There's Snow Place Like Montana

#TravelMontana #WomenWhoExplore #TravelUSA #MontanaUSA

In typical Vanesa fashion, I hadn’t packed a single bag (or started a single “don’t forget” list) until the night before leaving on our trip. Our flight was just after 8am the next day, so we planned to leave the house by 4:30am Friday morning – plenty of time to get to Atlanta and allow the business traveling crowds to form their lines and us to insert ourselves into said lines. To help with packing for any and every trip, I whip out this amazing master list. This won’t work as well for hiking or backpacking trips due to its general nature, but is great for just about any other trip purpose.

The actual packing/preparation wasn’t too bad for a few reasons: 1.) I’m getting much faster at choosing what to take for different circumstances 2.) I now love sink washing things in order to pack lighter 3.) This was a Women Who Explore getaway weekend, and our ambassador for the trip opened the floor for discussion of clothing (aka WARM) and our plans for the trip on our Facebook event. We were able to discuss things Southerners like me are wondering, such as, “What fricken boots do I need for being 2 feet deep in snow? What about for snowshoeing?!”. Teddi, the Montana ambassador and regular badass, was able to answer any/all questions and help us prep for hanging out in her snowy state. Are you wondering what Women Who Explore is? Click here to check it out (and you should join, too!).

Our flight out of Atlanta left on time (just after 8am) Friday. We had a short (as in haul your tail to your next gate) layover in Salt Lake City and arrived in Missoula, Montana just after 1pm. After picking up the rental car (just downstairs in the cutest tiny Montana airport ever) and ensuring it had AWD, we hunted for a great lunch spot. A quick google search led us to Highlander/The Missoula Brewing Company. Our eyes were bigger than our stomachs, but we did damage on a shared plate of nachos (MUCH bigger than expected) and each a giant slice of pizza – I tried The Bitterroot and Bri had The Grant – we can assure you both were delicious! I’m a craft beer nerd and although tempted to taste all the things, stuck to one of the Bogged Down Cranberry Gose. Bri had the Strawberry Wheat. Again, both absolutely wonderful!

After filling our bellies, we were ready to begin the journey from Missoula to Bigfork to meet up with the rest of the ladies at the lodge at Basecamp Bigfork. This drive was gorgeous! We went north along the eastern coast of Flathead Lake. Right before you approach the lake, you meet the Missions right in front of you. These mountains were gorgeous with their snow caps meeting the fields below. The area along the lake was scattered with seasonal lodges, hotels, and motels, all begging for the arrival of warmth and lake-goers. Orchards and small cherry stalls dotted the roadsides. This was the first of many thoughts confirming that a summer return trip is a must!

The trek from Missoula to Bigfork took about 2.5 hours. We had some time to kill before check-in at Basecamp, so we explored the tiny area of downtown Bigfork. Most shops were closed, but we made it to The Montana Scene to pick up coffee and the first (of far too much) Montana swag to take back home. Along this trek we also realized Huckleberries must be a Montana thing and made mental notes to ask what that’s all about. Turns out huckleberries are more of a “specific elevation” thing, but Montana fits the bill – huckleberries and huckleberry foods are everywhere!

Arriving at Basecamp was magical – driving down the long snowy drive, past untouched fields and big beautiful barns. At the end of the drive you come the Lodge. Ready to meet some total strangers (and one awesome familiar face to me – Teddi!), we made our way inside. Cue the “oh my gosh” and hugs. Teddi had all the things ready, complete with adorable handmade nametags and some local swag (thanks Tamarack Brewing Company, National Conservancy, Hometana, and more!). We got to know each other all evening sitting around the table in the lodge and having all the taco fixings for dinner.

Saturday morning, we stared at elk prints in the snow (RIGHT OUTSIDE!) over coffee and explored the snow fort the family (owners of Basecamp) made and prepped for snowshoeing.

We counted snowshoes and poles and head out through the Flathead National Forest towards our snowshoe hike – Holland Lake Falls. When chatting about the length of the hike, Teddi believe it was about 1.5 miles each way, so about 4 miles roundtrip. We soon came to find out that Montanans mileage and minutes are very different (only half joking). That brewery “15 minutes away” – it’s more like 30. That 3-mile hike – more like 6.25 roundtrip. To give Teddi (and other Montanans) a break, we did park about a mile from the trailhead this go around. After figuring out how to walk with snowshoes, which is much easier than I imagined, we were off. After an amazing 3.1ish mile hike up to the falls, the views were even more amazing than I thought they could be.

After our hike we freshened up at the lodge and decided to head to Tamarack Brewing Co. We were all starving by the time we got there and settled on dinner and brews for the evening. After that we talked for a bit and retired to bed - exhausted from our hike but extremely excited for the next day (the grand event - DOG SLEDDING!).

Dog sledding was one of the most amazing experiences. The team of eight dogs working so well together to move everyone forward. Mark gave us a bit of an overview and we were off! We took turns in pairs (“driver” & “rider” if you will) and all had multiple runs. These dogs are just fantastic! The entire Basecamp Bigfork family is simply great and ensured we had a wonderful time. While the other teams were mushing, we roasted marshmallows and drank hot cocoa by a campfire on the property, taking in the views and our company. We made sure to encourage the dogs during our runs, and applaud and love on them after each run. They love attention and they LOVE their job.

Due to the length (and cost) of the flights and the fact that we flew all the way from Georgia, we elected to extend our trip beyond the WWE getaway weekend and stayed in Montana until Tuesday. After dog sledding on Sunday, we made our way to Glacier National Park to scope out the open areas (~12 miles of the 50+ mile Going-To-The-Sun Road) and decide what we wanted to spend more time checking out the next day.

We drove through for a bit and then made our way to our AirBnB in Columbia Falls – Reclusive Moose Cabins (The Moose Cabin). I cannot recommend these enough! They are adorable and everything was perfect. The cabin was ready and gave the two of us PLENTY of room – there are two bedrooms and one bathroom, as well as an open kitchen/living area. We got settled and then decided on dinner (and brews, again) at Backslope Brewing Company. We had an assortment of food and shared everything – some of the more interesting brewery food I’ve ever had. We shared garlic parmesan fries, Ramen not ramen, and the tacos. Random assortment, but SO DELICIOUS!

Monday morning, we hopped over to Montana Coffee Traders in Columbia Falls for breakfast and coffee (YUM!). Then we made our way back to Glacier for some exploring. Glacier is GORGEOUS in the winter, but Monday was when the blizzard would be moving into the area. The wind-chill was -19 and the wind stung our faces every time we got out of the car to explore and for pictures. Regardless of the wind and cold – we came to Montana to SEE the beauty…and we took advantage of the amazing scenery. I HIGHLY recommend you go to Glacier National Park in the winter. I also plan to return sometime in the summer months. This beauty cannot be beat. We drove around the open roads of the park and stopped at places we scoped out Sunday evening – Apgar Village, Lake McDonald Lodge, etc…

After enjoying the morning in GNP, we headed to Whitefish to explore the must-see ski town. A lot of adorable shops and eateries downtown – we grabbed lunch at The Craggy Range and followed that up with flights at The Great Northern Brewing Company. They had an amazing Huckleberry Lager!

We left the brewery just in time as the snow was ramping up. I drove us back to Missoula through the blizzard (that was a first - even in Iceland I didn't get to drive through a blizzard!). We arrived at our AirBnB in the university area safe and sound, our only qualms being "what on earth will we do for dinner?!" (most restaurants closed early due to the weather) and "dang shoveling this snow just to park at our AirBnB really sucks". Definitely have to laugh about that. I continuously said, "this is going to be a funny story" as I shoveled snow using a snowshoe while Bri used the shovel. Good times.

Tuesday morning we had breakfast at Hob Knob (adorable and delicious), hit up The Trailhead (outdoors store), and left for the airport. What an awesome trip!

xo.

stay wild.