 |
| Wild Wander Women |
I am the Queen of
Procrastination. This adventure happened way back in September and, with
no good excuses, I'm only now getting around to writing about it. It's a
long one. I hope it's worth the wait!
****************
At the end of September, my friend,
Kat, from Pittsburgh came out for a visit, and we turned it into one helluva
crazy road trip adventure. The original plan called for nearly a week of
camping all over western Montana and northeastern Wyoming. While winter decided
to come along early, shortening our trip by a few days, we still managed to
cram in just about everything we'd planned on.
I picked Kat up in Great Falls early
Saturday afternoon and after a brief stop for a food and supplies, we set off
for St. Mary, MT, the eastern and most spectacular entrance into Glacier
National Park. Due to an abundance of bear sitings in the area, all of
the east side campgrounds in the park were closed to camping, but the KOA was happy to let us take our chances
inside my monster-sized nylon tent. We were given a nice, secluded little
site tucked into an abundance of small aspen trees and various shrubs where we
quickly set up camp while enjoying our first beers of the trip: Out of
Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter from Red Hook. My uncle had recommended it, and
it was pretty darned tasty. I good porter with subtle, but noticeable,
pumpkin flavor. Not pumpkin spice, but actual pumpkin. In a
porter. Mmm... happiness.
 |
| Kat,
bear spray, and an Out of Your Gourd Pumpkin Porter |
|
|
As soon as we were set up and the beers
were history, we were off to see what we could of the area before dark.
Heading north on US Hwy 89, we almost ended up in Canada before turning around
to find the turnoff to Many Glacier, a favorite park destination for many
living this side of the park. As we headed west toward the campground
area and historic inn, a storm clouds were brewing over the Front.
Happily, we had time to get out and take some gorgeous photos before the winds
got nuts and the sprinkles started.
 |
| Near Many Glacier |
 |
| The view near the KOA |
On the way back to the campsite, we
ended up stopping for dinner at a little roadside place painted purple called
the Two Sisters Cafe. Something told me it would hit the spot, and that
it did. Especially since they served one of my very favorite Montana IPAs, appropriately named for this Wild West
Wander Women Adventure, Going to the Sun IPA from Great Northern Brewing in
Whitefish.
 |
| Going
to the Sun IPA |
 |
| Kat
inside the Two Sisters Cafe, Babb, MT |
|
|
After we were filled up on good eats
(shoe-string fries!), we headed back to our tent for a good night's
sleep. Or so we thought. Sometime in the wee hours awoke to the
cries of banshees and demons, or maybe it was just the dumb jagoffs in the site across from us.
Music blasting, drums beating, hooting, hollering and general obnoxiousnous. I contemplated getting
out the bear spray, but deciding that would likely just exacerbate the
situation, I put in my earplugs and turned on some tunes and somehow managed to
fall back to sleep.
Sunday morning found us on the road
to the sun. Going to the Sun road is only open during the summer months when
the pass is clear. This year it was closing extra early to allow for some
needed road work. Lucky us - and thankfully I'd made sure to check ahead
of time - Sunday was going to be the last day the road would be open all the
through the park. I cannot even begin to express the magnitude and
magnificence of those glacier carved mountains. The weather cooperated
with us on the east side of the park and we were able to take a nice shortish
hike at Logan Pass before heading down into the rain on the west side of the
park. Again, we got lucky and had a nice reprieve from the weather to
take in Lake McDonald and a tasty lunch of PB and honey sandwiches.
|
 |
| Kat and me above Logan Pass |
 |
| Lake McDonald |
|
Driving back into the rain, we
headed toward our next major destination: Flathead Lake Brewing Co. near Bigfork, MT. We noticed as we were
passing through Bigfork that the
construction of a big fancy new FLB
building was nearing completion. The existing brewery is a wonderful
little cozy place and we liked it immediately. The bartender was a cool
guy who turned us on to some yummy treats beyond the beer. The beer was
quite good, though nothing really stood out for me as excellent, but the clam
chowder I had was just the thing. After that he suggested we try their
homemade lemon-ginger ice cream with caramel sauce. A bit too much ginger
for me, but if ginger's your thing, you would have thought you'd died and gone
to heaven. Kat's not a big ice cream eater, but she is a big fan of
ginger so she was very pleased.
 |
| Mmmm... tasters! |
 |
| Another purple place! |
We satisfied our stomachs and
beer-loving taste buds, then set off again down the east side of Flathead Lake
to Polson, MT, where we'd decided to
stay for the night. The original plan was to pitch the tent at a nearby
campground on the lake, but Mother Nature was still pouring down the wet stuff
so we opted for a hotel room. Luck was with us once again and we ended up
in a relatively inexpensive room right on the lake. Then we set out in
search of beer and dinner. Polson
is home to Glacier Brewing Co., but sadly, they are closed on Sundays which we
soon discovered. Driving back through town we passed by a super kitschy looking bar, called the Wolf
Den. We had to check it out. Filled with mangy taxidermist-stuffed
wolves, a sparkly curtained and disco-balled jukebox, and too many other
almost-cool-but-not-quite tacky things to mention, we plopped ourselves down on
two torn vinyl barstools and checked out
our options. Cold Smoke! The tastiest of Scotch ales from KettleHouse in Missoula,
a beer we couldn't, at that time, get in Lewistown
- I had to have one. Kat decided to see if there were any other options
in the cooler. She asked the bartender what they had for micros.
"Angry Orchard, Mike's Hard Lemonade, Smirnoff Ice..." was the
reply. Sheesh! Taking a peek
for herself, however, Kat spotted a Fat Tire and went with that.
 |
| The Wolf Den - Polson, MT |
From there it was most definitely
dinner time, or so said our stomachs - road tripping is hard work! We
found ourselves at a Mexican restaurant attached to a sports bar. The Steelers were playing and, finding out we
could order food from the restaurant while sitting in the sports bar, we were
set. And even though Glacier Brewing was closed, we were able to try
their Golden Grizzly Ale, a German Kölsch,
which the bar had on tap. It was drinkable, but I can't say I liked it
much. Actually, except when having the Wild Horse Island Pale Ale on
draft at the brewery the previous time I was in Polson,
I can't say that I've liked any of their brews all that much. Oh,
well.
 |
| Flathead Lake |
 |
| The Mission Mountains, south of Polson |
Monday was a marvelous, brew-filled
day. We started at the iconic Big Sky Brewing in Missoula, a must-stop for any beer-loving out-of-stater, if for
the name alone. There we ran into a couple guys who were also on a beerapalooza wild west road trip. They
were from Arkansas and Texas and had met up in Salt Lake to begin their journey
all over the Great Northwest. It was fun chatting, but we were
interrupted when a man asked Kat and me, ignoring the guys, if we'd like to
take a tour of the brewery. Sorry guys! See ya! It turned out
our tour guide was one of the brewery founders, Bjorn Nabozney. He took us through their entire brewing,
bottling, canning and packaging process and let us in on a bunch of little
known facts. Did you know that all of their artwork is done by Bjorn's
mom? And that she hides a little something special in each picture?
We got to wander around in their brewing lab, and found out that they like to
play around with new ideas and recipes. Even Moose Drool's formula might change from batch to
batch. I found that really interesting. Gosh, that was fun!
 |
| A Montana Icon |
 |
| Björn - if I remember correctly, his t-shirt said "radish" |
It wasn't easy trumping that
wonderful surprise, but we did our best at KettleHouse
and Draught Works. I've been to both of these breweries in the past, but
since this was Kat's adventure, too, I was happy to visit them yet again
(duh). At KettleHouse (north) we
both enjoyed the Eddy Out Pale Ale, my personal KH
favorite. We were the only folks in the place so early on a Monday, and our
server was happy to let us try a few tasters of their other brews. Most
interesting, though not really to my liking, was a Thai IPA. It was mild
on the hops flavor allowing all the other strange Thai flavors to come
through. Lemongrass and ginger? After that I opted for a pint of
their fresh brewed root beer, always a treat! Draught Works is where I
found my favorite beer of the trip: a Fumunda
Southern Hemisphere IPA made with New Zealand hops. Not knowing what the heck Fumunda is, I just looked it up. EW! I'm not going to explain it, but if
you need a full gross-out moment: Fumunda
defined. I checked more than one source, just so's ya know. Contrary to all that, it
was absolutely marvelous! Lots of clean, crisp hops flavor.
 |
| KettleHouse - Missoula, MT |
 |
| Inside Draught Works - Missoula, MT |
 |
| As seen on the brewery wall... |
After three breweries it was most
definitely time for FOOD, and what better place to than a good taphouse? The Iron Horse Bar & Grill
had long been recommended to me, but I'd just never gotten around to trying it
out. I was a bit disappointed in the beer selection. Though not
bad, and much better than many places I've been to in Montana, I figured it's
choices would at least be as good as that great dive bar across town, The
Rhino. Alas, this was not the case. I opted for a Lewis & Clark
Brewing Tumbleweed IPA, always a good choice, and Kat and I both had a yummy
open-faced meatloaf sandwich.
 |
| On the wall at the Iron Horse |
Next, across the street to Worden's
Market, a funky little market and deli with a diverse beer selection - a
must-stop for me on any trip to or through Missoula.
I was hoping to stock up on some interesting brews, but left only with a six
pack of Going to the Sun IPA. Why I ended up talking myself out of
getting more goodies, I wish I knew!
 |
| A
special favorite of mine. But as it's what I enjoy at my favorite
watering hole, I didn't buy any for home. |
We had to stop at my favorite store
in Missoula, Rockin'
Rudy's, but then it was time to head south to Stevensville, MT, and the next brewery on the
day's list, Wildwood. The Wildwood building has a very different feel to
it, and after doing a bit of research, I found it was built largely from
recycled materials and hay bales. The smell wasn't different, though; it
was filled with the big, beautiful aroma of the brewing process. A large
portion of the interior space is taken up with brewing kettles and tanks,
somewhat open to the taproom to allow for those lovely scents. There are
high tables and stools lined along a wall in that area with a few more in the
small taproom as well. In the corner is a small bar and there we found
most of the brewery visitors crowded around a gal doing a great job of keeping
everybody happy. They had only a few flavors to choose from, but all were
available in cans in addition to draft; I'm always very happy to see canned
beers. Lagers are not usually my beer of choice, but this time the
Ambitious Lager seemed just the thing, and it was.
 |
| The simple, unadorned Wildwood Brewery |
 |
| A selection of Wildwood brews, all organic |
Just down the road a bit, we stopped
in at Blacksmith Brewing, in the heart of Stevensville.
There we found a lively crowd of Denver Broncos fans watching Monday Night
Football on the big screen. Except for that lovely bit of technology on
the wall, the rest of the place was decorated in brick, wood and metalworks, giving it that rustic, antiqued
feel. Here I went back to my hoppy
tendencies with their very nice seasonal Hop Harvest IPA.
 |
| Blacksmith Brewing - Stevensville, MT |
 |
| One of the many anvils at Blacksmith, a good beer and a fun coaster |
We probably should have stopped at
that point, but we opted for one more brewery before finding a place to bed
down for the night, Bitter Root Brewing in Hamilton, MT. Unlike the happy
aromas we encountered upon entering Wildwood,
we were assaulted by the not-so-wonderful scent of grease, grease and more
grease. Like an old diner, everything smelled like onion rings. And
like an old diner, the countertops were
covered in an unpleasant yellow formica.
Needless to say, this was not our happy place, but they had a large selection
of brews so we forged ahead. Things didn't get much better with a beer in
hand. Something about our bartender rubbed us the wrong way, and neither
of us were overly impressed with our beer choices, mine being their session pale
ale. Maybe we were tired. Maybe we'd done too much for one day, but
this was not the place for us. It was time to hit the sleeping bag.
 |
| Bitter Root Brewing - Hamilton, MT |
 |
| Kat and the yellow formica |
We'd made a list of possible
campgrounds along our chose route, and the closest to Hamilton was the Angler's
Roost. It was getting dark when we arrived, and the office was closed,
but there was a sign on the door directing campers to find a spot and pay in
the morning. As we couldn't see much, and wanting to be near the facilities,
we pulled into a spot amongst the RVs. We had the tent up and the air
mattresses ready in no time, then headed to the restrooms to get ready for
bed. Locked! Now what? Just then, a gal leading a little boy
came our direction. "You guys don't have a key?" We
explained that we'd arrived after the office had closed and had just finished
setting up our tent. Without hesitation, she offered to leave her key
hidden in the flower pot for us to use for the night. Thank you, kind
stranger!!! We did what we needed to do and hit the tent for a good
nights sleep. And awoke to a steady rain. Ugh. We packed up
most of our things, took quick showers, packed all the wet things into trash
bags we'd purchased for such an occasion, and headed to the office to pay our
camp fee. Kat went in ahead of me and I walked in just in time to hear
him say that, because of who knows what, he wasn't going to charge us for the
camp site, only for the showers. We left paying only about $10! How
wonderful! And our Wild West Wander Women's
 |
| The Angler's Roost bait shop and RV park |
The man at the Roost recommended The
Coffee Cup cafe for breakfast, and after getting caffeinated
and baconed, we set off in the rain
through the Big Hole and on to Bannack
State Park. Bannack is a
wonderfully intact ghost town that came originally came into being after gold
was discovered in the adjacent Grasshopper Creek. You can walk through
many of the old buildings, which are well maintained by the state to preserve
their character. There had been some major flooding through the park over
the summer, but much had been done to remove any trace, and the park had just
re-opened earlier in the month. This is one of the coolest ghost towns
I've ever visited. And Mother Nature was very kind to us, stopping the
rains just as we arrived.
 |
| Hotel Mead - Bannack, MT |
 |
| Kat on the hotel's grand staircase |
 |
| Too bad the beers here are ghostly, too! |
 |
| The school yard |
 |
| Old clunker |
We stopped for gas and goodies in
Dillon, MT, then hit I-15 south toward Idaho Falls. Our next destination:
Jackson Hole, WY. Woo hoo!
Jackson is one of my favorite towns and high on Kat's list of places to
visit. But first, dinner was in order, and what better place to eat than
a brewery and pizzeria? Wildlife Brewing in Victor, MT, the last brewery
of our trip, absolutely hit the spot. Surrounded by nice, beautiful,
bearded men in flannels, I felt like I'd found home. When can I move here?
Added bonus: the pizza was yum, as were the brews. I started with a
Mighty Bison Brown. I find good browns, or any browns at all, difficult
to find any more, which is very unfortunate. A really good brown,
particularly a nut brown, beats most beers for me. The Mighty Bison was a
really good brown. I followed that with taster of their Rugged Trail Extra
Pale. It was very light but had a harsh finish - not my favorite. I
finished with the Point It! Pale Ale. Now that was tasty.
 |
| Wildlife Brewing - a very happy place |
 |
| Pizza & beer, does it get any better? |
Happy with our little respite from
driving and facing near darkness, we headed into the Hole. On the way,
Kat was on her smartphone hunting up
lodging for the night. Our basic choice came down to a Super 8 a couple
miles from downtown Jackson ringing up at about $110 for the night, or Snow
King Resort within easy walking of downtown at $120 for the night. No brainer. But when we arrived at Snow
King, the guy at the desk said that he could honor the Price Line price, but
we'd have to book it online and it would take two hours or more for it to get
into his system. If we wanted the room immediately the going rate was
over $200! That was nuts and Kat told him so. Couldn't he give us a
better deal? So he asked if we were affiliated with anything that might
lend itself toward a special rate. I think we could have said we raised
dancing chickens and that would have worked, but we came up with something
legit enough and were given a room for $130. Deal. Up to the rooms
to pretty up and we were off for some fun - where else? - at the Million Dollar
Cowboy Bar.
This place is a Jackson
landmark. It's been around in one form or another for a long, long time,
but got the name, Million Dollar Cowboy Bar, in the 40s. It is a museum
of sorts to its wild west heritage. Knobby pine pillars, saddle bar
stools, cowboy paintings, historical items on the walls... the place is a
wonder. Kat and I saddled up to the bar and ordered a couple canned local
brews from Snake River Brewing, Pako's
IPA and their Pale Ale, while waiting for Outlaw Jim & the Whiskey Benders
to gear up. We had fun gabbing with the folks around us, and soon found
ourselves out on the dance floor. Kat was asked to dance by a big, tall
rancher man. She came back from two-stepping around the dance floor
flushed and excited from her first real cowboy dance.
 |
| Million Dollar Cowboy Bar |
 |
| Saddle up! |
 |
| Kat, saddled up to the bar with a good local brew |
 |
| Lots of cowboy kitsch |
The next day, in gloomy weather, we
drove into town to find a good breakfast and do a little souvenir shopping before heading north to
Grand Teton National Park and
Yellowstone. We ended up at little place called Dolce where I had possibly the best sandwich ever, the
Southwestern. It was made with chorizo,
pepper jack cheese, avocado, cilantro and egg on toasted sour dough. My mouth
is watering thinking about it. Then we wandered downtown for a bit,
taking in the atmosphere in daylight (and rain). We stopped in a number
of wonderful shops full of wonderful things we couldn't afford but wanted
before making a few purchases we could manage in a typical tourist shop.
 |
| Jackson's main drag |
 |
| The obligatory Jackson tourist pic |
 |
| Hangin' with my man, Einstein |
 |
| Moose!!! |
Driving into Grand Teton NP, under low cloud cover, for once our
luck didn't hold and to our disappointment we weren't able to see the utterly Teton when we spotted some critters far
off from the road. Unfortunately, though, we couldn't even verify what
they were until we zoomed into the photos we'd taken. Elk. Then, in
between Grand Teton and Yellowstone, we
spotted a male moose, antlers and all. Score! We were so excited
neither of us could find our cameras and the only photo we managed to get was
of its rear end.
 |
| I swear, that's a moose butt! |
Driving into Yellowstone, the rain
turned to snow and the world was suddenly pretty again. We didn't get to
see as many critters in the park as you usually would, but we did see more elk
and some buffalo. We stopped at Grant Village and got the weather report;
the eastern side of the park was pretty much closed to regular travel, but we were
able to continue on to Old Faithful. You can't go to Yellowstone without
seeing the famous geyser make its hourly eruption. All this national park
fun I’d had the privilege of enjoying several times in the past, but it was
wonderful, even in the rain and snow, to share it with someone who had never
seen any of it before. We continued on along the western route to
Mammoth, an area I had only been to when I was very small so I had no memory of
it. Crazy rock formations and sweeping vistas, I vow never to miss this
part of the park again. Mammoth, as always, was filled with elk and a few
put on quite a show fighting tree limbs and walking around in the middle of the
road.
 |
| On the Continental Divide going into the Yellowstone caldera |
 |
| Old Faitful about to do its thing |
 |
| Inside the Old Faithful Inn |
 |
| Big bull elk fighting off a tree limb |
 |
| Yellowstone north entrance, Roosevelt Arch: For the Benefit and Enjoyment of the People |
After traveling over 2,000
miles, eight breweries, three national parks, one ghost town and a whole lotta fun, it was time for some
relaxation. We spent the remainder of Kat's visit lounging around and
exploring the area back in Lewistown.
What a great trip! I can't wait for another Wild West Wander Women Adventure.
