It’s beginning to get difficult, not in the traveling sense of being on the road, but in the way that I’m discovering some really great places. Of course that’s not a terrible thing, but when it comes time for me to finally decide on a location, it won’t be easy.
Yesterday morning I left Missoula, MT and headed north on US-93. It was sunny up until I reached the Flathead Indian Reservation where a thick layer of fog was trapped below a cold inversion layer restricting visibility to about 100 yards. 
The sun finally broke through as I got closer to Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake in the western part of the contiguous United States. Flathead Lake runs nearly 30 miles long and almost 16 miles wide with a surface area of 191.5 square miles. I veered off of US-93 and took SR-35 north around the eastern side of the lake. It was a scenic drive with miles of apple and cherry orchards between the lake and the road on the left and mountains to the right. I drove through the town of Bigfork on the northeastern corner of the lake and then on to Kalispell. The total distance was around 150 miles.
I don’t think I would have necessarily come to Kalispell and Whitefish if it wasn’t recommended by Dan, a friend of my Uncle Phil. I knew I was going to like Kalispell even before I got there. Northwestern Montana is absolutely beautiful. Kalispell is a town of approximately 22k, is seven miles north of Flathead Lake, 31 miles from Glacier National Park and 17 miles away from both Whitefish (aka. Big Mountain) and Black Tail ski resorts. Kalispell is served by most of the modern convenience stores but has a small town feeling. Although it doesn’t seem to have a real “main street” to get out and walk around, everything is spread out in such a way that there is very little traffic and plenty of wide open space with mountain views in all directions.
Saturday, November 6th, 2010
Today I drove from Kalispell to Whitefish, nearly 14 miles away. Whitefish has a small town feel with approximately 6-7,000 residents. There are plenty of nice quiet neighborhoods with tree lined streets. There are some smaller shops in town, mainly boutique stores, eateries and coffee shops but all of the major convenience stores are located in Kalispell. This is a great little town right at the base of the mountains with the ski resort visible in the distance.
Kalispell and Whitefish seem to have all of the outdoor activites available that I'm looking for with the added bonus of being close to a huge lake. This opens up the possibilities of kayaking, boating and lake fishing. Both of these places are now on the list along with Bozeman, MT and Salt Lake City, Utah.
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