Virginia City & Nevada City, Montana

Montana has had its share of gold rushes. When gold was discovered in Alder Canyon in the 1860s, it was yet another in a string of strikes.
Montana has had its share of gold rushes. When gold was discovered in Alder Canyon in the 1860s, it was yet another in a string of strikes.
In front of the cannabis distributor, we came across the most interesting trailer of late: an oversized boombox. Questions remaining: does it actually play music?
After a day at the Lewis & Clark Interpretive Center, we thought it only appropriate to complete the day with dinner and beer tasting at the Lewis & Clark Brewing Co.
Dog on the move, relaxing in the bed of a truck.
There is an intense density of remarkable geology in Giant Springs State Park. The park hosts the largest spring in the country fueling the shortest river and merging with the largest river in North America.
Great Falls was an unexpected challenge to the Lewis & Clark and the Corps of Discovery. At first, encountering a waterfall was an exciting moment. It meant that the Corps of Discovery—tasked with following the Missouri River and (hopefully) discovering a passage to the Pacific Ocean—was on the right route, according to intelligence collected from local tribes.
Cracker Lake Trail is a 12 mile hike deep into Glacier National Park through grizzly territory. The 1,400 foot elevation gain may be less than half of what we experienced in Big Pine but is still considered "strenuous" by many hiking metrics. In the course of the hike, we encountered waterfalls, glaciers, a wide range of ecosystems, a bull moose, and a grizzly bear.
We had lunch in a ghost town. There were skulls on the walls, animal flesh on the table, and partially collapsed buildings all around.
Going-to-the-Sun road is the premier throughway spanning Glacier National Park—from West Glacier to St. Mary. The road snakes from valley floors to the height of Logan Pass and back down. Along the way are awesome waterfalls, dramatic cliffs, no shortage of massive glaciers, and plenty of wildlife. We encountered both mountain goats and big horned sheep, which only leaves "grizzly bear" on our great outdoors bingo cards.
That didn’t take long. We drove in to Glacier National Park to find a camping site and, instead, we found a bear. We really messed up this time. I knew this was high season but naively assumed that whatever challenges…