It was a dark and stormy evening...
No, that's not the beginning of another Bulwer-Lytton novel, but what was actually happening in the heavens as Steve Wilson and I drove toward Libby, Montana. As we headed north, the 
sky to our left suddenly blackened, while the sky to our right remained bright and sunny. It seemed as if our road was the zipper joining two weather systems, and it was.
When we got to the Evergreen Motel, the proprietor asked if we'd come through the tornado. "Tornado?" we queried, eyes ablaze and elbows akimbo. "Yes," she said. "We had a big blow come through here about 20 minutes ago. Trees down all over the place. Up the road, trees flattened a house, couple of cars. When you guys go out in the morning, if you're heading north, you'll probably see the damage."
Stepping out into the pretty little courtyard in front of the Evergreen Motel the next morning, before heading north for the damage and Glacier National Park, we asked where we could get a decent breakfast. We were advised to make a beeline to the Libby Cafe. "You won't find a better place around," the pleasant motel lady said.
She was right.
The Libby Cafe specializes in anything you can make with huckleberries. We learned enough about this blue-black berry (also known as a bilberry) to fill, well, a dozen huckleberry pies. (see below) The restaurant featured huckleberry pancakes & waffles, huckleberry syrups, huckleberry pies, giant cinnamon-huckleberry swirls and huge huckleberry muffins. In fact, if you're a latent huckleberry lover, as I've come to be, you must go to their website -- www.montanamuffins.com -- and you'll find a larder full of tempting things you can order online. Plus more trivia about huckleberries than you may ever have wanted to know.
About The Huckleberry !!
Often confused with the blueberry due to its close resemblance, huckleberries are a wild blue-black berry. Although very similar in taste, the big difference is the seeds within the huckleberry that give it a crunchy texture when fresh and its thicker skin. The flavor is a little more tart than blueberries, with an intense blueberry flavor. Huckleberries are not cultivated commercially, so you will have to find them in the wild. The entire fruit is edible...no need to remove the seeds. Huckleberries can be used interchangeably in most blueberry recipes, so if you find yourself with a huckleberry harvest, just choose a blueberry recipe and give it a whirl. Huckleberry season is normally from June through August. To harvest a large quantity, spread a clean cloth on the ground and shake the plant; ripe fruits will drop onto the cloth.
This isn't an ad, of course, but I do take pleasure in strewing temptation in your path. Steve and I ordered a large bottle each of huckleberry syrup, and both bottles are resting comfortably in my van, which (I hope) is resting comfortably in the long term parking lot in Spokane.
Breakfast at Libby Cafe was by far the most expensive breakfast we'd had along the way (something over $50, including the two bottles of syrup), but also the most enjoyable. We ate like lumberjacks (of which there were four at the next table, and believe me: they didn't have finger bowls. One was a lumberjack-in-training: a girl who couldn't have been more than 14, but already decked out with the prerequisite tattoos). The best part of the breakfast -- huckleberries notwithstanding -- was trading quips with Paulette, the owner, baker, sometime waitress, website operator for MontanaMuffins, world-class josher and self-described Chief Harasser. She's quick, funny, robust and loves what she's doing. Should you ever find yourself in Libby, or even 100 miles north, south, east or west of it, make the trip.
We also learned that Libby used to have a very active asbestos mining industry, but when asbestos was tagged in the early 1980s as being a highly dangerous mineral, mining came to a screeching halt. So did much of the economy of Libby. But they're not quitters. They've got a new plan: eagles. (If you are interested, you can email High Plains Films at www.highplainsfilms.org and request the film Libby, Montana. It's described as a film "...depicting the American Dream gone horribly wrong...")
The morning we emerged from the Evergreen Motel, workmen were erecting a huge arc over the main street. It will be home to a huge metal eagle, spanning the main street, Mineral Avenue (they're not totally quit of asbestos, after all). In fact, Libby intends to build a whole new tourism trade as the eagle capital of Montana. There
are eagle statuettes on several downtown buildings, and eagle sightings in and around Libby are common. We didn't see any while we were there, but we took the locals' word for it. (We did see our share of eagles soaring and gliding on thermals in Yellowstone just a day or two earlier. In fact, we spotted an eagle's nest about 100 feet up in a burned-out tree. In it were two eaglets, on the verge of fledging. Look closely at this picture; the two eaglets are sticking out of the nest, and they are the only two objects that don't look like twisted branches. A park ranger told us the nest weighed more than 6,000 pounds -- we couldn't believe it, either -- and that it had been there for nearly 40 years.)
However, there's good news on the eagle front from Libby. This is a report filed just two days ago by Libby's "Eagle Cam:"
Libby Dam eagles have successful nesting season
This is a big "thanks" to everyone who has been with us for the 2007 nesting season. For all the behind the scenes people "great job", and of course all you Eagle viewers thanks for the contributions in making our site such a success. We have heard from eagle watchers all over the country, and for that matter other parts of the world. It has been a wonderful process to watch from the beginning when the adults started the nesting process (March 15, 2007), to egg laying (March 26, 2007), to hatching (April 30, 2007) and finally fledging (July 13,2007). The down side of fledging is we will not see much activity at the nest now that they have experienced the freedom of flight. We wish them the best of luck in their new found freedom. The story behind them is very remarkable to say the least, since the species was near extinction. This is truly a banner year for our nest and Eagles in general. Both eagles survived the nesting process and the species has recovered from near extinction to being de-listed from the endangered species list. Let's hope we continue to have the success we have seen in the past carried on to the future. Hope to hear from all you Eagle watchers next year, until then!! Mark
Mark J. Andreasen, Park Ranger
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Libby Dam
As for Libby choosing to stake its fortunes on the eagle? After all, the eagle's been the symbol for a slightly larger and older enterprise -- the United States -- so Libby's got a good precedent, even if the US doesn't have a good president.
This was a nice article and tribute to Libby. I grew up in Libby and now live in Austin, Texas. I visited Libby 2 years ago and also had breakfast at the Libby Cafe. I opted for the huckleberry flapjacks. The Libby Cafe wasn't nearly that good when I was growing up there but I sure enjoyed it this time around.
If you ever get back that way, try the MK Steakhouse between Libby and Kalispell. Really awesome steaks if they still have the same owners.
Posted by: Tom Palmer | March 02, 2011 at 02:25 AM
Dear Tom Palmer,
I am flattered no end that you read this piece on my blog. I wrote that about four years ago, when I was in the midst of a 17000 mile drive around and into
The United States, using only county and secondary roads...no highways or superhighways.
Libby was a favorite stop. About twice a year, I order Huckleberry syrup from the proprietress of the Libby Cafe
Whose email handle is, fittingly, MontanaMuffins.I was lucky enough to visit 40 of our 50 states on my three and a half
Month solo journey, sleeping in my tent, my car and occasionally a really cheap motel or truck stop.
What a coincidence it was to find that, two months after Id arrived home that Libby and the asbestos problem
Erupted as an hour-long report on PBS and was a major story in the NYTimes.
Im a writer, live in New York City, and I hope youll keep in touch as the spirit moves you.
Sent from my iPad
Posted by: Kent | March 03, 2011 at 12:04 AM