Our goal was to see David, Carol, and Patrick at least one more time before the snow starts. Between Seattle and Missoula there are four major mountain passes that can get tricky when the snow falls and blows.
David & Carol in Missoula
Dinner at the Silk Road and dessert at the Big Dipper
Carol, David & Joe
David, Joe & Julia
Patrick lives in Polaris, Montana, about 3 hours south of Missoula. Polaris is in the middle of the Beaverhead National Forest.
Missoula is in the upper left corner of this map.
A = Polaris B = Jackson C = Wisdom D = Wise River
E = Dillion (nearest town with grocery et al)
F = Bannack (see post here)
Exploring the countryside around Polaris we encountered cows and deer on the roads and saw antelope in the fields with the cows and horses. We enjoyed stopping at all the historical markers to learn what happened in this part of the country. Lewis and Clark traveled through this area.
Patrick & Smeagol
We took the Pioneer Mountains Scenic Byway from Polaris north to Wise River. On the map at the beginning of this post it's from A to D. There is a road there but Google wouldn't let me map that road.
Cars share the road with cattle.
Beaverslides - You've probably seen a variety of hay baling techniques - big round bales or rectangular bales of various sizes. But have you ever seen the beaverslide method of stacking loose hay? The beaverslide was developed in this part of Montana about 1910. The resulting haystacks look like giant loaves of bread. Patrick remembers seeing the stacks all over this area when he was first here years and years ago. Now most farmers have gone to round or rectangular baling techniques.
Check out these videos to see how the process works.
Beaverslide - loose haying with horse drawn equipment
Beaverslide - loose haying with tractor & truck
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See post here for our trip to Bannack, a ghost town.
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