McGuire Lookout 2023
We had a great time hiking to McGuire Lookout with Jamie, Alice, and Nancy in 2020. That was our first cabin outing in Montana, and it's a spectacular hike to a unique location on top of a mountain with views great views in all direction.
In September of 2023, shortly after I retired, I took Isaac for a night at McGuire Lookout, and we had a great time then, too. We never saw a person or vehicle on the last 20 miles getting there, so I'm pretty sure we were all alone in the midst of a huge wilderness area, which is a magical feeling.
Getting There
It's about a 6-hour drive from our house to the trailhead at McGuire Lookout. Roughly 300 miles on highways and paved roads, and then 20 miles up a gravel logging road to the trailhead.
Driving from Butte to Eureka, Montana
After arriving in Eureka, we turned to the south along the east side of Lake Koocanusa, a massive reservoir that spans the US/Canada border, and then turned up the gravel logging road.
It was sprinkling rain off and on while we drove up into the mountains, and we parked at the trailhead and waited for a while until the rain stopped.
As we started heading up the trail, the sun came out.
Off-leash near the top of McGuire Mountain.
Isaac took a walk around the top of the mountain and then got a treat for being a good boy.
The temperature was in the 20s and probably going to drop into the teens, so we started a fire.
We weren't expecting any snow on this trip (it hadn't been in the forecast for this area), but at high elevations in the mountains anything can happen in late September. We got up to go outside and pee around 3AM, and discovered it had snowed!
After seeing the snow, we got the wood stove going again before going back to sleep.
Checking out the snow at sunrise. It was a peaceful morning with no wind and no more snow falling, which would be nice for the hike back down to the truck.
We packed up quickly and got started hiking down to the truck. I had snacks for us, but our full breakfasts were waiting in a cooler three miles down the mountain, so that was good incentive to get on the trail early.
And we're off! Isaac was excited to be off-leash for the beginning of our hike.
Isaac really wanted this squirrel!
The sun was out and burning off the mist by the time we got to the truck. Breakfast tasted great - Isaac had some kibble with sardines, and I had a turkey sandwich.
Heading down the logging road. A few hours later, we were home.