Dave's PhotoJournal for June 5th, Part 1 of 4

Slept in a little bit longer than I had originally intended today. This was helped by the fact that I had stayed up rather late the night before finishing the book I was reading. (The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson)

Ended up being awake, showered, and ready to go at 8:16 am, which was only about an hour later than I had wanted, until I remembered that I had changed time zones, so it was actually 9:16 am.

Continued going north on Highway 93. Stopped at the Three Dog Down Down Outlet, thinking I may be able to find a cheap down pillow, but their prices weren't nearly as low as they would lead you to believe, so I left empty handed.

Most of the way around Flathead Lake, at a town appropriately enough called Lakeside, I spotted a small road with a sign that said 14 miles to Blacktail Mountain Ski Area. I decided to check it out. The ski area itself was blocked off, but the road continued to the top. At the top, there were numerous antannae and such, which I later learned belonged to the FAA, for air traffic control.

Returned to the highway, and continued north, past Kalispell. In Kalispell, you can either continue north on 93 to Whitefish, and Big Mountain Ski Resort, where I visited this winter in March, or you can turn northeast on Highway 2 towards Columbia Falls and Glacier. I ditched my plans to revisit Big Mountain due to the time, and headed straight for the park.

The shower at the RV park. Not too bad. Not even coin op. And the water wasn't brown and didn't smell like sulpher like at the campground I stayed at over Memorial Day Weekend.

What the view of the Misson Range from my tent looks like in the early morning. The haze and clouds increasingly moved in throughout the day, particularly over the mountains.

Closeup of the mountains, looking southeast.

Looking east/northeast from near my tent.

Sign near the RV Park office.

Okay, ready to go, and it's 8:16 am. Not THAT bad, only a little more than an hour behind schedule.

Or, no, wait. We're in the mountain time zone now.

Highway 93, which I was currently following, is the road that goes around the west side of the lake, as seen on this map.

View looking north at Flathead Lake, from the little viewpoint I was parked at.

The down outlet in Polson (at the southwestern corner of the lake) that I stopped at in an effort to get a cheap down pillow.

Bob's Mom doesn't know what she's talking about. The cheapest down pillow they had was something like 80 dollars. (You can get real down pillows at Ikea for less than 50.) They said if I wanted something cheaper I could get a fake down pillow for 30 bucks. I decided I would wait, and perhaps get another fake down pillow like the one I currently have that I got at Kmart for 10.

Northbound on Highway 93, going around Flathead Lake.

Another viewpoint of the lake.

There was a lot of moisture in the air, particularly when you looked to the east.

Countryside along the west side of the road.

View from a little pullout most of the way up the 14 mile dirt road from Lakeside to Blacktail Mountain. This is looking east, over Flathead Lake and the Flathead mountains.

My car parked at another pullout a little farther along the road.

The view from the pullout. After looking at a trailmap on the web after I got home, I learned that the parking and such at Blacktail Mountain is at the top of the ski area, the ski area must be hidden somewhere in these hills.

The sign at the entrance to the ski area.

The road was blocked off, and there wasn't much to see from where I was standing.

This road forked off to the right, and continued up the hill.

Rounded that first bend, and saw these antennae.

And, around a couple more bends, this big dome. I had caught glimpses of this dome along the way up the road, but didn't think much of it, because I didn't realize I would end up directly underneath it.

Continued to the end of the road, which was at a barbed wire fence surrounding a few small buildings, including the big dome. This sign was posted all over the compound.

The fence, showing some of the stuff inside.

The view looking east from the top of the hill, over the north end of Flathead Lake, and some more mountains. It's fuzzy because a) the amount of moisture in the air and b) I was using my digital zoom, which always results in a fuzzy picture.

The view looking more to the southeast, over the lake.

Looking back up at the dome from a ways down the road.

View of Big Mountain from Kalispell, where I was turning off of Highway 93 in favor of heading directly to Glacier National Park.

Back Up Part 2