Big Sky
Well-known member
A friend of mine talked me into traversing Marias Pass over the weekend to do a little ice fishing with him over near Whitefish. I hadn't been outside doing much of anything in a while, and decided I really needed a break from work and other demanding obligations. So I jumped in my pick up and headed West. At first the roads were great from Great Falls to Browning but shortly after Browning they started to deteriorate.
Then they got really bad bad with 70+mph wind, blowing snow so bad that it often was a complete white out. I drove through about 100 miles of this crap to get to where I needed to go.
However once we got on the lake and started fishing life instantly got better. We had some success, and more importantly I was able to renew an old friendship that I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed.
Me with part of the day's catch. We each caught about double of what we kept. The smaller one's all went back in the water.
One more pic of the "good therapy".
I had been watching the weather and was more than a little concerned about the ride home. Tuesday morning when I looked out my hotel window this is the site that greeted me. Needless to say I was less than thrilled.
As I worked my way down the icy streets towards Columbia Falls this sign was right at the mouth of the canyon at the beginning of my long journey home. Something about avalanches doesn't exactly lower one's blood pressure. It didn't help that a skier had been caught in one while I was out there either.
The winding road up through south Glacier was pretty tricky. It was very slow going unless you had brain damage and were from Alberta Canada. Every idiot I saw driving way too fast had Alberta plates. You'd think of all people they'd know better. I guess you just can't fix stupid in some people.
It took me a little over 2 hours to make it 63 miles. The snow banks along the road were 8 to 12 feet deep or more. I'm just glad my truck didn't break down or anything. That would have been very bad. Despite the stressful driving conditions it really is a beautiful area to see.
All I can say is I was very relieved to reach Browning Montana as the roads started to clear up a little more from there. I was never so glad to see I-15 and turn South for home. The prairie never looked so good. I guarantee I will never make that drive in the winter again. Lesson learned! I'm still trying to decide if it was all good therapy or if I should have my head checked for insanity. Either way, I'll be back out there this spring and summer when the water is soft, and hopefully land a few more fish, while spending quality time with great people.
Then they got really bad bad with 70+mph wind, blowing snow so bad that it often was a complete white out. I drove through about 100 miles of this crap to get to where I needed to go.
However once we got on the lake and started fishing life instantly got better. We had some success, and more importantly I was able to renew an old friendship that I had forgotten just how much I enjoyed.
Me with part of the day's catch. We each caught about double of what we kept. The smaller one's all went back in the water.
One more pic of the "good therapy".
I had been watching the weather and was more than a little concerned about the ride home. Tuesday morning when I looked out my hotel window this is the site that greeted me. Needless to say I was less than thrilled.
As I worked my way down the icy streets towards Columbia Falls this sign was right at the mouth of the canyon at the beginning of my long journey home. Something about avalanches doesn't exactly lower one's blood pressure. It didn't help that a skier had been caught in one while I was out there either.
The winding road up through south Glacier was pretty tricky. It was very slow going unless you had brain damage and were from Alberta Canada. Every idiot I saw driving way too fast had Alberta plates. You'd think of all people they'd know better. I guess you just can't fix stupid in some people.
It took me a little over 2 hours to make it 63 miles. The snow banks along the road were 8 to 12 feet deep or more. I'm just glad my truck didn't break down or anything. That would have been very bad. Despite the stressful driving conditions it really is a beautiful area to see.
All I can say is I was very relieved to reach Browning Montana as the roads started to clear up a little more from there. I was never so glad to see I-15 and turn South for home. The prairie never looked so good. I guarantee I will never make that drive in the winter again. Lesson learned! I'm still trying to decide if it was all good therapy or if I should have my head checked for insanity. Either way, I'll be back out there this spring and summer when the water is soft, and hopefully land a few more fish, while spending quality time with great people.
Looks like good times, thanks for sharing.
