Distinctly Montana Magazine

NE O T N D’AMBROSIO Summit of Antone Peak Nothing inspires like the high country, standing with a sweaty sheen and a silly smile after con- quering a challenging trail. West of the Continental Divide, serious hikers can experience Big Sky bliss on the state’s most rugged ascents and test themselves on some of the best trail adventures in North America. The vistas are not only spectacular, they stretch from the brilliant blue of Montana sky to glassy alpine lakes and distant pincushion forests of green. Put these 10 picks for memorable hikes on your Montana bucket-list! and to the left, up the ridge. The trail sinks into the bowl be- low Antone Peak. It’s a strenuous 1.5 mile climb up this bowl to the 10,247-foot summit of Antone Peak. The panorama here includes the rest of the Snowcrest Range stretching off to the north, the expanse of the Red Rock Valley, and the Centennial Mountains on the southern sphere. AKOKOLA LAKE LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Moderate LENGTH: 11.6 mile-round trip; overnighter or out-and-back TRAILHEAD: 35 miles northwest of Columbia Falls in the North Fork Region of Glacier National Park The North Fork of the Flathead River outlines the west- DISTINCTLY MONTANA | DIGITAL Want more hiking photos? Go to www.distinctlymontana.com/hiking112 ANTONE PEAK LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Strenuous to Antone Peak and Easy to Antone Pass LENGTH: 5-mile round trip; out-and-back TRAILHEAD: 40 miles southeast of Dillon in the Snowcrest Range The Meadow Creek Trail to Antone Pass, 40 miles southeast of Dillon in the remote Snowcrest Range, is heavily marked by trail markers, rock cairns, and blazes along the left side of the mead- ows. As the blazes and rock stacks cease, look uphill 14 DIFFICULTY = strenous = difficult = moderate = easy BRIAN’S RATINGS LEVEL OF ern boundary of Glacier National Park. Inside the park several lakes drain into the river, with Akolola being one of the smallest. This hike extends through typical North Fork country, with lodgepole pine forests and rolling ridges, but without the snowcapped crags found elsewhere in the park. Don’t forget you are deep in Glacier Park grizzly territory, so be hyper-vigilant about every possible bear country precaution and sanitary rule. GREAT NORTHERN LEVEL OF DIFFICULTY: Very Strenuous LENGTH: 8-mile round-trip; out-and-back TRAILHEAD: 30 miles east of Kalispell in the Great Bear Wilderness. Although named for a former railroad, the moniker of the mountain suggests exactly what DISTINCTLY MONTANA • SPRING 2011 AND PHOTOS BY BRIAN ARTICLE I V SE 1 E I 0 T I LA F H H T HT E NE Y E A NI L C V K D O S D W E

• Cover