The Infamous Boat Tour of Flathead Lake and Wildhorse Island

It was raining and blowing when we got up Saturday morning.  We had pre-paid for a late afternoon boat tour of Flathead Lake and Wild Horse Island.  The island is a refuge for wildlife including mountain goats, sheep, elk, deer and of course, herds of wild horses.  The island is by far the most impressive feature of the lake.  It is several hundred acres with sheer cliffs risng over 900 feet. When we made reservations for the trip we had to provide credit card info and it was made clear there would be no refunds unless the weather was such that it might endanger the craft and passengers. After having our morning coffee and breakfast, it looked doubtful the trip would happen. This was the first time the weather had been anything but ideal.

Remarkably the weather cleared in the afternoon, the sun came out, the wind died and it looked like we were good to go.  First on our agenda was an exploratory and shopping trip into the town of Big Fork, Montana. Like so many tourist towns of it's type, Big Fork is a mixture of art stores, botiques, jewelry kiosks and trendy tea shoppes.  Janine uses the term "fu-fu" to describe a kind of "la-te-da" upscale wannabe ambiance.  In other words, every thing is going to cost more at a "shoppe" than at a plain old shop.

We spent the afternoon in and out of the various establishments, usually I was sitting outside on a bench watching the parade of tourists.  Time got away from us and we only had an hour to eat before we were scheduled to board the boat for the tour.  With so many eating establishments you would think that eating in an hour would be no problem.  You would be wrong.  Oddly enough the cafes seem to be divided into those who do lunch and those that serve dinner.  Much to our dismay we learned those serving lunch closed at three and those specializing in dinner did not open until six.  We were trying to eat between the hours of 5 and 6 PM, nothing, I mean nothing was open.  Fortunately we went into the Big Fork Inn, the owner was working and she was great.  She assured us we could eat within an hour and she personally made sure we did just that.  The food was not only quick, it was excellent.  I am always suprised when someone exceeds my expectations and she and her staff certainly did.

Fortunately the Inn was directly across the street from the marina.  So with bags and cooler in tow we made our way to the floating dock.  The owner operator was a local fellow who called himself "Captain Bill."  Like myself, he is folically challenged,  but he compensates by growing the sides into long blond hair. He is probably around 50 years of age, and in my opinion,  may have been on the lake a little too long.  He was just a bit "eccentric," but aren't we all. My first impression of him was skewed by the cap he donned.  A baseball type of cap but with flaps over both ears, and another  flap over his neck.  I am sure it was good protection from the sun but anyone wearing a hat reminding me of a cross between Jungle Jim and Sherlock Holmes, well, let's just say I keep a close eye on them. 

At our agreed upon time of departure we had blue skies, and a glassy lake surface.  Everything was ideal for our four hour tour. (Can anyone hear the theme from Gilligan's island?) I mean the lake is 28 miles long, 15 miles wide and 375 feet deep, this is a big body of water.  And as we were repeatedly reminded, it is the largest, natural, fresh-water lake west of the Mississippi river.  Loading the boat was,,,an adventure.  If you know us, you can imagine.  So after everyone was settled in their assigned seats, Captain Bill cast off.  I don't know the name of the boat but I don't think it was the SS Minnow, but ya just never know.

I am going to have to shorten the minute by minute commentary provided by Cap'n Bill to this, the lake was formed by "glacier scouring" if I heard that term once I heard it, oh say several dozen times.  I also learned that birds and other wildlife despise people who point at them, per our captain.  Who knew? After an hour or so of running, we saw some cliffs containing drawings made by Native Americans centuries earlier.  As an aside, there are a lot of gorgeous houses around the lake that were obviously built without any regard for costs.

Our captain noticed some clouds gathering on the horzion and called the weather service.  Based on their report, he decided to curtail the trip so in spite of two attempts to do so, I still have not seen Wild Horse Island. Janine implored our leader to risk a quick trip around the island but he would not do so.  I have always tended to side with an experienced mariner or pilot when deciding on weather or the safety of thier vessel.  However, looking at the weather on radar and inasmuch as two hours later, not a drop of rain had fallen, I think Janine was probably right.  But a lake that size can be fierce and I had rather be on shore thinking I could have stayed longer than be on the lake wondering if I am going to drown. I've been in both situations, being on shore is better.

We returned to our house, went out on the deck for drinks and to comisserate with each other about our weather shortened trip. However, it is hard to be unhappy about anything while looking at the lake, smelling the evergreens, watching the hummingbirds and listening to "polite crickets."