Montana Wilderness Association - montana wilderness association, montana wilderness, montana hunting, montana public lands, hiking montana, best hike montana, protect public lands montana

 

Friday, September 7 at Cedar Creek Lodge

 

7:30 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Jewel Basin trail stewardship day

Join our trail stewardship team on a one-day project in the beautiful Jewel Basin in the Swan Range. Volunteers will help clear and maintain the Clayton Lake Trail. Space is very limited, so please sign up early at wildmontana.org/vtc-wildfest.

3 – 4 p.m.

Social hour

Swap adventure stories, meet new friends, and visit with old ones as you grab a drink and prepare for an entertaining afternoon of learning.

4 – 4:45 p.m.

Welcome to WildFest

MWA Executive Director Ben Gabriel and Board President Addrien Marx will welcome you to WildFest Weekend, to be followed by Flathead-Kootenai Chapter president Bret Luedke and John Todd, Deputy Director of MWA. Ben, Addrien, Bret, and John Todd will provide organizational and chapter-level updates on MWA’s current campaigns. 

4:45 p.m. – 6:00 p.m.

Learn about the Whitefish Range Partnership

Hear from members of the coalition that worked together to make broadly supported management recommendations for over 300,000 acres of the Flathead National Forest. Panelists include Paul Mackenzie, Dave Hadden, Bob Brown, Chip Weber, and Amy Robinson,. The discussion will be moderated by working group participant and MWA board member Debo Powers.

6:00 – 7:15 p.m.

Hors d'oeuvres and social hour 

Enjoy a variety of heavy appetizers provided by the chefs at Cedar Creek Lodge and a cash bar hosted by Blue Moon Nite Club. 

7:15 – 7:30 p.m.

Awards

Join us to recognize and celebrate some of MWA's most dedicated volunteers.

7:30 – 7:45 p.m.

Huckleberry Pie Auction

The Huckleberry Pie Auction is nearly as old as WildFest itself. This year, the pie will be made by MWA's Communications Coordinator Alex Blackmer, with local Flathead-picked huckleberries. Place your bid and enjoy some tasty homemade pie!

7:45 - 8:30 p.m.

Guest Speaker

Join us in welcoming our guest speaker of the evening, Debo Powers.

Coming of age in the south during the civil rights movement, Debo Powers was inspired to create a better world. As an educator, she was involved in the growing alternative school movement in her community, an involvement that in the opening of an innovative public K-8th grade charter school that was named one of the top eight charter schools in the nation by the Department of Education in 2005. During her 13 years as a school principal, she spent her summers along the North Fork of the Flathead River building a solar-powered cabin near the remote community of Polebridge next to Glacier National Park.

Now that she is retired, Debo lives full-time in her off-the-grid cabin and loves to hike, backpack, kayak, mountain bike, and garden in summer and cross-country ski in winter. She has served as president of the North Fork Landowners Association and she has been a member of the Whitefish Range Partnership, a collaborative effort that brought together diverse interests to reach consensus on a recommendation for land management in the Flathead National Forest. She currently serves on the board of several environmental organizations in Montana, including Montana Wilderness Association, and donates her time as a volunteer fire lookout during fire season.

8:30-9:00 p.m.

Closing

We wrap up the evening with a few more words by Ben Gabriel, and last call for drinks, raffle tickets, merchandise, etc. Join us again Saturday afternoon, across the street at the Coop at 3 p.m.

BACK TO TOP

Saturday Hikes

Join us on one of seven hikes to explore the local wildlands and learn about these spectacular places. Space is limited, so please sign up using the link in the hike description. Registration for all hikes will open on July 15. Some longer hikes or hikes departming from more distant trailheads may result in later returns to the Coop. Please plan accordingly. 

Birch Lake (Previously listed for Friday the 6th, this hike is now on Saturday the 7th)

Location: Bigfork
Miles/Difficulty: 6 miles/moderate
Leaders: John Larson and Carol Barnes
The trail begins at Camp Misery and climbs up a ridge and across the side of Mount Aeneas, providing fabulous views of the Flathead Valley. 
Sign Up

Swift Creek

Location: Whitefish
Miles/Difficulty: 1 mile/easy
Leaders: John Hartlieb and Kathi Hartlieb
Join us on this easy loop trail through a varied landscape of old growth forest, riparian areas, and large stands of ponderosa pine. 
Sign up

Stanton Lake

Location: Essex
Miles/Difficulty: 4 miles/moderately strenuous
Leaders: Mary Freniere
Join us on this Flathead Valley favorite, a classic hike that offers all the solitude and wildlife viewing opportunities of the Great Bear Wilderness in a short round trip. 
Sign up

Glacier View Mountain

Location: Columbia Falls
Miles/Difficulty: 7.6 miles/difficult
Leaders: Chris Rost
Hike the ridge to the summit of Glacier View Mountain for views of both Glacier National Park and the North Fork Basin of the Flathead Valley.
Sign up

Columbia Mountain Waterfall

Location: Columbia Falls
Miles/Difficulty: 5 miles/moderate
Leaders: Sheena Pate
Explore the northwestern edge of the Swan Mountain Range on this moderate hike that goes approximately halfway to the summit of Columbia Mountain.
Sign up

Lone Pine State Park Loop

Location: Kalispell
Miles/Difficulty: 3.4 miles/moderate
Leaders: Amy Pearson
Learn about the local wildlife and forest ecology, and stop at one of the many lookouts to catch views of Big Mountain, Flathead Lake, the Jewel Basin, and Glacier National Park.
Sign up

 

Saturday, September 7 at The Coop Community Market

 

3 – 8:30 p.m.

Gear demos, horse packing, and family fun

Get ready for a day filled with gear demos, food trucks, and great drinks at The Coop. Activities will include:

• Packing demos from Back Country Horsemen of the Flathead
• Raptor presentations from Montana Wild Wings 
• Gear demos from REI including navigation, camp stoves, water filtration, and hiking and backpacking
• A knot-tying demo from MWA's very own Backcountry Bob
• A rock wall
• Missoulian artist Freedom Drudge drawing portraits

Food trucks

Be sure to come hungry because food trucks will be on site with tasty options catering to multiple dietary needs.

• Delicious smoked pulled pork and brats from Knucklhed BBQ
• Fragrant stir-fries, curries and more from My Thai To Go
• Ice cream from Sweet Peaks

We're also excited to partner with Blue Moon Nite Club to provide local beer and wine throughout the weekend. Non-alcoholic beverages will also be provided. 

5:30 – 8:30 p.m.

Jameson and the Sordid Seeds

Jameson and the Sordid Seeds is a rock/reggae/blues/soul powerhouse known for its electric live performances and captivating songwriting. Hailing from Whitefish, they have developed a solid following throughout the western United States performing mostly original songs alongside occassional covers from Paul Simon to Sublime. We dare you not to dance! Be sure to stick around on Saturday to enjoy their great tunes.

Explore Montana

Looking to stick around the Flathead Valley after WildFest? Explore town, visit Glacier, and get lost in the beautiful Jewel Basin. Check out Visit MT to see more lodging options and things to do in the beautiful Flathead Valley. If you're looking for more hikes, you can find them on our online hiking guide. 

BACK TO TOP

Volunteers Needed!

We need volunteers to help us set up, clean up, sell merchandise, assist in the bucket raffle, greet our guests, and more! Volunteers are a crucial aspect of WildFest and we wouldn't be able to pull it off with your time and effort. Register for shifts here.

BACK TO TOP

Thank you to our event partners

 

Sponsors

 

Business Partners

 

Raffle Donors