WILD HORSE PLAINS MONTANA

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(Stay for the night, and you'll be serenaded by loons and great horned owls.) The feeling of open space extends even to the heavily forested canyons and hillsides of soaring larch, ponderosa pine, Douglas fir, hemlock and cedar. Thick layers of the conifers' fallen needles keep down much of the undergrowth, offering plenty of chances to see large white-tailed deer gamboling through the woods. Elk, black bear and Rocky Mountain goats are not uncommon, and bighorn sheep often wander down from rugged mountainsides to drink from rivers and streams. Golden and bald eagles, red tailed hawks and Canada geese decorate the skies, while magpies make streaks of black and white across the usually empty highways.

On the negative side, the fields and woods are home to wood ticks and timber rattlers. In season, the ticks are voracious, but the snakes, I'm told, are remarkably shy and unaggressive. This must be true, because Doreen Binkiewicz, a reforestation contractor who camps out in the woods while overseeing her tree-planting operations and spends her leisure time in a cabin in a remote canyon, says she's never even seen a rattler in the area. Even mosquitoes aren't much of a problem except in some of the lower lying regions. Though most of the county's residents seem to prefer cross-country skiing, downhill buff's pursue that sport an hour or so away at The Big Mountain ski resort overlooking Whitefish Lake just north of the pretty, tree-lined city of Kalispell (pop. 11,890). Spectacular Glacier National Park is only a short distance from there, while Sanders' southeastern section contains part of the National Bison Range (established by Teddv Roosevelt in 1908). There, a herd of more than -100 buffalo roams over nearly 19,100 acres of natural grassland.

Southern Sanders County also includes part of the Flathead India Reservation, which, taking in Flathead Lake, must be one of the most beautiful reservations in the country. Home of the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes, it also contains the spa town of Hot Springs, whose thermal mineral waters have been popular for various ailments since the first settlers arrived in about 1910. The old resort, located on one side of a beautiful bowl of a valley, has become rundown since its heyday but stepping into the Symes Hotel is like taking a journey back to the 1930s. It offers a double room with bath for $15 a night, and $2 will get you a mineral bath in a private cubicle complete with a Victorian tub.

Fashion doesn't count for much in a

town where getting an elk brings more status than getting a new Mercedes.

Just to the east of Hot Springs are the flatlands of the Camas Prairie, the driest area in Montana, while the northern part of Sanders Countv, near Noxon, is the state's wettest. This northern section—which includes part of the Cabinet Mountains Wilderness Area-is colder, more rugged and heavily forested and is a favorite of fishermen and hunters. The Huckleberry Festival, held in Trout Creek (pop. 434) the second weekend in August, is a big annual event.

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