Montana Day 7: Purple Eater People

The bartender stopped in front of us. The drink he’d prepared was a creamy lavender beneath a white swirl of whipped cream. The Purple Russian, he explained, consists of huckleberry liqueur and local huckleberry whisky and vodka. Nan and I oohed and ahhed, although we weren’t tempted at that moment to order anything more than the iced teas we were consuming after our hike to Ousel Falls. We were too tired and thirsty for alcohol, no matter how pretty it was.

Montana shops are full of everything huckleberry, and we’ve become fans. We’d already returned to the local grocery to buy more chocolate-covered huckleberry truffles. I purchased huckleberry-flavored lip gloss as the air here is dry. This afternoon we learned about the use of huckleberries in alcohol and another state industry. The barman pointed to the collection of whisky bottles on the shelves behind the bar. “All produced in Montana,” he told us. Unfortunately, there aren’t enough hours left to sample all things huckleberry or all the local whiskies. Just as well.

Today we enjoyed a waffle breakfast at a local cafe. The weather has been beautiful, in the low 70s and mostly sunny. This afternoon we hiked the 1.6 mile roundtrip trek to see Ousel Falls. The crushed stone path is a series of switchbacks up and down hill. Advertised as an easy hike for all age groups, it wanders deep into a forest of tall pines and junipers. Nan and I reached a stunning view of the falls but chose not to hike down to the base where some visitors were wading  beneath the cascading water. Ascending back to the parking lot, we took advantage of the well-placed benches for rest stops. Good exercise and another adventure to add to our memories of Montana.

I’m not sure if it was the altitude, drier climate, or the waffle breakfast, but we returned to Big Sky’s Town Center thirsty and found the cute bar that served us iced teas. As we paid for our drinks, the barman returned and poured us small shots of the huckleberry liqueur. It tasted as good as it looked. Unfortunately, neither of us has room in our bags for a bottle. I can assure you that we’ll be finishing up our truffles tonight after dinner.

Tomorrow morning we leave early for Bozeman and our flights home. We didn’t do much writing purple prose or otherwise (except for these blogs), but Nan’s research, photographs, and experiences are providing inspiration for her Juniper Falls Ranch series. I’m excited to read her new series and I hope you are too. It’s been a pleasure being her sidekick on this trail ride. Thanks for coming along with us. We’re already talking about our next adventure, but that’s another story…

All the best,

Carol and Nan