a bit of Montana history and a bit of mystery 3-7-77

http://www.visitmt.com/history/Montana_the_Magazine_of_Western_History/montanavigilantes1.htm the history of the vigilantes  in Montana. a very good read

FROST ON THE TREES

Today we have this picture postcard view. Everything has frost on it  The frost makes it look right out of a Christmas card. There are times in Montana that will just leave you in wonder. the shear beauty of Montana in the winter never ceases to amaze.

 for me Montana reminds me every day why I call this great state home.
though this is not the picture postcard  it still shows the frost on the trees and just how blue the sky is

good winter info

http://roadreport.mdt.mt.gov/map/

time for the small town Montana to get on the map

It is always a good time to visit Montana we are open all year around. the little towns and shops welcome visitors .some of the back roads are well maintained in the winter. as soon as i can get the funding to do a bit of travel i will be posting more on here to spotlight a small town and area. so until then things are kind of at a stand still.

good morning Montana fans

Good morning all.  Here is a link for some winter fun in Glacier park
http://www.nps.gov/glac/planyourvisit/crosscountryskiing.htm

They just posted there lists for things to do in winter.  Yes Glacier park is open in the winter time to get out and enjoy Montana winters

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Happy thanksgiving  from Montana.

winters In Montana

Winters in Montana can be counted on to be cold.  The roads are going to be icy. So traveling here has its own challenges. When visiting Montana by car it is best to plan for the road conditions and delays.  Make sure your car is equipped  for the cold .
   The things that are must haves for your car are a gas water remover like HEET. Anti freeze rated to -40 f , the proper tires all season tires  may not be enough where as good snow tires or studded snow tires are best . Windshield washer fluid rated to -20 f , if you are moving to Montana I recommend a block heater or some engine heater that can be plugged in (hint DO NOT USE THE OIL DIPSTICK HEATER they can cause your car to catch fire) .
    As for things to put in the trunk for emergencies I have extra gloves,blankets,a shovel,tire chains,first aid kit,a Sterno heater ,waterproof matches, a bag of cat litter,highway flares,,flashlight, (hint dont store the batteries in the flashlight but get a package that has the right number that you need and leave them in there packaging ). keep this in a small tote in the trunk
Make your winter trip to Montana fun and safe. It really is a winter wonderland.

Canyon Creek Montana

 Canyon Creek has this great little store. it has the local post office and is stocked with a great verity of goods . In the back there is an RV campground. They have propane and gas  in the summer months . The Staff was very welcoming and friendly (tho my casual interviewing needs some work) . As shown in this map there are allot of forest service roads that connect in the area.   

Canyon Creek was named for the creek that flows through a canyon to the Missouri River. The first post office was established in 1871 with William Negus as postmaster. Today there is a general store and gas station. (info posted on the http://www.travelmt.com site) 

Canyon Creek has also a Local Volunteer  fire dept and Elementary School.

Located on 18 miles to the northwest of Helena Montana on state Hwy 279.

trip 1 Canyon creek MT

Tomorrow I am going to check out the little town of Canyon creek MT. Canyon Creek  is a small little farming town less than 20 miles north west of Helena. on MT 279. I will update on my return with some stats

Day 3 winter mornings

 Montana has some of the best winter scenery around . With the remote areas for fresh powder skiing to the groomed ski resorts.  There is also the snowmobile for the person who wants to do snowmobile tours. both Yellowstone and Glacier national park are open year around.   Yellowstone has groomed dedicated snowmobile trails where as Glacier has less going on


 www.yellowstonenationalpark.com  for Yellowstone info and   www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm or www.montanavacations.com/glacier-national-park/glacier-national-park-winter-guide.html for Glacier park info



and for skiing    www.montanaskiresorts.com 


This is a good start for planing your Montana winter adventure.  
 For the hard core winter tourist.There are some options that offer any type of outdoor fun you could want. One thing for sure Montana is a year around fun destination. 




There are also tons of books and maps that are available for trials and winter vacations in Montana


One of the best places to start off is the Official Montana web site http://visitmt.com/

day 2 the game plan

Once this is fully integrated and set up I will be doing day trips out of Helena . On those trips I will be stopping by little shops and stores in  the small towns. I will then Blog about those places  as well as the roads to get there and what is found along the way as well as posting pictures of those places.  It will be a fun adventure  rediscovering my home state Montana.   Enjoy the ride

Happy morning trails everyone

Hello fellow travelers I am working on a way for people to share there favorite trips and stories about Montana. For now feel free to email me short stories and favorite places and I will post them

Anytime when talking about Montana. We must also remember the Native peoples of this great state. There are several and they all have a long history. To fully visit Montana you must see the native peoples lands and there cultures. Here is a list and map of there lands http://www.native-languages.org/montana.htm .

The Bob Marshall wilderness complex

So one of the first off the main trail places that not many know of is the Bob Marshall wilderness complex. It is made up of 3 different wilderness areas in one complex. To the south is the scape goat wilderness. Then the Bob Marshall and the northern one is the great bear . This is prime untouched wilderness land and is closed to all mechanized transportation. Walk in or on horse only pack it in pack it out this goes for EVERYTHING. Though it is very remote and isolated forest rangers do patrol. Access to this great part of Montana is available see this list DIRECTIONS

The Bob Marshall Wilderness Complex is accessible from numerous surrounding communities. From the west side it can be reached from Seeley Lake, Swan Lake, Hungry Horse, Kalispell, Ovando and Lincoln, Montana. From the east side it is reached from Choteau, Augusta, Dupuyer, Bynum and Browning.http://www.visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?IDRRecordID=730&siteid=1

This site is great for basic info on the wilderness lands.

As a side trek around the Bob. To the west is the Mission Mountains tribal wilderness link to that site is

http://www.visitmt.com/categories/moreinfo.asp?SiteID=1&IDRRecordID=691

now that the links are done on to the main part of the blog

I live in Helena. So ill start here right ? Why not as our state capital it makes sense also. A few of the off track places to see are the lakes to the east Hauser lake ,lake Helena, Canyon ferry and Gates of the mountains. Gates of the mountains are accessible  from I 15 north of Helena. There is a great ferry ride that takes you around and through this great place.

Houser lake has lots to offer, fishing and boating. It is accessible from Helena. Exit Lincoln road and go east you will also pass lake Helena. When you come to the T at the end of this road go right. this will take you to the causeway that links lake Helena and Hauser lake and to the right is Black sandy and white sandy rec areas on Hauser lake.They have boat ramps , picnic tables, rv spots and day camping areas.

Canyon ferry lake; This is a huge lake but has only a few public boat launch areas. KOA has 2 locations on the lake. Access is east of Helena on Hwy 12 , or east on Canyon ferry road. The lake has all amenity's, from full marinas to camp grounds. Here is a link to the google earth view of this area.

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=Montana+maps&ie=UTF8&hq=&hnear=Montana&gl=us&ei=k7jmTM_XKImWsgOwm_WwCw&oi=geocode_result&ved=0CBsQ8gEwAA&ll=46.587182,-111.63208&spn=0.513424,1.875916&t=h&z=10

list of the TV stations here in Montana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_television_stations_in_Montana

some of the collages and universities in Montana

http://www.montana.edu/

http://www.umt.edu/future.aspx

http://www.carroll.edu/

or for a more complete list try http://www.montanacolleges.com/index.php

local news paper links

http://helenair.com/

http://www.greatfallstribune.com/

http://billingsgazette.com/

http://www.dailyinterlake.com/

http://www.flatheadnewsgroup.com/whitefishpilot/

http://missoulian.com/

http://www.mtstandard.com/ Butte MT

http://www.glasgowcourier.com/

link to the historical society of MT

montanahistorywiki.pbworks.com

info on Montana

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montana

getting started

well because Montana is so huge ill start off by just posting some stats and some related links Montana is not in the stone age we have several websites and Face book pages first off this site has tons of information http://mt.gov/ on state services with links to Montana government sites Montana is also on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/visitmontana there you will find regular posts from Montana as i find new sites ill post them

Montana Grizzly

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KtskMzgkI9g here is the link to a youtube vid of the griz i saw while i was going up Boulder hill I 15 to the south of Helena

Montana

here recently it has come to my attention that there needed to be a blog for those who with to visit or to move to Montana and for those who wish to return

i am starting this as a Native Montanan from a family who has lived in this state for going on 100 years

i believe that as Montanans we are by nature helpful and kind

i have traveled and worked all over in MT and outside of Montana . it will always be home i grew up in Columbia falls and the gateway to Glacier National park i now live in Helena the capitol city

Montana has so much to see and do that is off of the main tracks and the purpose of this blog is to show you those places and what all they have to offer

i will travel to around get some pictures and post about them it will be a grand journey and i hope you enjoy

welcome and enjoy

Montana is so much more than a state... its a state of mind .. a code of conduct and place of honer we hold our selves to a high standard and have family values we watch out for our neighbors and help each other out we hunt fish and play in the outdoors we use the land not abuse it we are Montanans