First in a series of northwest Montana destinations are Whitefish and Big Mountain. Next: Glacier National Park, grizzly bears and all, and then circling the largest natural freshwater lake in the west, roaming the bison range and visiting three Native people’s museums.

No need to wait for snow on Big Mountain to head for Whitefish, Montana, although lots of people do. This ski town pumps in the middle of summer with spectacular flowers, diverse restaurants, non-stop sports, all kinds of different lodging experiences and happy people.

Glacier Country is what westerners like to call this region in Big Sky’s northwest. We filled four interesting days before even going to Glacier National Park, just 24 miles east of Whitefish. Surprising experience to go to a famous place and find so many other things to do that you almost forget about the reason you left home in the first place.

Pack light and move around was our approach in August because we wanted to stay in Whitefish, but also high above this little city of 7,000 people for the Big Mountain views and hikes. We started on the top for five nights and then moved down to the town to try out a homey bed and breakfast, a luxury resort and a friendly inn.

The different personalities of each place made rewearing our jeans and washing our underwear worth the bother.

On Big Mountain, just open the front or back doors at Kandahar Lodge and start skiing in winter or hiking the rest of the year. A half-mile trail gives great views of Flathead Valley; three- and four-mile paths put me in the middle of wonderful wild flowers. The biggest walk is 5.6 miles to the summit, and you can take the lift chair back down.

A short stroll (uphill of course) deposits you in the little village with casual places to eat, a beer hall, shops with Montana memorabilia and the outfitters. There are real estate purveyors too, ready to sell you a million dollar home or lot.

I brought my boots and backpack so the only thing I needed at the outfitters was a ticket to the Walk in the Tree Tops. Wobbly boards with cable handrails are suspended 70 feet above the canopy of cedars and Douglas firs a half-mile hike into the forest, and I wanted to look at these Glacier Country trees from up above.

G.W. doesn’t do heights, so only one $49 ticket was needed. The buddy system is mandatory. Tree top guides hooked me up with a harness and two heavy-duty clips to hook to the cables. The rule is simple and strict according to my leader named Inge: "Never unhook both clips at the same time."

Navigating around the trees was tricky even with my long legs; parents had to lift children when the path angled. The boards are held 70 feet up, attached with a clever system of slings; not a single hole was bored in these trees.

The woods on Big Mountain also can be seen with 20-minute hikes guided by Forest Service rangers. "Eighty percent of Big Mountain is Forest Service land," Ranger Jesse Bebb told me. "We like to engage people with informal interpretation, talking about what interests them."

I checked out her free backpack filled with guide books, scavenger hunt lists, scat-tracking photos to see if a bear was recently on my path, binoculars and bug-catching kits. Too bad I’m not 10 or I could have earned a Junior Ranger badge.

I talked out loud to myself a lot, and sang some in my off-key style, since I was hiking alone and didn’t want to happen up on a bear. Might have been wiser just to go to the Monday night grizzly bear slide show at the lodge.

We did go to dinner at Café Kandahar one night, and breakfast each morning. Huckleberries were in season and a heaping portion on top of pancakes rivaled my backyard Tift blueberries.