Dog Days of Summer

Marias Pass - Highway 2

August is winding down, tourists are returning home from summer vacations, kids are going back to school, farmers markets are running low on fresh produce and the distinct nip in the morning air tells us that autumn is not far off.  As leaves start to turn, we'll be turning the RV southward in search of a warmer climate.  In the meantime, the dog days of summer are upon us, in more ways than one, and it feels good.

We had thoughts of going east from Montana and following the Mississippi River to Louisiana.  However, hot weather, Hurricane Isaac and other factors resulted in a change of plans.  Instead, we turned around, came down from Marias Pass and settled into a nice little RV park for a two-week stay near Whitefish, Montana.

This is Ron's corner of Montana.  Many years ago he lived in Eureka and Whitefish, his mother taught school in Whitefish, his dad helped construct the aluminum plant in Columbia Falls, and his sister Carol was born in Kalispell.  These communities have grown and changed over the years and the faces are different, but the mountains, forests, rivers and lakes haven't changed much.  They're still there and still beautiful.  This is familiar territory for us and it still feels somewhat like home to Ron.


The grandstand was packed with cheering fans
 at the Lincoln County Fair dog show.

Eureka:  We drove up to Eureka one day to see how the old town was doing and to check out the Lincoln County Fair.  We arrived on the first day of the fair which, unfortunately, was set-up day.  There were plenty of clues, such as no entrance fee, no parking fee, no traffic and no other fair-goers to be found.  There were also no exhibits to look at, very few animals on the grounds and only two active food booths.  But we were not discouraged.  We wandered around the grounds, had a bite to eat, peeked into empty barns and watched about 30 seconds worth of cow judging.  The only significant event of the day was a dog show.  After all, these are the "dog days of summer" so what could be more fitting?  Six dogs were entered in the show and it was all over in half an hour.
Eureka was a logging town and the "Christmas Tree Capital of the World" when Ron lived there in the mid-1950s.  Since then, all local mills have shut down and Christmas trees are now raised in neat little rows in farms in other parts of the country.  Tourism has taken hold and strangers from California and other far away places have discovered that life is pretty good in this remote corner of Montana.  Nearly all of the original stores have moved north of town, leaving the old downtown buildings for trendy art galleries, crafts shops, rustic log furniture outlets, gift shops and real estate offices eager to sell log cabins and properties with lake or mountain views.  It's not the same Eureka, but it was nice to see many of the old buildings upgraded and still in use.

Ron's grandpa worked for many years in Eureka's Great Northern Railway depot.  The old building is still standing, but barely.  It sits a stone's throw away from the town's historic park, but has virtually no chance of being restored since the park already has a nicely restored depot.  That depot was moved from the townsite of Rexford which, thanks to Libby Dam, now lies at the bottom of Lake Koocanusa.

The historic park has a very nice museum and the first house (cabin) built in the Tobacco Valley.  The addition to the left side of the cabin was a blacksmith's shop, probably the "home occupation" of the occupant.

Whitefish is a town of about 7,000 people at the south end of Whitefish Lake and near the base of Big Mountain, a popular ski destination.  It enjoys year-round tourism and always has something interesting going on.

We drove up to Big Mountain one day and rode the chair lift to the summit (6,817 ft.). 

Nearing the summit of Big Mountain

Flathead Valley and Whitefish Lake

Views were terrific, even with a layer of forest fire smoke beneath us.  We wandered around the mountain top, picked some wild huckleberries and enjoyed the day. 

A variety of non-snow attractions have been added to enhance summer tourism.  The Alpine Slide (photo) is similar to a toboggan run down a long winding (plastic) course to the base lodge.  Spider Monkey Mountain provides a fun climbing tower for kids. There are also zip lines, a walk in the treetops on boardwalks, a challenging aerial adventure park, and miles of hiking and biking trails.  It's a mountain for all seasons.

 

Car Show:   Summer is a good time for car shows and we were lucky to be in Whitefish on the weekend of its Concours d'Elegance, a show featuring European classic cars. Ron couldn't pass it up.

Chili Cook-off:   A local newspaper ad for a Chili Cook-off caught our attention, so we drove down to the Spinnaker Bar & Grill in Lakeside on Flathead Lake to check it out.  There were 18 cook-off contestants with their steaming pots of simmering goodness. Some were mild, some hot, most with beans and some not.  For the small fee of $5, we could taste any and all of the concoctions to our hearts content, with plenty of $2 beer to wash it down and a live band for added enjoyment.



Preparing for the race.

A bonus feature of the Chili Cook-off was the annual Wiener Dog Races.  Wiener dogs and chili seem to go together somehow. The races were terrific. Those little fellers ran their hearts out as the crowd cheered for their favorites.

These wieners are running as fast as they can go . . . except for Lane #3

By far the favorite wiener dog was little Woody.  He had a rear leg problem and needed a wheeled harness to get around on his own.  Woody was a fearless competitor but couldn't compete with the others.  He finished last in the race but first in the hearts of the on-lookers.

We'll return to Glacier Park for one more day of hiking and sightseeing before leaving the Whitefish area.

We've had a lot of fun in this part of the country and will probably be in Montana another week or two.  The Eureka dog show and the Flathead Lake wiener dog races are behind us, but we're looking forward to the remaining dog days of summer and whatever surprises come along.  With several fires still burning, we can expect to see a few more smoke tinted sunsets before winter sets in.