Local day hike book sees fourth edition

The fourth edition of Stormy Good Monod's local guide book, "Day Hikes Around the Flathead," was recently published.

The book began as a pamphlet in 1999 and became a book in 2005. Monod splits her time between Whitefish and Banff, Alberta, where her husband owns a sporting goods store.

New to the 102 hikes in the fourth edition are 17 trips in the upper Whitefish Range, Salish Mountains, Flathead Valley, Mission Range, Swan Crest and Glacier National Park. Monod says the Comeau Pass area is her favorite place in the Park.

Monod focuses on many lesser-known trails in the area, particularly on Forest Service lands. A forward in the book by Flathead Valley Community College teacher Lex Blood describes the geology and geography of the region.

The guide book is available at Glacier Natural History Association, in Columbia Falls, as well as book stores and sporting goods stores in the valley and at Flathead National Forest offices.