Forgotten Frontier ...

Montana's northern boundary is an international frontier, 545 miles long ... and probably one of the quietest boundary lines in existence. Only one or two of the border crossings even qualifies as being slightly busy, and most of the customs stations are downright bucolic. I remember a few years ago, returning from Canada at a spot called Whitlash, where the American immigration guy kept me in his office for a good hour ... not because he was the least bit suspicious, but because he just wanted someone to talk to. (Mostly, we discussed classic sportscars ...)

Here's a shot I took last summer of what was definitely the coolest place to cross from Canada into Montana, though you can't legally do it anymore. The sign is nailed to a tree on the bank of the North Fork of the Flathead River, and until the 1990s canoeists and rafters floating down from British Columbia could just pull ashore here, and walk over to the customs station a quarter-mile away. But budget cuts and international paranoia have ended this friendly practice, and the days of international river trips here are over. Too bad ...