After our stay in Utah, with no sign that the state of the pandemic would improve, we booked six weeks in a little cabin in McLeod, Montana. Situated in the sweeping green pasturelands of Sweet Grass County with the Absaroka Range in the distance due south, we were living in the picturesque countryside of south central Montana. Our cabin sat right along the swift and sparkling Boulder River, a tributary of the Yellowstone River, where we could hear it rollicking beneath us at night.
The town of McLeod itself is a sparse gathering of buildings about two miles north of our cabin with a post office on one side of the river and a school house on the other. Twenty minutes northeast lies the small town of Big Timber. Every Friday after work, we drove the hour to Livingston to get groceries at the Albertsons and grab takeout for the weekend.
We were smitten by the remoteness and natural beauty. The local ranchers, however, were wary of us California techies hanging around. In fact, the welcome binder in our cabin contained an informational brochure to dissuade and abash outsiders from moving into Sweet Grass County. Despite the brochure, our Airbnb host, Phyllis, welcomed us to her slice of heaven off Susie Creek Road. The widow of a rancher, she owned our little cabin, the newly built cabin across the road, and a big ranch home up the hill. Our cabin was a gift from her husband, her artist’s retreat, that he built for her while she was away one ski season. She graciously showed us around her land and encouraged us to explore its hidden treasures.
Montana—aptly named from the Spanish word “montaña” meaning “mountain”—was a hiker’s paradise. Our first hike was just north of Big Timber in the nearby Crazy Mountains. Our climb was lush with flora, wildflowers, and water running everywhere from the melting snow. The final stretch of the trail to Lower Twin Lake was covered in snow up to the lip of the lake itself. There, we met a small party of hikers where a woman, Kelly, was watercoloring the view of the Crazies’ angular peaks. After admiring her work, she offered to mail me the finished painting…and she did!
We visited Grand Teton National Park to hike the popular, 10-mile Surprise and Amphitheater Lakes Trail. Again, we hiked through snow on the final leg of the ascent to find a phenomenal glacial lake, still frozen at the end of June.
For the long Fourth of July weekend, we spent two nights and three days in Yellowstone National Park. We drove down Friday night and stayed in a cabin at Canyon Lodge near the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River. On Saturday, we hiked along the Canyon Rim South Trail to Artist Point and explored Lamar Valley in the northeast corner of the park. On Sunday, we visited the volcanic hot spot attractions: Norris Geyser Basin, Grand Prismatic Spring, Upper Geyser Basin, and our national treasure, Old Faithful. That night we stayed in a cabin at the Old Faithful Lodge. Monday, we hiked through Hayden Valley Pass before heading home.
Our final weekend, we drove about five hours north to Glacier National Park. At this point in the pandemic, the Blackfeet Nation closed off road access to the park's east entrances and high country snow kept Going-to-the-Sun Road, the only route through the heart of Glacier National Park, closed to visitors too. Because we booked a night at Granite Park Chalet, we were able to take a shuttle van beyond the closure and then hike up the Loop Trail to begin our chalet adventure. The views from the chalet and surrounding hikes were absolutely awe-inspiring.
We also made a very special trip to Anaconda, Montana to find some of Shane’s roots. We visited the grave of Shane’s great-great grandfather, James Gartland, and his daughter, Catherine Gartland-Hamill. James and his daughter came to Anaconda from their corner of County Monaghan, Ireland. In preparation for our visit, Shane reached out to distant relatives to learn as much about Anaconda and the location of James’s gravesite at Mount Carmel Cemetery as he could. He found a digital newspaper clipping of James's death notice.
James's son, Owen, also came to America but returned to the family farm after his brother died. Owen was father to Margaret Hand, Shane’s granny, and I am so grateful for his return to tend to the farm and start a family.
After the cemetery, we visited the town’s smelter smoke stack and historic buildings. At one point, the smelter was the largest masonry structure in the world - taller than the National Monument in Washington, DC! Many of the buildings constructed during James's lifetime are now National Historic Landmarks, like the City Hall and County Courthouse. The buildings are so beautiful in part because Marcus Daly—the Irishman from Ballyjamesduff, County Cavan who founded Anaconda—had lobbied to move the state capitol from Helena to Anaconda. He was a very ambitious man!
It is amazing how this corner of the country electrified and lit America in the 20th century. And yet, the legacy of Marcus Daly and the copper industry is mixed. The harm to the health of the residents and environment will be seen for generations. We learned that Anaconda was deemed a superfund site—an extremely contaminated and hazardous area—by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Shane’s cousin Julie shared this article about how Anaconda and Butte have higher rates of cancer and other diseases than other Montana counties.
On our way home from Anaconda, we stopped at the Berkeley Pit in the city of Butte. It is a giant pit with over 10,000 miles of twisting and turning underground tunnels. It was really unhealthy for the environment and community so they closed the Berkeley Pit in 1982. The community has allowed the pit to fill with rainwater that is filtered and considered the cleanest drinking water in the state of Montana.
Aside from our adventuring, Shane turned 31 while we were in Montana. With a little help from Phyllis, I decorated our cabin Lord of the Rings-themed and baked him a cake inspired by the One Ring to rule them all.
I also started a new job with eBay Foundation on June 10, 2020. I was lucky to be unemployed for such a short period and grateful to my former SVCF friend and colleague, Sarah, for helping me land the gig at eBay while she went out on maternity leave.
When people ask us now about our favorite place from our 2020-2022 North America adventuring, I always say Montana. Montana in the summertime.
