2 replies on “Montana”
Absolutely gorgeous. And the sky!! How can you even take it all in?
Amazing scenery!! Marshall Lake-beyond beautiful! What a great trip.