Cary Jo Hofstad

Labor Day weekend is coming! Schools in the valley have started, some of the tourist traffic is easing up. Weather should be great this weekend to squeeze in one of the last outdoor activities for the season.

We took 2 horses camping last weekend to Meadow Creek at the south end of Hungry Horse Reservoir. A long gravel road took us to awesome horse camping. See the photo below of the gorge. Watched some Forest Service mule trains take off to the Bob Marshall Wilderness. Others were packing in supplies to get ready for hunting season. The "Bob" is the largest wilderness area in the lower 48 and we feel so fortunate to have it out our back door.

Events coming up: Olympia Dukakis opens with the Alpine Theater Project the play she wrote based on Shakespeare's The Tempest. Looking forward to seeing that next week. Look on line at www.alpinetheaterproject.org. The annual Parade of Homes is next weekend. Flathead Building Association sponsors this tour of the valley's newest homes. From Polson to Kalispell, Bigfork to Columbia Falls and Whitefish the tour is of varied price ranges and all must see homes.

Have a great weekend and enjoy the end of summer!

Meadow Creek gorge

Boy did we have an interesting week last week. Higher areas in the valley got 5" of snow, while we on the valley floor got enough wet stuff to bend over the lilacs and tree branches. It was gone very quickly but even though it disappeared, there was a lot of grumbling about the weather and potential garden damage as well as the cherry crops being effected. By Friday we were in the high 60's to 70's and it just gets nicer everyday. Makes us all want to run out and enjoy the sun in case it doesn't last.
Tis the season for motor homes and all assortments of r.v.'s and license plates. Glacier Park isn't open through Logan's pass yet. Record snow accumulations is making that hard going. There will be a 75th anniversary of the park the end of June.
Our team has 4 groups of out of state buyers just in the next week and a half - another sign of summer.
We had a brisk wind on Flathead Lake Sunday for our shake down sail. Actually made it around Cromwell Island which doesn't happen everyday since Wild Horse Island blocks the breeze.
So - get out there and enjoy the summer, it officially starts in just a few days!

Is this Spring or what! We have either been above normal in our temperatures or below, nothing normal about the weather. Thunder showers in the afternoons - and yes we do need the rain - sets us to whining about where is summer when it is not supposed to be summer yet!

With this kind of fickle weather, it is ride that horse when it is nice out weather and DON"T wait until tomorrow. My first trail ride is tomorrow but I have been riding my horses at home and taking some lessons already.

Sailboat should be in the lake soon to add to the summer fun. For those outside our valley "the lake" is Flathead Lake. "The Park" is of course. We have many lakes and many parks but those are "the" ones most often spoken of. Just like there are many mountains, but going to "the" mountain is formerly Big Mountain, now called Whitefish Ski Resort.

Speaking of Whitefish Ski Resort, season passes are on sale for $535 if you purchase before September. I am definitely taking advantage of that. Ski 10x and it is paid for.

So, as always, planning ahead for the seasonal changes. Don't miss out on summer, it is one of the best!

Horseback season has arrived! I have been getting the horses back in shape which entails diets for most. Riding in the outdoor arena to work out any bugs before hitting the trail. My 3 year old gelding has gone off for more under saddle training.

Former President Clinton recently stopped at Flathead Valley Community College to campaign for his wife. He was characteristically late but the crowd was elated to have a former president visit our valley anyway.

Our record snowpack had a quick melt when the temps were in the 80's last weekend. Rivers rose with some lowland flooding. We drove up to West Glacier yesterday to see what the Middle fork of the Flathead River looked like. Swirling fast moving water was fun to watch from a bridge at West Glacier. We then attended a lecture and slide presentation by a local who moved here from Japan many years ago to study mountain goats. It was a very entertaining talk with his stories of camping throughout winter in a tent in the depths of the park to study and photograph the goats. Eventually bringing his wife and baby daughter to spend years learning more about these animals.

Kohls department store is soon to break ground in Kalispell, followed by PetSmart and some other retailers. Last weekend saw MANY Alberta and B.C. Canada visitors shopping and golfing in the valley during their Victoria Day 3 day weekend.

It is now safe to plant the annuals outside, everything is green and the flowers are something I look forward to every year. I purchased some hardy roses to add to my yard and will be busy moving some spruce trees so they can benefit from rain showers.

Take care and more next week!

We are all hoping Spring is here for good! With the weather going back and forth between winter and summer, the leaves are finally daring to appear on the tree lined streets of Kalispell!

I rode one of my Rocky Mountain horses for the first time so far this weekend. She was perfectly behaved and it was so nice to be sitting on a horse in the sunshine again.

Donut update: The lawsuit filed by the City of Whitefish against Flathead County regarding the donut area around Whitefish being in the county jurisdiction not city, was denied by a judge last week. The city is now trying to figure out what their next step is. The donut area in recent past has been controlled by the city of Whitefish as far as planning, zoning and growth go. Those who live within the donut have not vote over city matters. Flathead County maintains it should be their say that goes not the city. We'll see if the disagreement continues.

Snow in the high mountains is finally melting and the rivers are coming up. I am looking forward to Flathead Lake filling to full pool so we can get our sailboat in. This is not usually until the first of June or so. The lake is controlled by a dam at the south end to make flooding less likely to happen.

Buyer activity: starting to see some out of state buyers - real buyers - coming into the area at long last. Building has slowed significantly as sales have slowed. Spec building will be behind when the market suddenly picks up. For the time being it is still a buyers market but that could change once buyers realize now is the time and inventory starts ticking off. Prices are not going to change drastically here as they have in some parts of the country, we just did not have the crazy appreciation they did. Some seller's have reduced prices to where they need to be to be competitive but there are very few true hardship cases out there.

Don't miss the summer in the Flathead Valley, it is superior!!