Month: January 2019

Eureka Reservoir

Posted on by Daniel in Central Montana, Choteau

I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I didn’t explore as much as I’d have liked when I was a kid living in Central Montana. Now that I’m back, I’m having a blast exploring all the little reservoirs along the Rocky Mountain Front. Dad and I fished Holter Lake for the most part, but never headed up north. I have a long list of lakes and reservoirs I need to photograph (and fish.)

One of my favorites is Eureka. The Front makes a great backdrop, and it’s close to Choteau, so it’s easy to grab lunch on the way up. I was there last summer, and went again a week ago to check out the ice. It was 50ยบ and sunny, but the ice along the edge of the reservoir was still think enough to walk on. The Front didn’t have a lot of snow–hopefully that doesn’t lead to another major fire season–but it still made an amazing backdrop for the reservoir.

The most recent trip involved putting the drone up over the lake. The ice makes incredible patterns against the dark water beneath it.

As with other places I plan to get back to at some point, Eureka Reservoir has its own project page. All future photos will go there.

Eureka Reservoir Project Page

Blackfoot Pathways: Sculpture in the Wild

Posted on by Daniel in Lincoln, Western Montana

When I was a kid, my sister and I would take the Greyhound bus between Missoula and Great Falls. We started out sitting in the front seat so the bus driver could keep an eye on us, but as we got older, we moved further and further back in the bus.

On one trip, there was a bunch of older kids sitting in the last row, so I sat with them. The memory is a bit fuzzy, but I do remember someone having Jack Daniels, so I tried it. Back in those days, you could still smoke in the last few rows of the bus, so that trip consisted of smoking Marlboros and taking sips of whiskey. I learned a lot on those bus trips.

The halfway point between Missoula and Great Falls is Lincoln. The bus stopped at the gas station to pick up new passengers, and let the rest of us off to stretch our legs. If we had a little cash, my sister and I would go in and get a candy bar or something to drink, always mindful of the time. We didn’t want the bus to leave without us.

Up until two weekends ago, that’s all Lincoln was to me–a stop between Missoula and Great Falls. I’ve driven that route a thousand times, but recently I’ve been noticing a sign on the side of the highway just east of Lincoln: Blackfoot Pathways. I looked it up online, and decided I need to stop on one of my trips to check it out.

For various reasons, that never happened. I was either in a hurry, or didn’t think about it until I had passed the turnoff. But the other weekend, friends invited me to their cabin near Lincoln. So it was the perfect time to check it out.

It’s surreal. A sculpture exhibit in (what feels like) the middle of the nowhere. The sculptures themselves are amazing. Made of wood and metal and other media native to the area. There are information boards near each sculpture that tells you a little about the artist and the art. I highly recommend going in the winter when there’s snow on the ground. Granted, I haven’t seen it in the summer yet, (it’s on the list for this summer,) but it’s extremely cool covered in snow.

More information about Sculpture in the Wild

Since I’m planning on going back, I created a project page for this location. All current and future photos can be viewed at the link below.

PROJECT GALLERY