Missoula, MT

While in Missoula, I visited another Ghost town.  The town of Garnet was started in 1895 due to gold being discovered in the area.   The area was abandoned in 1948.

When visiting Garnet, you drive a long dirt road up the mountain.  Then a short walk down a hill to the town itself. The picture below was taken from the overlook while walking down to the town.

You may notice a propane tank behind the house in the front.  I believe this home has been renovated and is being used by some of the staff.

Unlike Bannack, they did bring items in from other areas to “furnish” some of the buildings with items from the appropriate time period.  Unfortunately you can’t tell what is original and what was brought in.  Below is one of the rooms (maybe a lobby?) in the hotel.

Above is inside on of the businesses on the main street.

Some of the miner’s cabins--

Inside one of the cabins --

North of Missoula is the National Bison Range.  I visited it twice in one day to see the wildlife.  In the morning I saw Bison and Pronghorns, in the afternoon I saw Bison, Pronghorns, Elk and Big Horn Sheep.

A bison rolling around in the dirt --

Mom and child --

Like many of the times when I am looking at wildlife, they are looking they other way --

One of the Bighorn Sheep finally turned around -

I watched the above deer for several minutes.  The fawn would run from it’s mom (I’m guessing) and the mom would chase after it.  Then the fawn would stop and wait on the mom, then run again.  It acted just like a young kid, it was fun to watch. 

I have posted pictures of Cedar Waxwings before, but I like this bird so here is another picture.

Another bird that is common in the west is the Magpie.  They aren’t in Georgia so I find them interesting.  I have been seeing them regularly for the last several months. 

I watched the following bluebird play with his lunch before he flew away with it.

I visited Blue Mountain Recreation area a couple of times for some nice easy hikes.  One of the trails I hiked is below--

From Missoula, I headed up to Columbia Falls which is about 20 minutes from Glacier National Park.  I was there for 2 weeks and have a lot of photos.  I am currently going through all of those and hope to post the Columbia Falls blog(s) in a few days.