Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the city. But what goes up must come down, and when Bill Johnson (widely con-
sidered to have been the first hang gliding pilot in the state) landed on top of the uni-
versity fieldhouse, reports of a plane crash swiftly clogged the emergency services
switchboard. When the fire department arrived, Johnson had broken down his glider,
packed it neatly in a bag, and even asked the firefighters for help getting down. The
firefighters were too busy scanning the scene for a crashed plane to realize that they
were aiding Johnson in his getaway.
The sport took hold in the state in the 1970s when gear was cheap and mostly
homemade. By October 2006 the number of launches off Mount Sentinel gave pause
to Missoula's air traffic controllers, who feared a plane-versus-glider crash, and the
area was closed to flight for nearly a year. The state's hang glider pilots joined with
people in Missoula who appreciated the life and color that the sport brought to town,
and in July 2007 Mount Sentinel opened again to hang gliding. The
Montana Hang
Gliding and Paragliding Club
(406/239-2817,
www.hangglidemt.com
)
is actively
working to secure launch sites in the valley.
Local pilot Jeff Shapiro from
Five Valley Hang Gliding
(406/531-1955,
www.fivevalleyhanggliding.com
)
keeps the sport alive with his own gravity-defying
flights as well as tandem flights ($175) for the curious and lesson packages ($1,200).
On a windy day in Missoula, there may not be a more unique way to see the city and
the valleys around it.
There are also more than 150 miles of cross-country ski trails in the
Lolo National
Forest
(406/329-3750 or 866/377-8642,
www.fs.fed.us/r1/lolo
)
.
Fishing
While access to the Clark Fork River right in town is easy, the river is still recovering from
decades of pollution. Better bets are the Bitterroot River, the Blackfoot River, and Rock
Creek. One guiding outfit that does them all is
Classic Journey Outfitters
(877/327-7878,
www.classicjourneyoutfitters.com
,
$495 full-day float, $375 half-day float, multi-day trips
with lodging are available). Owner Joe Cummings grew up fishing on a ranch in nearby
Stevensville and left to play professional football. But his heart has always been where the
big, wild trout are. He and his guides fish year-round, have a passion for dry flies, and know
the area backward and forward. Another guide who is a phenomenal naturalist in addition
to being a world-class fishing instructor is Tom Jenni of
Tom Jenni's Reel Montana
(406/
