Highwood, Montana, United States
I hadn’t planned to go the Great Falls since I spent a full
day exploring there last summer. But
with some time on my hands, it seemed like a good place to go for the evening
to check out downtown on foot and try out the Might Moe Brewpub for some
evening libations. In contrast to
Bozeman or Missoula, Great Falls is a rather stagnant town that sometimes seems
like it’s been left back in time about a half century. There’s a line of nice buildings for a few
blocks along Central Street downtown, but downtown was almost completely
deserted on Sunday night. And a block or
more in either direction from that Central Street strip is a landscape that may
once have been attractive but has been lost to urban renewal of parking lots
and non-descript modern buildings. Beer
and pizza and an especially friendly young waiter named Luke at Mighty Moe’s
made the evening pleasant.
The Highwood Mountains are a range I don’t think I had ever
heard of before finding a hike listed in my guidebooks. The Highwoods are another of the so-called
island ranges and are located around 25 miles directly east of Great Falls in
an area I would have thought was just plains.
The description of the loop hike
on North Fork Highwood Creek made it sound pleasant enough, and I’m always eager
to explore trails in a new area.
One of the best things about the Highwoods is the drive in
on unpaved roads through an Old West landscape of single-lane bridges,
cottonwood-lined tracks, decaying homesteads, and picturesque ranches. The route is scenic without being hard on your
vehicle.
The loop hike was supposed to be 10 miles, up a valley along
the north fork of Highwood Creek, a detour to climb one of the rounded peaks,
and then return along an undulating ridge with great top-of-the-world
views. The first problem I encountered
was the stream crossings. There were
several of them, described as easy rock-hopping. That may be true in July or
August, but now the rocks were all under water and the crossings involved
walking through the water. Fortunately, my new Salomon hiking boots proved
themselves to be as waterproof as promised.
The next problem issue on what had mostly been a very good and dry trail
came on the side trip to the peak climb. The trail suddenly transformed into a
muddy quagmire. OK, I can do without the side trip and peak climb.
The ridge walk was beautiful, but I somehow missed the route’s
suggested turnoff on the Wolf Ridge trail until I had gone about a mile past it
and descended considerably. I took an alternative trail which descended steeply
along a stream into a thickly forested valley…..with a couple more difficult
stream crossings. I wasn’t lost because
I knew where I was on the map, but the route ended up being longer and
considerably more tiring than I had anticipated. OK, I’m ready now for some canoeing and a break
from hiking.
2025-05-22