A "hole" in Western English is a mountain valley with two pinched ends. The Big Hole is a crescent shaped "hole," and the only one in the Rockies, with the Divide on one side and the Pioneer Mts on the other, all snow-capped every month of the year (riding across the Pioneers is pretty cool, too. Stop for some rockhounding). As for the valley floor, it's got this highest diversity of wildflowers in the Northern Rockies, making acre upon acre of raw color, and plus the old beaverslides and stuff. Pretty unique place. Bring your fly rod and give the river a shot, too. Great water. Cutting from the Battlefield to Wisdom is just slicing across a piece of the Big Hole. If you ever ride through there again, go to Wisdom, flip a coin, and pick a direction. After you get your picture taken under the famous and iconic sign at Conover's first

If you want steppes (high plains), you have to go east of Red Lodge. Try riding US 212 from Crow Agency to Broadus to Belle Fourche, SD. That's about the best introduction to the high plains as a man can get.

The Gallatin Canyon has the biggest scarp of pre-Cambrian rock in the Rockies. It's like a museum! And the Gallatin River above Taylor Fork creates more moose meadow than you'll see anywhere outside of GTNP.


You can always fly to Kalispell, rent a bike there for GNP, and avoid the rest. Plenty of people do.

 

HA! Getting to Kalispell is half the fun. I've never been much for the fly and ride unless you just don't have a choice. (Europe, Asia, Hawai'i)

If you're on AT&T though don't count on your cell phone working anywhere except a city and maybe not even then. Apparently the 97% of America that AT&T covers is everywhere else BUT in Montana.

 

Yeah, AT&T never covered Montana. Verizon and Alltel were the best out here. T-Mobile doesn't even exist out here.

But, AT&T just bought Alltel, which used to be CellularWest/CellularOne, at least out here.

So, as of January, AT&T will work out here in Montana, FWIW. All Alltel customers have to get new phones in January for the network conversion.

(Lots of my friends excited about finally getting iPhones.)

So if you come back.......

BTW, on one of those AT&T commercials (before the Alltel purchase) with the guy standing on a huge map of America, he flips though all these cards with town-names on them, flipping them all over the map to show where AT&T has service. They had a card for Bozeman, MT. What a lie!

 

Good to know they are getting better coverage. One of my best friends just retired and is now living in Kila so I'll be back up there for sure.

 

Thanks to the both of you. Going in the east side of Glacier and coming out the west side. When it gets closer I will see for sure how amny days I actually do have. Right now I am thinking of doing this in 7-8 days. I have already been through Yellowstone so I am leaning more towards of just staying in Idaho once I reach the Yellowstone Area. I have heard some about Driggs and would like to see Island Park. One thing about the country over here if your in the flats at the time you can look a direction and see mountains on all sides of you. Nice exhilarating Feeling.

 

Nothing quite like riding and touring the N.W. states.