Exploring Montana’s backountry, this is some of what you may find...

If you really want to experience Montana: drink from its mountain springs, plunge into its icy lakes, enjoy 360-degree views from its summits, and feed its mosquitoes with your blood in its swampy meadows. If you're more of the guided fishing or rafting trip type, or you just want to drive through national parks, we've got all that, too, but read on to see what you're missing...

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Only with a pack mule/horse or by the hard work of your own hooves can you find lakes without the sounds of buzzing motorcraft:

Only outside the confines of your boat/car can you get your nose into the local fauna, flora, and fungi:

Photos by @InnerLight, clockwise from top-left: morel "mushroom", common camas, ranchman's tiger moth, big-pod mariposa lily, long-toed salamander, and fairyslipper orchid

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But it isn't all about rainbows and daisies in the wilderness. Just as you're coming to the end of an exhausting three-day, 45-miler, you may discover an unexpected windfall that slows your pace to 3 hours per mile. You crawl on hands and knees and belly through piercing spruce needles and splintered timber, climb over 20-ft-high upturned root wads, and balance precariously on fallen trees...all while dragging your 25-lb pack behind you...

And sometimes, to obtain those coveted 360-degree views, you'll need to scale an ice chute...

Occasionally, you just need to throw off the pack and take a nap...or smell the flowers to rejuvenate a bit:

But when you're back home, nursing your blackfly bites and blistered heels, you can enjoy sharing photos of your badass backcountry trip with friends on Steemit :)