The Craft Beer Brewers of US Route 89

If given a choice at the end of a day on the road, I prefer to visit a local brew pub to sample whatever is on tap and enjoy a meal. Fortunately, there are ample opportunities on US Route 89 for such simple pleasures. By my count, there are at least twenty-eight microbreweries and brew pubs along the way.

My quest for a better beer began at about the same time as my travels on 89. My enjoyment of mass produced American lagers had wained. Then on a trip to Flagstaff we had dinner with friends at Beaver Street Brewery where I had my first pint of R&R Oatmeal Stout. What a revelation that was. I didn’t know that beer could have such flavor and add so much to a meal.

Since then I have made a point of finding the local craft beer brewers during our trips on highway 89. Craft beer brewing in the United States has been on a steady growth curve for the last decade as the graphic from the Brewers Association shows. The blossoming of brewers on 89 is testament to that fact. Each one has there special brews, many of which have been awarded metals at craft beer competitions.

I have compiled a list of microbreweries and brew pubs along US Route 89. Having visited many of them, I can attest to the goodness of their beers. In future blog posts, I will provide details about the individual craft brewers and review my favorite ales and lagers. In the meantime, add any brewers that I have overlooked to the comments and let me know about your favorite brew.

Glacier National Park Webcams

Glacier National Park at the northern end of US Route 89 has perhaps the most beautiful views of the Rocky Mountains in the U. S. Thanks to a series of webcams you can enjoy the scenery all year ‘round. The park has set up eight cameras that broadcast continuously over the internet from various locations including one of our favorites, Two Medicine Lake.

Visiting the webcams is a great way to see what is happening at Glacier without leaving the comfort of your home when the weather is cold and stormy. The views show scenes of snow covered mountains and frozen lakes in winter. The cameras are also useful when you are planning a trip to Glacier and are uncertain of the weather conditions.

Be sure and check out the camera trained on an osprey nest. It is currently unoccupied but will be exciting to watch when the osprey return in May. Last year the pair had three chicks and were on the nest until September. We’ll keep our eye on that camera and post to the US Route 89 Appreciation Society Facebook page when the birds are back.

Five Outstanding Scenic Drives on US Route 89

National Geographic selected US Route 89 as the #1 Drivers’ Drive in the world in its recently published book, Drives of a Lifetime: 500 of the World’s Most Spectacular Trips. Having driven over 20,000 miles on Highway 89, I couldn’t agree more. I have my favorite sections that I look forward to on our road trips and here is my list of the top five. I selected these places not only because they are fun to drive but also because they are outstanding examples of the variety of landscapes along US 89.

1) Pinal Pioneer Parkway, Arizona

From Oracle Junction north of Tucson to Florence, this 42-mile section of historic US 89 (now AZ 79) is known as the Pinal Pioneer Parkway. Crossing the high Sonoran desert, the road is lined with ancient many-armed saguaro cactus and forests of chain fruit cholla. Black Mountain dominates the view to the east and in the distance are the the Tortilla Mountains. To the south, the peaks of the Santa Catalina Mountains rise to over 9000 feet. Spring and fall are the best times for this drive when wildflowers and cactuses are in bloom. At the mid-point of the drive is a memorial to the cowboy actor, Tom Mix, who died in a car crash nearby in 1940.

See the Nogales to Tucson Road Trip Guide for more points of interest on this section of US Route 89.

2) Oak Creek Canyon, Arizona

Oak Creek flows south from the edge of the Colorado Plateau through Sedona to the Verde River. The 16-mile stretch of historic US 89A (now AZ 89A) from Sedona to the Oak Creek Vista Overlook takes the traveler through a wonderland of creek-side cottonwood and sycamore trees. Oak Creek has cut down through ancient layers of sandstone and limestone forming red and white cliffs that tower above the road. There are a number of parking areas and campgrounds that give access to the creek for hiking and picnicing. The switchbacks at the head of Oak Creek Canyon mark the transition from the lowland desert and the central mountains of Arizona on to the Colorado Plateau.

See the 89A-Prescott to Flagstaff Road Trip Guide for more points of interest on this section of US Route 89.

3) Logan Canyon National Scenic Byway, Utah

Logan Canyon is 40-mile stretch of US Route 89 between Logan in the Cache Valley and Garden City on the shore of Bear Lake. From the Wasatch-Cache National Forest boundary east of Logan, the road climbs steadily alongside the Logan River until it reaches the summit at the Bear Lake overlook. The forest-lined drive offers many places to stop for a picnic or to camp for an extended stay. The canyon is also renowned for its display of brightly colored fall foliage. From the summit, US 89 drops quickly to the shore of Bear Lake.

See the Brigham City to Montpelier Road Trip Guide for more points of interest on this section of US Route 89.

4) Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming

For 45 miles US Route 89 lies inside Grand Teton National Park. Ten overlooks and picnic areas line the highway, providing spectacular views of the jagged eastern face of the Teton Range. Each is a photographer’s delight, with the Snake River in the foreground in the southern stretch, and Jackson Lake reflecting the mountains in the north. Although the road is open year-round, the most colorful time to drive it is in the fall when the leaves are turning and the air is crisp and clear.

See the Jackson to Gardiner Road Trip Guide for more points of interest on this section of US Route 89.

5) Kings Hill Scenic Byway, Montana

Passing through the Lewis and Clark National Forest, this 71-mile long section of US 89 winds its way along mountain streams through the Little Belt Mountains. Along the road are many outdoor recreation opportunities from fly fishing in the summer to snowmobiling in the winter. One of the highlights is a short hike to Memorial Falls located about a mile and a half south of the town of Neihart. Sluice Boxes State Park is near the northern end of the scenic byway. This primitive state park contains the remains of mines, a railroad and historic cabins lining Belt Creek through a beautiful canyon carved in limestone. A seven-mile long trail winds through the park giving access to its rich history and spectacular geologic features.

See the White Sulphur Springs to Great Falls Road Trip Guide for more points of interest on this section of US Route 89.

Do you have a favorite scenic drive on US Route 89? Tell your fellow travelers about in the comments section below.

Traveling to Montana? The One Book to Read Before You Go

Reading This House of Sky by Ivan Doig will make your trip to Montana a richer and more rewarding experience. Doig’s memoir of growing up in the Smith River Valley on the eastern slopes of the Rocky Mountains captures the essence of what it means to be a Westerner and he paints a vivid picture of this beautiful, rugged and sometimes harsh part of America.

I first heard of Doig when we stopped in White Sulphur Springs last spring and met Sarah Calhoun at Red Ants Pants. Sarah explained that her decision to locate her business in White Sulphur Springs was based on reading This House Sky in which Doig describes in loving detail the town where he grew up in the 1940’s:

“The plainest fact I found, so plain that is seemed to me then it never could change, was that White Sulphur totally lived on livestock. All the places I liked best had the sounds and smells and feels which came one way or another from the herds and flocks out on the leathered slopes of grassland.”

Doig recounts a way of life among the open spaces on the edge of the Great Plains where hard working folks scrambled to make a living herding cattle or flocks of sheep. After reading his prose, when you drive along the Smith River Valley from Clyde Park to White Sulphur Springs and look off in the distance at the ranches, you have a greater appreciation for the people who continue in a tradition that has all but vanished.

Doig’s mother died when he was six and he was raised by his father, Charlie, and his maternal grandmother, Bessie Ringer. They moved often trying one venture after another, eventually landing in Dupuyer north of Great Falls near the Blackfeet Reservation. After graduating from high school there he went on the to earn a Ph.D. and embark on a career in journalism. But memories of his childhood and the realization that the way of life he know was disappearing prompted him to write This House of Sky. Since its publication, it has been heralded as one of the great books of Western American literature.

It is obvious from reading This House of Sky that the author is proud of his heritage and he conveys the love of the land and the people who settled it with elegance and wit. Read it and then go experience the place for yourself.

Sweetgrass Documents the Last Sheep Drive in Montana

The documentary film, Sweetgrass, by Ilisa Barbash and Lucien Castaing-Taylor, captures a year in the life of a sheepherding family in the Rocky Mountains of southern Montana. The film is a tribute to a way of life that has passed into history. After four generations of driving their flocks into the Absaroka Beartooth Wilderness, the Allested family sold the ranch near Big Timber along with the sheep.

With no voice-over narration or background music, the filmmakers let the images and natural sounds speak for themselves. Sweetgrass opens in winter with scenes of a herd of sheep grazing in snow-covered fields accompanied by the sound of wind, sheep munching their food and the clanging of the bell on the bellwether. It progresses through shearing into the spring lambing season.

The heart of the film follows the 150 mile trek of the sheep into high mountain pastures and stays with the herders through the summer months. The beauty of this rugged country is juxtaposed with the unrelenting hard work of tending the sheep and keeping them safe from bears and wolfs. By using radio microphones to record the sheepherders, the filmmakers reveal their inner thoughts as they go about their lonely business.

One of the most memorable scenes in Sweetgrass is a long shot of a green pasture dotted with sheep. The camera remains motionless and the ambient sound is the peaceful chirping of birds and a gentle wind. The baaing of the sheep is heard softly from a great distance. Even though it is hard to see the sheepherder, his voice is recorded over the scene as he tries to move the sheep up a slope. He is angry and frustrated with the herd and swears at them in language that is seldom heard in the movies. It was almost painful to listen to. That scene is by followed a close-up of the same herder talking on his cell phone to his mother complaining about his loneliness and his aching body.

The film ends with the sheep being driven back down the mountain. The contrast in mood with the scenes in the mountains is striking as the herders sing to their flock gently encouraging them to keep moving.

Sweetgrass is available to rent from Netflix. Click here for the Sweetgrass website.

Panoramic Photography

I have been making panoramic photographs for about 25 years. Until recently, I shot panoramas with a special camera that exposed a piece of film that is 2.25 inches by 6.75 inches and an angle of view of about 90 degrees. I love that format and the richness of detail that is capture on the large piece of film.

Now that I’ve made the switch to digital capture, I am taking a different approach to the panoramic image. Instead of a single exposure, I’m making a series of overlapping exposures and merging them together. This method gives me the freedom to determine how wide a view I make. I can also choose whether to shoot with a wide angle lens or to zoom in closer.

To maximize the effectiveness of the multiple exposure method of making panoramic photographs, it is important to keep the camera level and to rotate around the center of the lens. That is where the Nodal Ninja tripod head comes in. The Nodal Ninja positions the camera precisely and allows me to shoot quickly.

During the road trip, I kept the Nodal Ninja assembled next to my camera bag in the back of the car. That way I could set it up quickly when the scene was right for a panorama. Also, it is light weight enough that I could stash it my camera bag on hikes. Here are some examples of what is possible with multiple exposure panoramics.

Border to Border

We arrived at the Canadian border today, twenty-one days after leaving Nogales, Arizona. We have driven over 3,500 miles so far.

I find myself looking back and trying to remember all of the places we’ve been and the people we’ve met. I have to look at my photos to refresh my memory. But one thing is for sure. The contrast between the two borders could not be greater. When I was looking through the photographs I took this morning, I choose this one looking south from the Canadian border at Piegen, Montana. I love the big sky and the Rocky Mountains on the horizon.

Here is the view at the Mexican border in Nogales looking north.