More of Montana (Part 2)

On my final day with my family in Montana, we decided to head north on Route 93 toward Flathead Lake, which I had been told is a very popular day trip. We realized that we would pass the National Bison Range, and we had read in the Sunday Missoulian about an open house at the Flathead Lake Biological Station (University of Montana). Our day was planned.

Not long after leaving Missoula, we entered the Flathead Indian Reservation, which is enormous. This reservation is home to the Salish, Kootenai, and Pend d'Oreilles tribes. "Flathead" is an unfortunate nickname, given by L&C before they had even met a single tribe member because of rumors of these peoples' practices and appearances. The National Bison Range is within the Reservation, as is much of Flathead Lake, the largest natural lake in the western United States.

The NBR was established as citizens became concerned for the rapidly vanishing bison. For a small ($5.00) fee, you can drive through the range on a 23-mile, one-way, dirt road. It is more than worth the fee! Signs instructed us to allow an hour for the drive, but we spent over two and a half hours! We were amazed at the people who drove through at the speed limit and spent little time watching the bison and enjoying the view. You could easily spend the day there, and I would happily make the drive back just to visit. The range is divided into many sections, and the bison herd (350-500 strong) is grazed in different sections throughout the year. The range is also home to deer, mule deer, pronghorn antelope, elk, and bighorn sheep.

I'm sure I cannot adequately capture the size and beauty of this area. As we drove in, we were awed by the climb up into the hills and our view of the Flathead River and surrounding mountains. We drove for some way without any sighting of bison or other creatures. We really had no idea what to expect; we thought we'd be lucky to glimpse the bison grazing. Our first sightings, in fact, were what we expected; views of bison on hills, grazing in smaller groups. Actually, I thought there would be one large herd. We took many photos, craning our heads for better views out the car windows (Bison are known to be fierce and agressive, especially during breeding season - now - and we were warned to stay near our cars, if we exited them at all). As we followed the road uphill on its many switchbacks, we found ourselves drawing nearer a herd. We watched the lead male scout out a path into the trees, the rest of the herd following at a distance. Just when we thought we'd lost them, we turned the next switchback and found ourselves looking right at the lead male (through a barrier fence). Soon the herd followed, and we could hear them snorting, grunting, and munching their way through the grass. Several young bison (light brown, and not more than 5 or 6 months old) were with the herd. While most grazed and were a little more independent, one young bison kept at its mother to nurse.

We were thrilled! It was more than we expected. And then we started up the next switchback. Ahead on the right was an enormous male bison in a dusty wallow at the edge of the road. No fence. You could tell that he was mature, mellow, and possibly used to gawking tourists. He certainly seemed to know how to put on a show. He watched us, and then flopped over, rolled in the wallow, and stood up, posing all the while. After we left him, he seemed to repeat the show for the cars behind us. Amazing!

I won't continue with the play-by-play of our time on the range, but we did enjoy it. We got out to walk on the quarter-mile Bitterroot trail. Little did we know a bison was just over the hill from where we walked - until we continued our drive! We also stopped at the "geologic display," a set of signs overlooking the valley and a view of the Mission Mountains (snow included). The signs described the end of the last ice age and how Glacial Lake Missoula filled the valley and then drained catastrophically multiple times. As we reached the highest point within the NBR and started back down nearly 10% grades, we passed the sign for the highest surface elevation of the once great lake. As I mentioned, there are many other large mammals found within the park. We did see pronghorn antelope, but nothing else.

After leaving the NBR, we continued north to Flathead Lake. We got to the Biological Station just before the open house ended (didn't expect to spend so much time with the bison). Still, we got to tour the building, look at the furs of many animal species (e.g. grizzly, wolverine, both imported from the Kamchatka Peninsula - they're rare or endangered here!), study the small and microscopic lake creatures, and read about another freak windstorm that destroyed much of the forest around the station. In this case, winds of a strong storm were funneled through a valley in such a way that the trees were pummeled in this location, but nowhere else. The station has a section of a tree trunk. By counting the rings, they've identified major historic events, right back to when the tree formed, more than 350 years ago. By the time we left the biological station it was 5:00 p.m., and we were all pretty tired. But not too tired to stop at a local farmstand and buy a bag of Flathead Cherries (var. Rainier). Flathead Cherries - any cherries grown in this region - are outstanding, and well worth the price!

After a great day of touring the area, we headed back to Missoula to pack up my mom and sister and prepare for the 4:30 a.m. wake up call to head to the airport. All I can say: that day sucked.