“There are mountains,” I was assured as my first day in Kalispell, Montana, and the Flathead Valley dawned so gray it felt like a wintry blanket had been pulled over it. I would obviously have to wait for the great peaks and the multitude of wilderness activities the region promised to reveal themselves.
Over the next three days the plan was to go snowmobiling deep into the Glacier backcountry, snowshoe on the banks of the Flathead River and bundle up for a jingle-bell ride in a two-horse open sleigh.
Dreary as it was, that first day proved ideal for indoor activities such as an illuminating (and wonderfully chatty) tour conducted by Cindy Connor, chief docent of Kalispell’s most historic and beautifully maintained home—the Conrad Mansion Museum. From there it was just a hop, skip and a jump to the Hockaday Museum of Art (formerly a Carnegie library) that maintains an excellent collection of 19th-century and contemporary regional art….