New edition of guidebook for Flathead Valley hikes released

The popular guidebook, “Day Hikes Around the Flathead,” originally came out in 1999. Local author Stormy Good Monod recently released the 25th anniversary edition that highlights over 120 hiking trails in the Valley.  

“I've been so happy people respond to it positively,” Good said of her book. “I'm trying to add (trails) all the time and I try to re-hike each trail between updates.” 

In the book, trails are organized into seven sections: Glacier National Park, the Galton Range, the Swan Crest, the Great Bear Wilderness and South Fork, the Whitefish Range, the Mission Mountains, Salish Mountains and Valley hikes.  

For each hike, Good includes a map, the difficulty of the hike, elevation gain, total distance and whether dogs are permitted. Directions to the trailheads are clear and, for some hikes, Good suggests a place, other than the trailhead, to park so the vehicle is closer to the end of the hike. 

The 25th anniversary edition features 18 hikes that were not in the previous book. One of them is the Tuchuck Ridge in the North Fork, one of Good’s favorite places. It is one of the more remote, challenging hikes in the book. 

“You follow the ridge all the way and if you want, climb Tuchuck Mountain and come down another path. It's a beautiful day hike,” Good said. “It's challenging, though, because they haven’t maintained the trail on Tuchuck Ridge, so you have to look for cairns and rocks and keep up high.” 

The hikes are listed in the back of the book by degree of difficulty and all the hikes are easy to find in the alphabetized index. 

Good includes children-friendly hikes, suggests the best seasons for some hikes, offers tips for happy hiking and gives some history of places and names. 

“Ten Lakes has been a wilderness study area since 1977,” Good said, speaking of the history of some areas. “Senator Lee Metcalf said many times he should have made it wilderness, and Jewel Basin, same thing. 

“The Jewel Basin Road was put in because they wanted to drill for oil up there,” she added. “At the head of Bowman Lake, there is actually an oil rig. It’s still there. It’s in the water.” 

On page 11, Good gives tips for traveling in bear and cougar country. She said bear spray is necessary for every hike, not just for the more remote ones. 

“I always carry bear spray,” she said. “I’ve run into bears, mountain lions while running by myself on Skookum’s Loop in the State Trust trails in Happy Valley, so I always carry bear spray.” 

There are no personal stories in Good’s book. Her reason for writing the guidebook was to direct people to the trails so they may have their own experiences and discover their own favorite hikes. 

One of Good’s favorite things about Montana is that it affords breathing room. 

“You can go somewhere and you know others have been there, but it feels like there’s nobody else here,” she said. “Even if you see four or five people you have a shared experience.” 

She removed some hikes from the book that she feels do not need to be advertised because they are remote and should stay that way. 

Good has spent most of her life in Montana, having moved to the Treasure State when she was 13 years old, and now splits her time between Whitefish and Banff, Alberta, Canada.  

“My dad was in the Air Force, so we did move around quite a bit when I was really little,” she said. “My dad worked to try to prevent ATVs from going into the high woods in the Big Belt Mountains in the Great Falls area.” 

Her father’s interest in conservation helped shape Good’s view of wild places and her desire to write the guidebook. Her aim is not to inundate the trails with people, but to encourage people to experience the trails and advocate for them. 

“All it takes is one Congressional act to turn something that is remote … to something that is unrecognizable for the public,” she said. “I hope that people will stand up for those areas.” 

The 25th anniversary edition of Day Hikes Around the Flathead is available in Whitefish at Bookworks, Montana Coffee Traders, Sportsman Ski Haus and the Summit Nature Center at Whitefish Mountain Resort or visit www.flatheadguidebooks.com 

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