The following is a
recount of my recent trip to Red Lodge during Spring Break. It may be a little long, but check it out, it
just may pique your interest to visit an area I feel is a hidden gem for outdoor
enthusiasts.
began on a Sunday in
and I picked up the third member of our entourage, our high school friend and
fellow snowboarder Shayna. We were three
old friends traveling in a Chevy Avalanche packed to the max. We had three snowboards, eight or nine bags,
six pairs of boots and three laptops for homework that surprisingly didn’t get
done. We pointed the truck west on I-94
and our 600-mile journey was underway.
(Now if alcohol was legal for 20-year-olds, we also would
have packed some beer and vodka, but since it’s not legal, obviously we
abstained.)
This was our second year making the
Red Lodge trip and I’ve come to appreciate the drive: Friends catching up,
jamming out to music, and enjoying the scenic views of the Badlands and
For those that fly, you don’t’ know what you’re missing by passing up a
relaxing drive through beautiful countryside.
(On second thought, those who fly miss the never-ending
return drive while I’m missing conference championships, Selection Sunday, and
the first round of the NCAA tournament to sit in a vehicle for an 18-hour
round-trip. Now why did I say I like
driving? Oh yeah… the beautiful scenery
I’ve only seen about 36,000 times.)
We arrived
in Red Lodge about 9 p.m. and after checking into our hotel we began a search
for food. Much to our surprise, the town
had basically shut down. Ah yes, just
like the good old days in high school when the local hangout closed down at
precisely 10 p.m. The grocery store was
closed, restaurants were closed, and the gas stations were closed. Luckily we found a bar and grill still
serving burgers, Foster and
Pub and Grill. A sports bar that offered
half-pound buffalo-burgers for $8. You
simply can’t go wrong with that.
(Of course in
sports bars tune their TV’s to rodeo and hockey. I decided not to offend the locals at the bar
and gritted my teeth through some excruciating rodeo action. Yeeeeeehah.)
Monday
morning we headed up to Red Lodge Mountain Resort for the 9 a.m. opening. A lift ticket was only $30 with a college
ID. Now that’s a bargain. The mountain might not be the size of Big Sky
but for the price it’s definitely worth it.
Red Lodge Resort features 71 trails and slopes of groomed and
non-groomed snow. The temp hit 60
degrees on Monday and if not for the wind we’d have been boardin’ in
t-shirts. We boarded all day and
returned to the hotel (Best Western Lupine Inn) around five in the evening.
(Here again, if drinking was legal, we probably would have
started in on the beer and vodka we “didn’t” pack. Too bad, I’m sure we missed out on some great
games of two-player Red/Black-High/Low and **** the Dealer. After we were drunk, I’m guessing we would
have wandered around town in the middle of the night smoking cigars and
enjoying the fresh mountain-air. But
since drinking is illegal if you’re under 21, I’m sure none of those things
happened.)
For some
unknown reason, we didn’t feel like waking up at 8 a.m. the next morning. Imagine that.
We finally stumbled out of bed about 11 a.m. and since we’d lost two
hours of valuable snowboard time we decided to spend the day hiking in the
mountains and walking the town.
is located just south of Red Lodge, as is famous
but at the road block we set off through the woods. We ventured along Rock Creek and experienced
some true wilderness during our two-hour hike.
There is no feeling like being out in the wilderness, away from
civilization and reality. It’s relaxing
and adventurous at the same time. We
weren’t lucky enough to run into a bear but the hike was still an adrenaline
rush. I’ve visited the mountains many
times over the years but the feeling never gets old.
Red Lodge
is a wildlife hotbed. The area
surrounding town is simply littered with mule deer and turkeys. Nearly every morning and evening deer and
turkeys would meander by our hotel window, in the center of town.
We witnessed a group of 25 turkeys squabble over an apple. We saw deer walk down the middle of the
street. On our last day we were lucky enough
to see a herd of elk while heading up to the ski resort. For a wildlife enthusiast like me it was an
amazing few days.
Tuesday
night brought rain in Red Lodge but fresh snow up on the mountain. Wednesday was by far the best day of
snowboarding I’d seen all year. We wore
ourselves to a frazzle not wanting to waste a minute of the fresh snow. My buddy Casey (the best boarder of our trio)
went a little too far, venturing off trail and hitting a tree, three separate
times! Amazingly, he avoided a Sonny
Bono but did provide us with some memorable moments/ridicule ammunition.
Each night
after boarding we ventured around town inspecting the shops along
small-town people who truly love to meet visitors. There are souvenir shops, clothing stores,
bars, restaurants and any other store you picture in a tourist town. One of the highlights was the Montana Candy
Emporium where they feature homemade chocolates and nearly every type of hard
candy known to man. Basically you take a
bag and walk around choosing whatever hard candy you like. When you’ve had your choice they simply weigh
your bag and charge you by the pound.
Five dollars a pound for an assortment of candy was well worth it.
Did I mention the gambling age in
that be? We meandered into the Bull n’
Bear and promptly lost a few bucks. Not
to be defeated we returned the next night, only to lose even more money. The casino was nothing special, just video
poker and keno machines, but it provided some rather cheap entertainment.
Thursday
was our last day in Red Lodge and we used it to once again go snowboarding. The snow on Thursday
was packed powder, fast and smooth. By
the end of boarding we were completely beat.
Three hard days of riding will do that to you. Since we’d been to Red Lodge before we knew
the mountain well and didn’t waste a single run. I definitely recommend the
runs for anyone venturing out to Red Lodge Mountain Resort in the future. The
side of the mountain features fewer people, a faster lift and tougher
runs. After a snowfall these are by far
the best trails on the mountain.
We rolled
out of Red Lodge early Friday morning leaving behind a year of snowboarding and
a week of fun, but we’ll be back. Hopefully
it’ll be sooner rather than later. I
hear there’s this thing called summer in Red Lodge when you can camp, hike,
white-water raft and golf all you want.
I plan to be back for that.
For more information
about Red Lodge, check out these links:
I think that to get the personal loans from banks you should present a great reason. Nevertheless, once I have received a car loan, because I wanted to buy a house.