Montana is a State of Mind (Part III)

In Moose Country


Visiting Troy in full blown summer is a wondrous experience. Gemstone colors like emerald greens and sapphire blues seem the most accurate description of the Troy’s summer palette. Empty, curvy roads are a motorcyclist's heaven with the only dangers being a deer or a breathtaking view popping out. Many bikers, like the last lone riders of the West, crisscross Montana every summer.

Without exaggeration, there are hundreds of bodies of water around Troy. The deceptively calm Kootenai river, named by the Kootenai Indians, meanders through ravines and valleys. Bull Lake with its crown jewel Angel Island, is a pristine lake full of trout and salmon. The mossy marshes of the Bull River Valley are favorite moose spots where they can be seen munching on grass, almost posing for pictures.


The Yaak River Valley, a wildly beautiful area is also a grizzly bear habitat. However, the local expression “surviving the Yaak attack” has nothing to do with bears. It is a badge of honor for staying alive after drinking copious amounts of alcohol in all three Yaak bars: The Golden Nugget, The Yaak Tavern and the famous Dirty Shame Saloon. A popular drink around here is red beer: a beer mixed with tomato juice and spiced up with salt or Tabasco sauce. It might seem like a weird combination, especially served in mason jars but, it is very tasty and thirst-quenching.

The Land of Purple-Tongued People


Huckleberries, stubbornly wild purple berries that grow on mountain ridges, are in season in summer as evident by mounts of Huckleberry jams, jellies, pies, ice creams and shakes. But the Best Dessert prize goes to my mother-in-law and her Huckleberry Pie. The secret is to throw a handful of fresh berries into the filling. They pop in your mouth like caviar beads, so refreshingly tart in a pool of purple sweetness.


Around the family table, we also enjoyed freshly caught trout and apple wood smoked salmon. The famous “smokies”, elk-meat sausages mixed with pork and cheddar cheese, are already gaining cult followers among our friends in Los Angeles. But, the smokies are in short supply and wholly dependent on my father-in-law’s ability and luck to “bag an elk”. For a more steady supply of pastured beef, they raise their own cattle (now, that’s a burger!).

Wild turkeys, morels in spring, and so many other tasty goodies can be found around here. In a place where a doe and her fawn are garden pests, food gets another dimension. It is a part of an eco-system where man does not always come up on the top of the food chain. But, before you get all romantic, Stein’s Market also sells standard stock groceries as well as imported wines and rarities such as Greek Mizithra cheese and Armenian crackers. Life is full of contradictions, shrug the Montanans. The Dirty Shame has been bought by a priest. Cheers!


In the end, the real question for places wishing to develop tourism becomes what kind of a community they would like to live in rather than what kind of a place tourists would like to visit. With all the marketing buzz-words and focus groups, the conclusion is that happy residents make happy visitors wanting to come back. And what are travels without returns to the places and people we love?

Related links: City of Troy, MT, Troy Chamber of Commerce, The Yaak Community , Yaak River Lodge, Linehan Outfitting Company.

Montana is a State of Mind (Part II)

A Dispatch from Big Sky Country

Zero Footprint Travelers

Next to agriculture (surprisingly, considering Montana’s wild west image), tourism is the highest grossing industry in Montana, largely due to the popularity of the majestic Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks. The vast majority of visitors come from the U.S. Western states and only 2% are from overseas. Stately lodges with sprawling vistas and picture-perfect dude ranches have their share of high-end clientele but, things are changing.


Environmental and economic woes, globalization and the Internet brought a new kind of world traveler. Sustainable tourism, or geoturism, is giving communities like Troy a chance to shape their own brand of hospitality with smaller investments. Now, who are the geoturists? From a marketing perspective, they are visitors who strive to enjoy the local bounty and fully embrace the spirit of the community. From the host’s perspective, enthusiastic guests easy to please.

Geoturists are respectful nature admirers rather than adventurers. No need for expensive Survivor-type expeditions followed by even more expensive search and rescue missions. Hiking, bike riding, kayaking and similar activities will suffice. Looking to be inspired and moved by nature, geotourist are also aware of the current economic, social and cultural issues hosts face. The #1 rule of geoturism is that being a guest is a privilege. Spending money in a place is not a license to demand, impose, disregard or abuse in any way. As clichéd as it is, the goal is to be a part of the solution not the problem.

Real World, Real People, Real Food

Generally speaking, geoturists seek authenticity above all. Defining the authenticity is what’s most confusing. One thing is certain, this particular kind of traveler does not look for historical re-enactments. With all due respect to Lewis and Clark, we now live in the 21st century and wander around using GPS. Expecting hosts to remain untouched by societal changes would be equally unrealistic and quite selfish. Everybody is entitled to enjoy the fruits of progress. Finding a balance between the old and the new, development and conservation, is as authentic as it gets today.

When it comes to food, geotourists’ idea of fine dining is a simple meal prepared with fresh, local ingredients. They see cooking as a form of relaxation and are not squeamish about catching, or at least foraging, their own dinner. As pleasures of the table include good company, sharing a meal is preferred. A farmers market and a bistro-type restaurant/bakery cover both gastronomical and social needs of such visitors.


The geotourists look for unpretentious comfort with amenities like quality linens and towels, natural bath and body care and, increasingly, well-equipped kitchens. Wi-Fi access is a must for people who otherwise live on the Internet in spite of their professed longing for an unplugged vacation. Ideally, getting online is reduced to finding local businesses and things to do.

Arts and culture? Not too much fuss either: visiting a county fair, music festival, a craft workshop, learning about the old days and ways from locals themselves over a drink. Chefs and authors like Anthony Bourdain, Alice Waters and Michael Pollan are the most prominent advocates of a slower, if not slow, more direct approach to food and travel.

Next: Troy for Beginners

Montana is a State of Mind (Part I)

A Dispatch from Big Sky Country



I was lucky. Not only are my in-laws great folks, they also live in one the most beautiful places on Earth. I say this easily because landscapes around Troy, a berry of a town (population 1,000) in the Northwest corner of Montana, cannot be more beautiful than they already are. Nestled between steep mountains and the formidable Kootenai River, Troy is, as they like to say, a Gateway to Montana. The lowest in elevation in the whole state and surrounded by many lakes, rivers and creeks, it is a place of almost tropically lush vegetation, mostly evergreen, and equally abundant wildlife.

From the nearest big city of Spokane, WA, the road to Troy leads 140 miles across Northern Idaho, a gorgeous country in itself with many waterfront resorts and vacation spots. Crossing a state border in America is usually nothing more than passing a road sign. The scenery of Idaho, oblivious to human partitions, continues into Montana along U.S. Highway 2. Once a main line between the Eastern shores and the Pacific, the now forgotten road soon becomes narrower and curvier, traffic more sparse, mountains taller, forests thicker. You can hear the silence. Welcome to Montana.

Wild Places, Tender Hearts


The fourth largest state with millions of acres of wilderness, Montana has a population of less than a million. It is no surprise that Montanans take their right to bear arms very seriously. Seeing the might of nature around Troy, even a die-hard gun control advocate would be tempted to conclude more guns are needed here.

Federally protected grizzly bears need not worry: stiff fines and possible jail time are imposed for shooting a grizzly bear, accidentally or intentionally, no exceptions allowed. Not even in self-defense, which is particularly infuriating to nonsense-intolerant Montanans. On the bright side, they joke, you don’t need to outrun the bear, just the person you are with.

For a long time, life in Lincoln County where Troy belongs, revolved around timber, mines, railroads and dams. Eventually, heavy industries took their businesses and jobs away leaving scars on people and soil. The logging industry is now reduced to supplying lumber for trophy houses and lodges. Today’s public taste for environmental issues, while commended, often overlooks the immediate needs of small company towns like Troy and neighboring Libby. Consequently, no one dares to bring lumber mills back in spite of the extensive research in sustainable forestry urging more selective cutting.

As beauty inevitably attracts money, out of state buyers are steadily driving the real estate prices out of reach of ordinary people. Rising property taxes and a lack of employment only accelerated subdivision of existing homesteads. But, selling more land to people who in turn use their money and influence to restrict public access to waterfronts and forests is a risky business. Attacks on public domains are fiercely fought against in Montana as evident by the latest victory for the state in stopping a wealthy developer to trademark Montana’s popular slogan The Last Best Place.

When it comes to tourism, the state is actively pursuing the elusive “high-value, low-impact” visitors, primarily depicting Montana as a place of a spectacular scenic beauty but also friendly and safe.

Next: Getting Tourists without Tourism