Falling for the Flathead: Maggie’s First Visit, in Her Own Words
It was the waterfalls that really sealed the deal… In June 2004, we drove 940 miles so my husband could interview for a job in Polson. It was my first visit to northwestern Montana and I was instantly smitten with the snowcapped Mission Mountains, the valley’s lush pothole wetlands, and the beautiful blue waters of Flathead Lake. Then we learned the Going-to-the-Sun Road had just opened and couldn’t resist tacking on a couple hundred extra miles so we could check it out. I grew-up in the Southern Rockies and the Pacific’s Peninsular Ranges, so I already felt at home tucked into the mountains, but visiting the headwaters of the Flathead Basin kicked off my grand love affair with the Northern Rocky Mountains.
We pitched our tent in Apgar late in the evening and woke to the melodious song of the Swainson’s thrush.After sipping hot coffee, we were off to explore... As we crept up the Going-to-the-Sun Road, I was in awe of the snowmelt pouring off the rocky cliffs at every bend. At one turn, their gentle mist would drift through the windows and kiss our checks. At the next, their thundering power would pulse through the air, drowning out the world, and demand our full attention. We paused at Logan Pass to search for early wildflowers blooming where the snows had receded, retraced our path through the waterfalls, and began the now 1040-mile-long drive back. A few months later, we settled into our new home in the Mission Valley!
When I contemplate the 21 years my family has lived in the Flathead, it makes me smile to realize how water seems to flow through so many of my best memories… cross-country skiing at Blacktail with the snow sparkling in the moonlight on a chilly winter solstice evening… paddling across choppy waters to Wild Horse Island to stroll through spring hillsides of arrowleaf balsamroot... chilling with our dogs in the cool spray of the falls off North Crow trail on a hot August afternoon… breathing in the amazing smell of petrichor while playing in the garden after a thunderstorm. It’s amazing how water connects everyone and everything in the Flathead Basin! So for me, it was the waterfalls that really sealed the deal and their memory still fills my heart with joy.