MCA Geocoin 35 - Sanders

​The mission of this coin is to visit all 56 counties in Montana. Then travel to visit streams, rivers, lakes and forests around the world. Collecting pictures of it's travels for all to enjoy!

Please take photos of me visiting Montana's waterways, forests and agricultural areas as well and share them in your LOGS!  It can travel else where too, but it's main goal is the Montana counties!

This Geocoin is part of a statewide geocaching outreach project started by Montana State University and the Montana Institute on Ecosystems to celebrate the launch of the Montana Climate Assessment (MCA), a scientific document published in September 2017. The document, which you can view at http://www.montanaclimate.org, includes climate information about Montana's water, forests and agriculture.  Also track all 56 coins at http://eu.montana.edu/clime/geocaching/

​One MCA Geocoin will be launched in every Montana county.  How many can you find?
 

​Reference for info below: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanders_County,_Montana

Although the population numbers are small in Sanders County, the largest town and county seat being Thompson Falls, (named for famous early explorer and fur trader, David Thompson), the Clark Fork River runs parallel to the towns on Highway 200 from Paradise to Heron, and provides tons of recreational opportunities, with fishing, boating, and water skiing, at the top of the list!  Sanders County was founded in 1905 and is located on the West edge of the state. 

Sanders County is part of the "mountainous" western third of the state. It lies entirely on the western slopes of the Rocky Mountains with a mixed coniferous forest dominating the plant community. Douglas fir/Ponderosa pine (Montana state tree) climax plant community dominate much of the county, but there are numerous other conifers found there as well in pockets of micro-climates suited to their needs. These include Western red cedar, Western Hemlock, Mountain Hemlock, White Spruce, Subalpine Fir, Grand Fir, Western White Pine, Lodgepole Pine and one of the most spectacular, Western larch, one of a handful of deciduous conifers that turn gold in the autumn before dropping all their needles.

Numerous broadleaf species proliferate in Sanders County as well. Rocky Mountain Maple, Red Alder, Paperbark Birch, Chokecherry, and numerous cottonwood and poplars as well light up the creek bottoms in autumn with their annual display of fall color.

Arguably the most popular broad-leaf shrub in Sanders County is the Rocky Mountain huckleberry (Vaccinium membranaceum). Trout Creek, Montana 59874 is considered the "Huckleberry Capital of Montana" and holds an annual celebration of the fruit called the "Huckleberry Festival" in August when the fruits ripen at high elevations. Though related to the common blueberry (Vaccinium corymbosum) very few have managed to grow Rocky Mountain huckleberry in domestic cultivation. It is commonly found in plant communities with beargrass (Xerophyllum tenax), a perennial found in burned or logged-over areas of the mountain ranges in the county.

The bitterroot (Lewisia rediviva) is the state flower and found in limited quantities in Sanders County, though the prairie hills in Missoula County drew Native tribes from surrounding areas to dig the roots for food annually.