Tuesday May 23, 2000 - Whitefish Lake

We had breakfast at the motel and then went to the Chamber of Commerce for maps. We then drove up to Whitefish, which is just a little north of Kalispell, and drove up to Big Mountain ski area. The road was steep with hairpin curves and no guardrail.

There are great views of Whitefish Lake on the way up. We were impressed with a beautiful log house being built overlooking Whitefish Lake.

We drove to Columbia Falls to begin the drive along the North Fork of the Flathead River that had been recommended. It is said to be America's wildest valley, with abundant wildlife to be found. We didn't get a chance to see any, though. After a few miles, we were stopped by a police roadblock that had been set up because there was a fugitive suspected to be in the area who had been involved in a shootout in Columbia Falls the night before. So we turned back and decided to drive to Hungry Horse Dam.