Hiking to discover the beauty of nowhere
Kate Heston rafts during a backpacking trip on August 18, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Ron Rydelle Ramos picks huckleberries along a trail in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips and Ron Rydelle Ramos pick huckleberries along a trail in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Ron Rydelle Ramos, from Hawaii, waits out the storm under a tree on a backpacking trip. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips cuts an apple into his oatmeal for breakfast during a backpacking trip. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Ron Rydelle Ramos, from Hawaii, sits by a campfire while on a backpacking trip. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
The moon rises as the sun sets over an alpine lake in the Swan Range. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Hiking above Holland Lake, near Condon. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Enzo, the German Shepherd, and Kate Heston before they backpack in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
The moon rises as the sun sets over an alpine lake in the Swan Range. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
The moon rises as the sun sets over an alpine lake in the Swan Range. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Backpacking dinner. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston rafts during a backpacking trip on August 18, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Indian paintbrush flowers along the trail in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston rafts during a backpacking trip on August 18, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
The campsite set up during a backpacking trip in the Swan Range. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
A frog swims in an alpine lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
An alpine lake above Upper Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Ron Rydelle Ramos, from Hawaii, on a backpacking trip in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, and his dog Juniper, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Upper Holland Lake from above. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Huckleberry picking along the trail in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Between the thousands of acres of heavily forested lands and the rolling mountain ranges in every direction, this rich corner of Northwest Montana can be a great place to find an escape from daily life.
But to get into the middle of nowhere, where the only sentiment of humanity’s existence is in the sound of a distant airplane soaring across the night sky, it often requires some miles on your feet with a heavy pack on your back.
I had the opportunity to go on a backpacking trip in Montana for the first time with Glacier Hikes and Bikes, a locally owned guiding business that specializes in backcountry adventures and bike trips.
The goal, according to owner Brandon Phillips, is to help people experience that feeling of being surrounded by only the natural world.
“I think there is a lot of chaos in today’s world and when you simplify things in life, like down to what you need to eat and where you are sleeping that night, I think you get more to the root of life,” Phillips said on the trip. “When you simplify it, I think you can find a lot more joy in it.”
I backpacked once in high school during a weeklong trip in Colorado. Our group was large and our weight was distributed among us all, making the packs not too insufferable to carry. It was one of the highlights of my outdoor experience repertoire, so taking off with a pack in the Montana wilderness excited me once again.
Our day began in a Toyota Tacoma, driving two hours south to Holland Lake, a popular destination for hiking and boating in the Flathead National Forest near Condon, one of many entrances to the middle of nowhere. Phillips was leading a trip for Ron Rydelle Ramos, a 27-year-old from Oahu, Hawaii. I got to tag along.
Phillips, Ramos and I, once we arrived at the trailhead, slung our packs onto our backs, taking off on an almost 8-mile jaunt — with nearly 3,500 feet of elevation gain.
My pack, borrowed from Phillips, held my three-person Walmart Ozark tent (not a backpacking tent, but still pretty light,) my 40-degree backpacking sleeping bag, a sleeping bag liner, a sleeping pad, clothes, water, and food to last me around 15 miles and two days. Phillips and Ramos each carried their own packs with backpacking tents, pack rafts and much of the same little items that I had.
Phillips brought his golden retriever, Juniper. I also took with me two German shepherds who belong to my partner, partly because I wanted the “bear alarm” protection and partly because it's the exact thing that these pups like to do.
Together, the six of us — three humans and three dogs — took off.
It took us a few hours to climb to Upper Holland Lake. The hike itself, although a bit long, wasn’t the most difficult. But when you add a 50-pound backpack, I discovered, even walking on a flat section of pavement can be a challenge.
We arrived at Upper Holland at around 2:30 p.m. I ate my prepacked turkey sandwich for lunch, along with a Liquid IV and a couple peanut butter M&Ms. We had finished roughly 5 miles and had 2 more to go, both with most of the elevation gain.
While we sat at the lake, it began to rain, which quickly turned into hail. We huddled under a tree and let the storm pass, which didn’t take too long. It left behind small pieces of ice, muddy trails and a fully clear sky.
Our climb up began shortly after. Bright red Indian paintbrush, pink fireweed and yellow glacier lilies filled the alpine meadow. Huckleberry bushes surrounded us on both sides, and we constantly stopped to pick them. By the end of the trip, I had a full Nalgene to bring home.
At around 6 p.m., we arrived at our campsite for the night. When we came over the small ridge and saw the still, clear lake we were camping on, we all high-fived — a full day of hiking with a full reward of gratitude.
“To provide someone with an experience that they’ve never had before is incredible, it's cool to get to show people that there is more to the world than the places we’re from,” Phillips said.
From Arlington, Texas, Phillips started his guiding company this year to expand that passion. In the past, Phillips has been drawn to outdoor activity, from completing the Appalachian Trail to summitting many peaks in Glacier National Park.
Currently, Glacier Hikes and Bikes, based out of Whitefish, focuses on E-Bike tours on Going-to-the-Sun Road, pack raft trips to various lakes around Flathead Valley and guided hikes in the area. Phillips ultimately hopes to expand the backpacking aspect of his business and looks forward to one day leading groups of students, forming an educational component.
“Being outside is just something that I really enjoy,” Phillips said. “I want to be able to create that same experience for other people to enjoy too.”
Ramos has been visiting a friend in Kalispell for the past month to learn carpentry skills. Born and raised in Hawaii, he had never been on a backpacking trip. Out of curiosity, he reached out to Phillips to talk options.
“I’ve never done backpack hiking before,” Ramos said after the trip. “But I got to say it was one of coolest experiences ever. It was a little bit challenging, but every moment of the hike was unforgettable.”
We spent Friday afternoon rafting on the lake, setting up our camp and exploring our home for the night. We slept on a peninsula of sorts, at around 7,000 feet up, and the mountains that surrounded us reflected on the lake water as if it were a mirror. The dogs spent the afternoon swimming and napping.
For dinner, we used the camp stove and made a freeze-dried curry meal from Kalispell’s RightOnTrek. We hung our food afterward away from our camp — a task I had never done before but a necessity in grizzly country.
We lit a small fire next to the lake when the sun went down and the air chilled. We sat, bellies full and backs sore, and talked about the day. When it came time to lay down in bed, sleep came easy. The moon was nearly full, giving us a little bit of light among what otherwise would be pitch black.
Me and the dogs, Ajax and Enzo, slept until 7:30 a.m. when the sun rose. It was a chilly night, and I was immediately thankful I added a sweatshirt, along with my puffy, into my pack at the last minute.
We packed up camp, made oatmeal and coffee, explored a bit more and then started our descent out.
Putting the pack back on Saturday morning meant we were leaving our mountain oasis, walking back into a world where we have responsibilities beyond frolicking in the woods.
The hike down was quicker than the hike up, but our already sore bodies felt the impact. We arrived back to the car and by 6 p.m., I was home, ready to do a load of laundry, shower and get in bed.
As I lay in bed, scrolling through my photos from the weekend, I was in awe of the adventure we had and with a new appreciation for Montana’s hidden places.
What a place to live if you’re looking to get lost, intentionally, in the middle of nowhere.
Reporter Kate Heston can be reached at kheston@dailyinterlake.com or 758-4459.
Ron Rydelle Ramos picks huckleberries along a trail in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Ron Rydelle Ramos, from Hawaii, waits out the storm under a tree on a backpacking trip. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips cuts an apple into his oatmeal for breakfast during a backpacking trip. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Ron Rydelle Ramos, from Hawaii, sits by a campfire while on a backpacking trip. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
The moon rises as the sun sets over an alpine lake in the Swan Range. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Hiking above Holland Lake, near Condon. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Enzo, the German Shepherd, and Kate Heston before they backpack in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
The moon rises as the sun sets over an alpine lake in the Swan Range. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
The moon rises as the sun sets over an alpine lake in the Swan Range. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Backpacking dinner. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston rafts during a backpacking trip on August 18, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Indian paintbrush flowers along the trail in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Kate Heston rafts during a backpacking trip on August 18, 2024. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
The campsite set up during a backpacking trip in the Swan Range. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
A frog swims in an alpine lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
An alpine lake above Upper Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Ron Rydelle Ramos, from Hawaii, on a backpacking trip in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, and his dog Juniper, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Upper Holland Lake from above. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Huckleberry picking along the trail in the Flathead National Forest. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)
Brandon Phillips, owner of Glacier Hikes and Bikes, on an overnight pack raft trip around Holland Lake. (Kate Heston/Daily Inter Lake)