What is a Beaver Slide ?

 We are up early and have packed to the car for our journey to Hampton In Butte, MT.  This is a stopping point before we get to our destination of Jackson Hole Wyoming.  Marlon found this place to eat breakfast this morning called Sykes.  This place is on our way to the next hotel.  For over 100 years, Sykes has served the Flathead Valley through its diner. 

We parked and saw a group of men coming from the diner.  I'm sure they meet every Saturday for breakfast.

We had to wait but not long.  The place was packed!  Coffee on the weekend is only 10 cents.  Check out our bill for only 10 cents a cup. Where else can you get coffee that cheap?  I ordered something I have never ever had before!!  A Reuben omelet!  It came with a huge order of crispy hashbrowns and the biggest homemade biscuit I have ever had.  I took half the biscuit with me for a snack later.  

I could not eat all this omelet it was so full of meat and cheese.  I'm sure I will never have this again as it's my first time to ever see this type of omelet on a menu before.

We left this diner and started out towards Butte MT.  It is early and the road we are traveling runs along a mountain.  There is a huge river that is running alongside the road.  
We have more beautiful mountain views.  The CA smoke is starting to clear giving us a better view of the mountains.  It rained last night and it helped clear the smoke.

We found a pull-off and drove down by Lake Seeley Montana. The sun is starting to come up and the glow of the sunrise on the lake is so peaceful and beautiful.

We stopped for some coffee at Jitterbug Java.  This coffee shop was inside a bigger owned store called Grizzly Claw Trading Company.  It was in the town of Seeley Lake off Highway 83. The place was full of artifacts,  and crafts made by local artists.  I bought a labradorite stone encased in sterling silver. The stone was on a sterling silver chain.  I feel very happy with my purchase. Marlon had given me money before we came on the trip and told me to buy what I wanted. :-) 

I'm a happy camper as I sip on my coffee and so pleased with my purchase.  We have traveled another hour and there is a historic stopping place.  We stopped to find out what makes this location historic in the Little Blackfoot Valley.

The story of the Beaver Slide

The Little Blackfoot Valley is filled with lush hay fields. :-)  We saw lots of rounded haystacks and commented on the strange lodgepole structures standing in many of the fields.  This contraption looks like a cross between a catapult and a cage is a hay-stacker that actually acts like a little of both.  It was invented in 1910 in the Big Hole Valley.  The device is called a Beaver Slide, which revolutionized haying in Montana.  It helped keep the wind from blowing the hay away and cut stacking time considerably, 

To work the Beaver Slide, a large rake piled high with hay is run up the arms of the slide which is the sloping portion of the Catapult.  At the top, the hay dumps onto the stack.  The side gates keep the stick in a neat pile and make it possible to stack higher.  The sides were added to the system in the late 1940s.  

One more stop along the road to Butte MT.  This place was a nice place to get out and stretch our legs.  Can't get enough of this beautiful scenery.

We have reached our destination where we will stay the night and then get back on the road to Jackson Hole WY.

Will Be Coming Down The Mountain When We Come.........

Still smokey outside from the fires in CA. Sunrise is still beautiful.  Sipping on my coffee in front of the fireplace. :-)

It warms up fast here in the mountains.  Today the ski lifts are open for scenic rides up to the summit of Whitefish Mountain.  I have never been on a ski lift as I don't ski.  This is a big step for me, I'm a little worried about getting on and off the chairs.  

We decided to take the small ski lift down to Base Lodge for lunch and coffee.  The guys made sure we were on safe talking to us the entire time where to stand for the chair to catch us in the back of the legs and sit down.  We pulled the bar over us. :-)  We enjoyed our lunch and sipped coffee watching all the activities going on.  We are going to the top of this mountain and after that we are going to go on the Alpine Slide.

We are ready to go back up the small section of this mountain and catch the next ski lift to the summit.

We are on the chair lift to the top now and the view is stunning.  The views of Flathead Valley and Glacier National Park are amazing.

We watched several bikers take the trek down the mountain.  They are brave!

Some views of our ski lift ride back down Whitefish Mountain.

Time to head to the Alpine Slide.  We can do this!! The guys in charge gave us instructions on how to start AND STOP THE SLIDE.

We are on the slide and ready to take off.  I'm a little nervous as this is my first time doing this also.

Well, it's time for dinner and we are going into town to try out the local BBQ place. 

Good Nnight from Whitefish Montana

Sun Road Adventures in Montana Are Scary

 We are up at 4am and want to be at Glacier National Park  Marlon as made us a special breakfast of fried polenta with huckleberry topping we got shopping yesterday and sausage links.

We are in the car and ready for our adventure to Glacier, it's about an hour's drive.  No one is in the guard shack when we arrive as it's too early.  It's still very dark outside and this drive up to Logans Pass is scary.  It's a 50-mile drive up to 6,466 ft. to Logan Pass.  The sheer cliffs and tight narrow switchbacks make this a nail-biter.  There is not much to protect you.  Some of the areas have no guardrails or just a low wall of rocks. I wish we would have taken a tour and left the driving to them they are experienced.  Too scary for me to be so close to the edge and so dark outside.  The traffic was terrible so many people wanting to get to the top before the sun comes up.  Oh yeah, I can't forget to mention it's spitting rain. As you climb the mountain the rain becomes more narrower. 

Raining Oh NO

We got so far up the mountain and I told Marlon to turn around this is not fun driving in the rain on this narrow road.  I mean how good is a sunrise if it's cloudy and misting rain.?  It was even scary trying to get turned around there was a small pull off that half your car would fit on somehow Marlon did it and I felt more at ease driving against the mountain. We stopped at a scenic spot called Heavens Peak and got out of the car and took pictures.  We walked around the area and then got back in the car when it started raining harder.

As we traveled back down the mountain there were pull-offs and we pulled off at each stop and admired the scenery.  

I love how the sun is shining on this mountain so beautiful.

As the snow melts on the mountains it makes beautiful waterfalls.

This stop along the sun road was called Sacred Dancing Cascade.  Totally amazing.

We are at the bottom of the mountain and decided to stop in at Lake McDonald and see if we could get on a boat tour.  We were lucky because it is early still so they still had room for us.  We are hungry and got a sandwich from the shop at the lodge.  OH my, look at the size of my sandwich! It was delicious.

I saw this A & W and ask Marlon to please stop and get us a homemade Rootbeer.  We got in line and Oh my goodness it was just as good as I remembered it to be.

Marlon stopped at the store and got something to cook for dinner tonight.  When we got home Marlon made some ravioli and dipping oil and bread, and broccoli. We sat on the balcony in the evening and had champagne cheese and crackers.  What an ending to a great day.