News

Montana dreaming

Later that night, the winds blew hot off the peaks. Tent windows were unzipped, and in our sleep we drank the sweet piney air. Montana filled our dreams — our dreams of trout and grizzlies and breathtaking vistas and dusty cow towns.

But most of all, we dreamed of the wide-open spaces we all desperately desire.

If you’re a Midwesterner, the big anticipation of traveling westward through Montana is the steely blue silhouette of the Rocky Mountains, especially the great peaks rising from the plains in Glacier National Park.

But while the peaks here are the magnificent climax, for Minnesotans, the Montana experience actually begins several hundred miles downhill at the Montana-North Dakota border, where even the sign welcoming travelers to the Big Sky State is a tourist attraction.

Last week, a leather-clad motorcyclist stood in the right lane of the freeway, hoping to frame the perfect picture of his partner standing under the Big Sky State sign. So I instinctively veered our pickup, which towed a tent trailer, into the left lane — the happy spot for Montanans at the wheel — and reset the cruise control a few notches above 75. A thunderstorm brewed over the tawny ranchlands, and Angus nosed the hillsides.

When the 2-year-old in the back seat asked for the umpteenth time, "Are we in ‘tana yet?" the answer was finally in the affirmative.

A few weeks earlier, during a daydream involving rainbow trout and snow-capped peaks, I asked my own travel question: "Only a week of camping and fishing in Montana? Where do you begin?"

I started with a list of supplies.

BY CHRIS NISKANEN
Pioneer Press

Full Story:
http://www.twincities.com/mld/twincities/sports/outdoors/15353365.htm

Posted in:

Sorry, we couldn't find any posts. Please try a different search.

Leave a Comment

You must be logged in to post a comment.