Outdoors: Experiencing the great outdoors across a great divide

Mike Barcaskey,
The Ledger
Ellwood City Ledger

How would a chilly night sound about right now, with a low temperature of 37 degrees? I have been watching things back home and it seems the hot weather continues. But for me, I need a flannel shirt.

I am currently staying at a friend’s house in Whitefish, Montana, with my family. The town is located on the western side of the continental divide, near Glacier National Park. Many things are different here, others very familiar. Aside from the colder weather, it is the wildlife that makes one realize they are not in Pennsylvania anymore.

My friend lives in a planned residential community on the side of a small hill. There are approximately 50 houses on the 100 acres. Despite houses, roads and traffic, the community has resident deer, black bear and even a mountain lion, which regularly kills one of the deer for its next meal. Imagine living with a 120-pound lion that has such disregard for you that it will stash a deer kill in the spruce trees right off your back yard to feed on at its leisure.

While there are a few familiar species I see each day; white-tail deer, bald eagles, skunks and the robin tending its nestlings under the porch roof, it is the unfamiliar ones I keep an eye open for. The Columbian ground squirrel is the most common. They are everywhere. About the size of a gray squirrel but with a much smaller tail, they are in the yard eating the lawn grass, running across the roads and sitting up on their hunches atop a dirt mound.

I saw my first mule deer while driving on a dirt road between fishing spots on the Thompson River. The three doe were only about 20 feet off the road and provided a minute or so of good viewing before they hopped off in their peculiar stiff-legged fashion. I had observed so many whitetails over the last few days that when I saw the muleys I didn’t recognize them for what they were. I was thinking, “What weird ears those deer have,” and it wasn’t until they hopped off that it hit me.

Of course, the marquee animal in Montana is the grizzly bear and while I have yet to see one, I am constantly reminded to have my pepper spray and be aware of my surroundings. As a visitor, I find it odd that so much effort goes into avoiding a bear attack when so many more people die on Montana highways. I mean the speed limit on many rural, two-lane roads is 70 mph and no one drives the speed limit.

This is big country with lots to do outdoors. I can see one week is barely going to scratch the surface. Hiking in Glacier National Park, rafting the Middle Fork of the Flathead River and trout fishing on the Thompson River have kept me busy so far.

The trout fishing has been good, but not spectacular as I am still learning the ropes. I want to find some cutthroat trout, the state fish of Montana, but all I have caught so far are brown trout. My one son landed a cutbow, a cutthroat and rainbow hybrid. That’s the closest we have come. I came clear across the country only to find browns and rainbows just like at home. Hopefully, today we will catch some cutthroat at a spot.

Until I return, everyone stay safe and enjoy the great outdoors.

Mike Barcaskey is a local sportsman. He can be reached at mikebarcaskey@outlook.com.