I really think that Montana is so beautiful. Out of all the sates that I have been to in the United States, (from previous trips and such) it is the one that most reminds me of Oregon.
Scenery
When we first entered Montana we came from the northwest. It was mountainous (I suppose that is to be expected as the name Montana comes from the Spanish word “montaña,” meaning “mountainous”) and was covered with a very thick, tall, and lush forest that consisted of both evergreen and deciduous trees. In the valleys, there was lots and lots of beautiful golden wheat fields . Right now is the beginning of harvest, so we got here just in time to see all the fields at the golden stage and also to see the combines beginning to start on the first fields. Approximately two-thirds of the land is used for farming and ranching as that and mining are Montana’s main industries. (There are tons of cows here. In fact there are more cows than people in Montana!) There is a lot of train activity up here so there is lots of fun trestles and bridges.
West Glacier
The entrance to West Glacier is under a train track and the trains run right by the park, so were we stayed the last few days we frequently heard the trains go by and blow their whistles. In the park it was smoky and the mountains were not visible, though at times we could see a faint silhouette of them.
One of my favorite things about here is the many lakes. They are strikingly clear and beautiful. Many of them have beautiful colored pebbles on the shores and bottom. The clearness comes from the lakes staying cold for so long, keeping algae and similar things from growing. They also have a very thorough check of all boats entering. We brought our inflatable raft and it had to be inspected once when we entered Montana and again every time we entered Glacier NP wanting to raft. The colored pebbles are colorful because of the high iron content of the water. It is thought that they are colorful near the edges and more blue-greenish in the deep parts because the deeper parts didn’t get oxidized as much.
Transition In Scenery
Today we left West Glacier to head to East Glacier in hopes that we would be able to see more, as almost everything was closed due to the fires. On our way to here we crossed over the Continental Divide. After we crossed it and began heading down the mountain the scenery began to change rapidly. The trees very quickly grew shorter and shorter until they were pretty much nonexistent. On the west side it was lush and green and on the east side it was more dry and barren. The farther east we went the more scarce the vegetation became. It was in the plains that we spotted our first bison on this trip.
The green grass and trees in West Glacier made us wonder why they had such a hard time containing the fires here as it is so much wetter and greener than Oregon. We were visiting some of Mom’s old friends and they said that the fires won’t be put out until they get a good rain. The fires that they make such a big deal of here are only less than ten thousand acres and burn much slower. The terrain difficulty isn’t really worse than most Oregon ones either, so why can’t they contain the ones here, but they can contain the ones in Oregon after some time- usually?
Browning
On our way to East Glacier we passed through a small town called Browning which is home to many of the Black Foot Indians. It was sad to see because everything was so rundown and dumpy. Apparently they have had problems with unemployment and transitioning.
Towns
We stopped at a fun country town on our way to Glacier in order to get a wild huckleberry milkshake. (That was a REALLY crazy thing for us as we have never done anything like that. But Mom and Dad have decided that they want to get at least some cultural food experience. It’s hilarious.) And, by the way, it was possibly the best desert that I have ever had. Wild huckleberries are one of their specialties- in the mountainous regions of course. All over you see advertisements for huckleberry this and huckleberry that. I very much enjoy them. The town had cool weathered buildings with gravel parking lots and plank decks. It made me think of a wild west town. Most of the towns that we have been to haven’t been like that though. It seemed to be a more touristy place which probably gave it the ability to look a little nicer.
Montanans
The few Montanans that we have interacted with have been really friendly and helpful. The kind of people that I am used to being short, hard to get information out of, etc., have gone above and beyond what we asked. It is really nice. One day we were sitting down on the dock and an older farmer came up and started talking to Dad. He gave us helpful information about places we should go and then gave us fresh homegrown corn and zucchini. The corn was probably the best that I have ever had. When Dad offered to pay him for it, he refused, and told us that he did it for a hobby. He said that every year he came down to the dock and found camping families to give corn away to.
I read that about 74% of Montanans hold service jobs, 8% farming and ranching, 16% or so, government, and I can’t remember what the other few percent were occupied as. It’s pretty interesting.
There are some really cool houses and buildings in places that I can tell have more money. They are the perfect mixes of rustic and modern. I know that some of my favorite looking houses are here somewhere, but I haven’t seen them in real life.
I read that 74% of Montanans claim to be Christian with 55% being Protestant and 24% being Catholic. The rest are nonreligious (18%) and Mormon (3%). I have seen a lot of billboards and signs professing Christianity, advertising churches, including multiple signs with “God’s Ten Commandments.” In the little time that we have been here I have seen way more than I ever have seen in Oregon. I know seeing that doesn’t mean a whole lot though.
East Glacier
Right now we are in East Glacier, but we haven’t seen much yet. We are just on the other side of the mountains, so there is some trees, mostly aspen. It isn’t too dry here, and there is lots of wildflowers. I have seen a lot of wildflowers all over Montana. The wind has been blowing a lot, but it is the perfect temperature. If it wasn’t for the fires I think that this is a wonderful time of year to come here. I imagine fall is very beautiful though, but probably pretty cold. Some cowboys are staying here with their horses and it is nice to hear horses whinnying again. Sometimes I don’t realize how much I enjoy things until they are gone. Here cows have been our deer here, as we have had to stop for them crossing the road. Where we are staying there is lots of places to explore out in the wild around just outside our door and I am really enjoying that.
In one way the smoke is nice -there is a lot less people. Although, it is not nice for the park owners as they are loosing so many customers. Hopefully it doesn’t hurt their business too much.