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Hamilton, Montana to Dillon, Montana
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Miles Driven Today:
203 miles
Total Miles of Trip:
4,327 miles
Hours on the Road:
9:30 hours
Started At:
8:30 am
Stopped for the Day:
6:00 pm
We stopped at a pullout on the downward side of the mountain for a picnic on
the back of Bill and Nellie's car. A rushing stream made a sweep around the pullout and an old dilapidated wooden
aqueduct hung on the mountain on the other side of the water. So much better than sitting inside a cafe eating burgers.
The problem with a road like this one is that, sooner or later, you have to
figure out how to get back to where you are going. In a state like Montana where mountains determine road location, you can do a
lot of wandering around on back roads to get anywhere. We wound up driving 200 miles today, with two passes above 7,000 feet (and one
nearly 7,000 feet) to get here. Was it worth it for the morning on Shalkaho? Yes, actually, it was.
My brother Craig has a favorite saying: "Not all who wander are lost." I thought of that as we spent the day wandering around Western Montana. When we left Hamilton this morning, we decided to go a different way to get to
Dillon, our destination for tonight. Instead of the state highway, a scenic by-way from Hamilton would take us over
the Shalkaho Pass (7,260 feet) on 25 miles of dirt road. Ben and Bill Howell share the same feelings about dirt roads so off we went. The desk clerk at the motel told us that it was a beautiful drive and well worth
the difficulty. She was right. It was stunning! And, although it was higher than the roads we drove at Glacier National Park, it
wasn't as steep as the road up Big Mountain. The road wound through pine forests and rocky outcroppings, alongside the
Shalkaho Creek, until we started climbing and left the river below. Near the mid-way point, we passed the awe-inspiring Shalkaho Falls which you
will see pictured below. We expected to be the only people on the road but found it was a fairly popular
site on a Sunday morning.
Driving it Home
Montana Majestic Mountain T Tour
On The Road Again
Yellowstone then Home
