Sanders County Ledger - Your Best Source For Sanders County News

It's confession time. I grew up in Sanders County, moved away for a few years and then have been back about 12 years. In all that time, I never once had visited Graves Creek Falls outside of Thompson Falls. I was embarrassed to admit it.

So, like many other people this Memorial Day weekend, we went for a drive in the mountains. We decided to see what the Montana Department of Transportation had done with Blue Slide Road, driving from Trout Creek to Thompson Falls.

Even though Montana is still in Phase One of re-opening, there was a lot of traffic on the road. Not just on Blue Slide, but on Graves Creek, too. We drove extra slow around those infamous Blue Slide corners. Having the new guardrail up makes it feel even narrower. However, those added precautions for the state hopefully will help remind people what a windy road Blue Slide is.

We have many people with weekend or summer homes in Sanders County, and several of those live along the Blue Slide. There is going to be even more traffic with the Trout Creek bridge scheduled to be closed for six weeks starting June 1.

Traffic is giong to be crazy on the Blue Slide. The post office has taken action and put temporary mailboxes on the west end of Blue Slide Road and at the Thompson Falls Post Office on the east end for those who live along that route. We commend them for their effort to help reduce traffic and not require people to get stopped by the mail carriers. It's going to be inconvenient for residents to have to go to a box, but the safety value outweighs the inconvenience.

A lot can happen in six weeks. You can be ready for a haircut. Your garden can sprout and grow. And a construction crew can make important safety upgrades to a much-traveled local bridge.

Be safe as you travel Blue Slide Road over the next several weeks. — Annie Wooden