Page 4 - Where We Live

In Sandpoint, Idaho, a diner on Cedar Street stands to contrast a world full of superfood filled smoothies and organic breakfast burritos- Bienvenidos a Connie's Cafe. We showed up in Sandpoint late the night before, after embarrassing Google Maps' estimated arrival time by flying up the road from our Mead, Washington store. We "closed it down" at the store with the management team, then headed downtown to Eichardt's Pub and Grill to immerse ourselves as much as we had time for in the local culture of Sandpoint a town we are lucky enough to do business in. Looking for more things to do in Sandpoint? Look no further. When we went to bed, it was to Eichardt's anthem, "No crap on tap," served up by our waiter. One of our great friends from Sandpoint, Calvin Fuller, recommended we meet early, 7 am for breakfast so we could get an early start... Read more about Connie's Cafe Review: Sandpoint, Idaho

I was privileged to field test a pair of MSR Evo snowshoes last week on an overnight hike to Tiffany Mountain, elevation 8200 in a sub-range at the eastern edge of the North Cascades about 25 linear miles northwest of Omak. I got a ride from Omak and began my walk up the North Fork of Salmon Creek from the mountain hamlet of Conconully. Low clouds and fog which overhung the Okanogan, seemingly for weeks, gave way to sunshine at Conconully, elevation 2300. I changed into a new pair of Merrell snowboots that were on clearance at North 40, and donned the Evo snowshoes at the Tiffany Lake Trail #373 trailhead, elevation 4800, a mile or so beyond Salmon Meadows, at about 2PM. The snow was paltry, maybe two feet, and was very rotten, making for some deep postholing and slow progress. I have snowshoed for about 25 years, usually several times ... Read more about MSR's Evo Snowshoes Review: Mountain Safety Research meets Tiffany Mountain

Who own's Morning Light Coffee in Montana? It's an incredible story that begins on the side of a mountain. Read on and find out. Morning Light Coffee began on the side of a mountain outside Helena, Montana in 1988. During a break from logging, Mike Myers asked his friend what he thought about the coffee business. This first conversation on a Thursday afternoon in April was followed by a straight drive through to a specialty coffee roasting convention in San Francisco that weekend. From conception to inception: six weeks and the grand opening held during Helena's Governor's Cup Marathon. There was never any doubt in Mr. Myers' mind that coffee was a good idea, "We were trying to educate people, you know? Raise the standards of coffee in the area." And that's just what Morning Light Coffee did. Jake and I walked into the local coffee shop... Read more about Who own's Morning Light Coffee in Montana?

Let's face it- I'm a coffee addict, and, like many people up here in the Northwest, I've become spoiled with the proliferation of small, artisan roasters and coffee houses springing up everywhere. And I mean everywhere some towns up here have populations under 5,000 and you can find the best coffee in 100 miles in those tiny shops. Going out and discovering new coffees, and meeting the people that frequent those shops is one of my favorite things to do hence this blog. Below you will find a list of some of the best places I've had coffee (or had coffee from) in the Northwest.   But before you skim the list there is a bit of a selfish bent to this post, and it's this: I know this list is not exhaustive, and I KNOW there are some coffee shops out there that I need to visit. If you are a coffee shop owner, or you are a frequenter of an... Read more about A Beginner's Guide to Great Coffee Shops Across Montana, Idaho & Washington

The story of Glacial Lake, Missoula and the ancient flood that forever changed the landscape of the Pacific Northwest has always intrigued me. This landscape feature is in one of the areas we serve at North 40 Outfitters, so I figured I'd go learn about it, and see for myself. Several thousand years ago, a finger of glacial ice moved through near present day Lake Pend Oreille damming the Clark Fork River and creating Glacial Lake Missoula. Imagine a giant buildup of ice creating a glacial lake the size of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario combined. The pressure on the ice continued to rise until the water level reached its maximum elevation of 4,200 feet causing the ice dam to fail, exploding the water downstream at a rate of 10 times the combined flow of all the current rivers in the world, moving at speeds up to 50 mph on its 430 mile journey... Read more about Brief History & View of Palouse from Steptoe Butte

What's better than American grown wheat straight from the field to your table? When that wheat becomes a cookie, of course. Now that our name is out there, (when we wrote this, we'd just changed our name... learn about that here) I've had some extra time in the evenings and have found myself anxious to bake now that fall is settling in. ...Cool weather + fresh baked goods = yes, please. As I was browsing Pinterest after dinner, I realized it would be the perfect night to bake something. My husband was out of town working, the cat was sleeping on the chair and I was still hungry. Given my track record with the bread machine, I knew that if I attempted to bake bread- it would be just that: an attempt. I remembered seeing a recipe on the back of the Wheat Montana flour bag so I decided to give it a shot and see if their "Family Farm F... Read more about Wheat Montana's 7 Grain Cookie Recipe: Made & Reviewed

I remember when I moved to Great Falls and first felt our company's passion for fly fishing. Not everyone was doing it, but you could definitely tell it was there and that it would grow into something important. Though an old college roommate taught me the fundamentals of casting many years ago and I was comfortable with a rod, I really never had the time or had yet met a person with a passion to push me. I began to grow comfortable with the idea that it was a good fit for me. I got over my previously formed opinion of fly fishing when I finally accepted my new opinion of fly fishing being equally important to my own beliefs of what makes Montana really cool. So I immersed myself into knowing all things fly fishing in normal fashion my wife refers to as "being bored." But I wasn't bored...I was genuinely interested because it was my way... Read more about Capturing Riverfront Park, Spokane: What it means to us