Salad Anyone?

I felt like nothing more than a big lettuce and tomato salad after visiting with Keith Grahm of Mountainview Farms Inc in Kalispell, just outside of Glacier National Park in Northwestern Montana. We toured their HUGE hydroponic greenhouses totalling over 10,000 feet of grow space. The whole place is temperature and humidity controlled for year round production. Right now they are concentrating on lettuce and tomatos but more veggies are in the works. Peppers, cucumbers, and year round strawberries are just a few of the planned additions in the future.

Currrently servicing restaurants, and looking forward to someday selling direct to you at the farm, you can get Mountainview Farms Inc local, hydroponically grown lettuce and tomatoes at the Kalispell farmers market, located at the Kalispell Mall on Saturdays though October 18th, from 9:00am till 12:30pm. Also keep your eye out for them at the Farmers Market in West Glacier on Friday evenings. It doesn't get any better than local produce, picked at the farm, delivered to the West entrance of Glacier National Park Park.

Know that you should get there early beacuse according to Keith, "We always sell out!"

After touring the greenhouses and seeing the goods, I can completely understand why.

Be sure to check out Glacier Adventure for video of the greenhouse and interview with Keith Grahm, owner of Mountainview Farms Inc.


See you on the farm.



-jay

Cattle Drive - Eureka, MT

We headed up to the Laughing Water Ranch to observe one of many cattle drives they do in the spring and fall. What a day! We watched ranchers and guests on horseback round up cattle in a field, get them into the corner, open up the gate, and drive them about 10 miles to a grazing pasture. It's quite an experience for the guests staying at the ranch.

The week starts off with basic lessons on seprating cattle, first on foot, then eventually on horseback. they keep it exciting by making it almost like a competition. Later in the week, after you've gotten to know your horse and do some basic work, you enjoy a trail ride in some of the Flathead National Forest (which borders the ranch on 3 sides) before heading out on Friday for the drive.

It looks like an amzing time at the Ranch and everyone appeared ready for the task at hand. The drive we observed was a smashing sucess, complete with lunch by a beautiful lake, looking over the mountains and cattle as they wet their whistle before heading on to greener pastures.



Be sure to visit Glacier Adventure to see the video of the cattle drive and check out all of our Glacier National Park and Flathead Valley videos.


See you at the ranch!!


-jay






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Spring Runoff - Glacier National Park

We headed out to Glacier National Park on Wednesday to interview Wendy Hill from the Glacier Association and she talked about the "Spring for Glacier" fundraiser which will benefit The Glacier Fund, The Glacier Institute, the Glacier Natural History Association, and the Glacier National Park Associates. All are non-profit partners of Glacier National Park. The fundraiser is happening this Friday and we will be there.

We also headed up the Going To The Sun Road and got some great spring runoff shots at Avalanche Creek and Lake McDonald Creek it was awesome. We got some great video too and we'll get that posted at GlacierAdventure.com shortly. In the meantime, check out these pictures. My favorite is the swallows nesting in the Belton Depot in West Glacier.


Remember, GlacierAdventure.com is the source for all of your Glacier National Park and Flathead Valley information!


see you in the Park!


-jay




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Northern Rockies Paddlefest 2008

We cruised down just south of Bigfork, Montana on saturday for the Northern Rockies Paddlefest held at Wayfarer’s State Park. It was a perfect day to be out on the water. Paddle fans of all shapes, sizes and ages came out to test the latest and greatest in paddlesports gear.

Local outfitters and paddle shops were out showing their wares and sending people out and back on any number of demos.

There was also a demonstration by Dubside, an amazing instuctior on how to roll your boat and right it. He had a Qajaasaarneq demonstration set up which he let me try and let me tell you, ... he makes it look easy.

What is Qajaasaarneq you may ask?
Qajaasaarneq is an excercise and training system performed on a double length of horizontally suspended rope. Each exercise consists of a specified position from which you must bring yourself completely around the ropes and return to the starting position. There are a total of seventy-four different moves, all with Greenlandic names and point values based on the degree of difficulty.

The Inuit, the indigenous inhabitants of arctic North America invented it over a thousand years ago. They developed these exercises for several purposes:

-To entertain one another with feats of strength during dark, frozen winters.
-To maintain the tough and demandin level of fitness required for the dangerous occupation of hunting sea mammals by kayak.
-As an on-land teaching exercise for learning to roll a kayak.

I definitely have some work to do before I will be entering any competitions.

It was a beautiful day on the water and there were smiles all along the beach!


More information on Qajaasaarneq is available at Dubside's website.


Be sure to visit Glacier Adventure for all of your Glacier National Park and surrounding area information.


see you on the water (in an upright boat I hope)


-jay






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Family Foresty Expo

On Saturday we checked out the Family Forestry Expo in Columbia Falls, about 25 miles from the West entrance to Glacier National Park.

Family Forestry Expo is a yearly, week long forest use education and forest management education program, sponsored and created by a diversified group of organizations including: local service groups, resource users, professional societies, government agencies, conservation groups, forest industry, local businesses, and interested individuals.

The goal of the program is to educate local area students and families on the many issues of forest use and forest management. The Expo is created by a diverse group so that a wide range of issues on forest use can be explored from varying points of view.

We had a great afternoon there and got some great shots of the logging competition and the owls. There was a great turnout for a beautiful afternoon.




Be sure to check out Glacier Adventure for all of your Glacier National Park and surrounding area information needs.




see you on the trail....






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Plowing Update - Going To The Sun Road

As of May 8, 2008, The Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park is open for vehicle traffic to the McDonald Lake Lodge parking lot. It will be open to the Avalanche Campground as soon as mother nature melts the snow.

The plowing crew is almost up to Haystack Creek, and moving a little slower than usual due to heavy snowpack and a rotary not operating at 100%.

Hikers and bikers can enjoy The Going To The Sun Road Monday through Friday up to The Packers Roost where the road is closed beyond that point. There are no weekend closures.

In the Northfork area, the road from the Polebridge Ranger Station is open to Big Prarie.

They have also opened the road to Many Glacier.

The roads are still rough, be aware of wildlife and equipment, but most of all, be careful.



Don't forget, Glacier Adventure is The Source for Glacier National Park and surrounding area information.



See you on the road....

-jay






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Flathead Bear Aware

Hill and I had a pretty busy day yesterday. We headed out to the Whitefish Middle School for a program sponsored by the Glacier National Park Fund. Flathead Bear Aware presented "people helping people co-exist with bears", a program dedicated to bears. It really was an amazing day. We heard Carrie Hunt, the director of Wind River Bear Institute give a presentations on methods used in human-bear conflicts including using Karelian Bear dogs to assist in conditioning bears to not return to a certain area.

Gary Moses, Supervisory Ranger for Glacier National Park for over 17 years, did a fantastic presentation on hiking in bear country, how to avoid encounters, what to do incase of an encounter, what actions to take if you get attacked. He also covered grizzly bear management in the Park.

Joe Wiegan, Wildlife Resource Specialist for Montana Fish, Wildlife, and Parks spoke about the Living with Wildlife Grant Program. Joe’s work is in assisting communities in dealing with wildlife issues in a proactive manner. From bears in the birdfeeders to elk in the haystacks, his motto is there is always a better way for humans to manage their own activities that will in-turn benefit both landowner and wildlife.

Dr. Chuck Jonkel, President of the Great Bear Foundation in Missoula, a conservation organization dedicated to the conservation of all 8 bear species in the world and their habitat. He is a bear biologist with over 40 years of experience and one of the pioneers of bear biology. His professional career includes studies of the polar bears for the Canadian Wildlife Service, The Borders Grizzly Bear Project on the eastern front of the Rockies, and research on the North American Black Bear.

It was a great day and the information provided is priceless for anyone living or recreating in or around bear country. We will definitely let you know when the next Bear Aware will be.

We will also be speaking more with Bill Lavelle from Bear Aware Flathead and keep you posted on upcoming events in the area.



...and don't forget, Glacier Adventure is the source for all of your Glacier National Park and Flathead Valley information.






Be sure to carry bear spray!!

see you on the trail.






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What are you doing Thursday night?

We'll be at the finals of "The Gong Show" at the Blue Moon. An ongoing Thursday night competition that will have the finals on Thursday May 8th. I was there last Thursday and they had some pretty good performers, .... and some not-so-good performers. The judges were kind with the gong, but we did here it a couple of times throughout the night.

There were singers, a stand-up comedian, a few guitar players and a sax player who whailed (and took first place for the night). An encore performance with the house band had the dancefloor packed!

So if you are in the Glacier National Park area on Thursday, stop on by the Blue Moon in Columbia Falls and check out the gong show. Gonna be a blast!

Happening this weekend:
In Whitefish-
Battle of the Bands in Depot Park - 3:00pm (Sat)
People helping people coexist with bears - 2:00pm at the Whitefish Central school auditorium. (Sat)

In Kalispell-
Farmers Market - 9:00am at the Kalispell Center Mall (Sat)

In Columbia Falls-
Arbor Day Celebration - 12:00 - Glacier Bank prking lot in Columbia Falls (Sat)


...and if bar scene isn't your scene, make sure to check out Glacier Adventure. We are the source for information in and around Glacier National Park.






See you at the (GOOOOONG!!!!!)








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