Beautiful Montana Weather!

After showing you all what winter can be like here, it seems only fair to give you a little glimpse of some other weather! This valley is a resort destination. For being so far north (about 60 miles from Canada), and inland, it has exceptionally mild weather. The elevation is low, the mountains around it are high, and Flathead Lake is so large that it creates a thermal effect. Huge cherry crops are shipped out of this valley every summer.

The rainbows in the picture above are in front of a "wall" of weather rolling in. That "wall" is hiding a tall mountain range behind it. This evening photo was taken from Whitefish Mountain Ski Resort (Used to be Big Mountain).

Flathead Lake is one of the crowning jewels of the area. It's the largest natural lake west of the Mississippi at 26 miles long. The next 3 are all of Flathead Lake. I only have a point-and-shoot, so if you want to see endless professional quality photos of this area, google the Flathead Valley, Glacier National Park, Montana, or Kalispell, Whitefish or Bigfork Photo studios. It really is a photographer's dream destination (Did you hear that Nikon Sniper Steve? :)).

I love this little barn. I just snapped this shot a few weeks ago and the grass wasn't green yet. The lake is long, and this picture is looking across it from side to side with one of it's many islands in the background. With over 2000 bodies of water - lakes, rivers and streams - we live in a sportsman's paradise, and a vacationer's dream!

 

My little Cub Scout.

Crazy boys at the lake.

A late summer hay cutting.

After a forest fire. This is an 8 year-old burn. Most of the black has been washed off the trees by weather.

This is the same view from my deck that was in the Crazy Weather post with my husband and son shoveling snow.

My summertime yard, with fire pit.

The yard again, and woodshed when it's empty.

Me, on a bike ride with my son to Cliff Lake.