In addition to flying over Glacier National Park (GNP) this summer, I also had a chance to fly around a good portion of Northwest Montana. As always, the objectives were to enjoy the area from the air and visit some cool airports. This was the route I followed, counterclockwise. Source: ForeFlight From Kalispell, we flew over Ashley Lake. Why? Because its water is as clear and beautiful as that of the Bahamas. While it does not look like much from the distance, its beauty really shows from above. So much so that my husband Jared also saw the lake from his commercial flight when he was coming back from a work trip. So, we decided to visit it via ground as well. And from one lake to another… from Ashley to Little Bitterroot before landing at Cabin Creek (97MT, http://airnav.com/airport/97MT), the most challenging airport we found (considering we had to stick with paved runways) because of its interesting approach. 97MT is a privately owned, private use airport but thanks to my companion Logan Hutchin, we were able to touch down. Since the airstrip doesn’t have weather on the field, I opted for flying over to see what the wind sock was indicating. This also gave me an opportunity to check out the terrain around it. Since it’s a Prior Permission Required (PPR) airport, they don’t have to follow FAA design standards and, in fact, I couldn’t see the Runway 20 markings until I was almost over them. There is a hill with a house directly under final approach, so I flew left of the centerline until I was past it, before coming in for a full stop landing. Because the wind was fairly light, I chose to takeoff in the opposite direction, avoiding the same house again. Flying over Little Bitterroot Lake; 97MT is just on the other side of the hill in front of us: The takeoff put us over the highway. I followed it to McGregor Lake and Thompson Lakes and, from there, to Libby (S59). The flight to Libby was very enjoyable and the Airport was nice but there wasn’t anything extremely special about it. The different water color in the Thompson lakes was interesting: Flying IFR (I Follow Roads):
Troy (57S) was the next Airport to visit and what a beautiful setting it’s in! I basically followed the road, railroad track, and river to it. We checked out Lake Koocanusa on our return leg. You may already know Montana has a LOT of lakes but we had no idea. We had never been to a place with so many (mostly natural) lakes. Hubby and I were in the state for a month and we ended up swimming or kayaking in a different lake almost every day. The Crystal Lakes before reaching Polebridge: Overflying the Whitefish Range: What Bowman Lake looks like from the ground (on another day, while hiking): Polebridge, where one can buy yummy huckleberry bear claws at the Mercantile: First Logging Lake on the left and then Lake McDonald, also on the left: Hungry Horse Reservoir (left) and Dam (right): Boating around Hungry Horse is definitely a highly recommended side adventure while in the area: Shooting through the Columbia Falls canyon (left), out of GNP and into the Flathead Valley (right): Although they’re known for their “Big Sky”, they could also be known for their “Friendly Sky.” Go visit Montana!
Fly safe and fly often!
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- Splashing around Northwest Montana - Same Places, Different Perspectives... From the Air and From the Ground - Going-to-the-Sun Skyway - Flying Up in the "Big Sky" AuthorYasmina Platt Archives
December 2023
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