Water from the top of the mountain

Leaving Helena, we took a trip up towards Avon, Montana. We ate at the Avon Family Café where we sat beside a well-known Hollywood actor (yet native Montanan). He asked that we keep quiet about him because of Covid-19. He didn’t have it, but the producer wanted him to stay quarantined until production was over. He trusted us with a picture, but I am honoring his request to not post it.

 

We left Avon and decided to take a “short cut” thru the Skalakaho Pass.  Also known as Skalkaho Highway, it is a forty-five-mile drive that runs between the Bitterroot Valley and the Philipsburg Valley. This paved and gravel route climbs through the Sapphire Mountains, a remote and seldom visited part of Montana. The drive follows Montana Highway 38 for its entire length. You would have to slow down to let other cars (trucks) pass by.  Imagine driving on the side of cliffs that have 2500

vertical drops. The altitude is 7,258 ft. The views are amazing. However, the forestation is just beginning to return due to a forest fire I am estimating took place five years ago or so. By the way, there were no guard rails.

 

The highlight of the 45-mile ride is Shalkaho Falls. It’s an

amazing waterfall that appears to come from the top of the mountain and flows underneath the road.  

One of the neat pictures I took was a photo of a tree rooted on top of a rock. There was very little dirt for it and it was exposed to the elements. I considered it my photographic

metaphor of the day. What does the picture tell you? I know what I thought. 

 

We ended the day in Missoula after riding by Chief Joseph Ranch (Yellowstone Ranch) in Darby Montana. The Bitterroot Valley is another amazing piece of Big Sky. Thanks to Leah Welsh and Dan Pate for making this day one that will be remembered.