Distinctly Montana Magazine

w w w . d i s t i n c t l y m o n t a n a . c o m 121 MONTANA HAS LONG BEEN A LAND OF LITERARY SU- PERLATIVES. In comments pertaining to the effect that Big Sky Country exerts upon the human psyche, nature writer Ellen Meloy astutely observes that, "This much space has nurtured a healthy Cult of Place in which people find perfec- tion, even divinity, in the landscape." Her assertion is most thoroughly applicable to late September and early October. If Mother Nature then chooses to fully cooperate, visi- tors to Glacier National Park may conclude that Montana's annual autumnal gold rush surpasses even New England's fabled fall color, given the grandeur of Glacier's mountains and the stark contrast between color values that characterize fall foliage in the northern Rockies. Should your first pro- longed exposure to the Crown of the Continent occur un- der these circumstances, as did mine, that experience most certainly can become spiritually addictive. As John Nichols, author of The Last Beautiful Days of Autumn, proclaimed, "I live for autumn… It is the most alive, the most heartbreak- ingly real season." In northwestern Montana, this first crescendo of color is produced primarily by aspen and cottonwood stands. These showy hardwoods are most common on Glacier's east side. For motorists in this region, high-priority targets include the following sectors: U.S. Highway 2 from Marias Pass to East Glacier Park; Looking Glass Road (Montana Highway 49); the eastern half of Two Medicine Road; the gravel road to Cut Bank Campground; and portions of U.S. Highway 89, most notably where it parallels Lower Saint Mary Lake. Pockets of fall color are prominent along the easternmost section of Going to the Sun Road, near Singleshot Moun- tain, Two Dog Flats, and Rising Sun. Concentrations of fall foliage also can be found in Swiftcurrent Valley and, most importantly, near Chief Mountain, the summit of which tow- ers more than 3,000 feet above enormous groves of aspens. Chief Mountain International Highway (Montana Route 17), which begins 4.3 miles north of Babb, provides access to the single largest display of fall foliage in Glacier National Park. A pullout, located only 2.2 miles from the road's junc- tion with U.S. 89, affords the best vantage point to view the sheer, east face of Chief Mountain and the ocean of aspens at its base. At peak color, this iconic landscape is absolutely breathtaking. In terms of photogeneity, it is rivaled within the park only by the North Fork's larch forests, which add the final flourish to fall color in Glacier. Unlike other re- nowned fall-foliage destinations, such as the Oxbow Bend in the Tetons or Maroon Lake near Aspen, Colorado, Chief Mountain's beauty can be savored in solitude. We did not encounter another soul at this pullout on any occasion that article by DOUGLAS A. SCHMITTOU photos by ROBERT SCHMITTOU

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