Peace sign ...

The only place in Montana where the familiar 1960s "peace" symbol ever gained much traction was in Missoula, of course. There, years of peace-sign graffiti on an old mountaintop communications dish became an urban symbol that people still wistfully recall today. In the rest of the state, though, peace signs were probably always regarded with suspicion at best.

And today, messages like that are pretty much forgotten by most people ... which is why it pleased me to drive through the little town of Coram a few days ago, and see this house all lit up in the pre-dawn hours.

The Packers ...

I thought I'd follow up on yesterday's post about small-town gathering places by posting a photo of another one ... proving that not all are as picturesque as the café in Willow Creek. This is Packer's Roost, a little ways outside of Coram in Bad Rock Canyon, up in Flathead County. Certain evenings, it can be quite an adventuresome place.

I have to confess that I spent a bit of time at Packers back in the day. It was one of a long series of watering holes known colloquially as "The Trapline," extending from Glacier Park all the way to Kalispell. "Running the Trapline" was a favorite nocturnal activity for the young and foolish back then, and maybe it still is.