Warning: This is probably going to be a long post, just because I took a TON of pictures, some of which are still on my DSLR and will have to be uploaded later, AND we loved it here so much! If you've ever thought about visiting Montana, GO...DO IT! You won't regret it!
We're staying at the
West Glacier KOA campground. I first learned about this campground about 2 years ago, thanks to Motorhome magazine. It was voted #1 campground in North America and for good reason. This place is very well maintained, facilities are nice and clean, staff is friendly, and the amenities are great! There's a gift shop, cafe, ice cream shop, pools (one adult only), dog park, walking trails, and more! We were in a premium spot that had a concrete pad, gas grill, landscaping, and patio set. We really liked it here!
When we got all checked in and set up our first day, Drew and I were reading up on some local literature (and maybe a homes and land magazine). Aubrey took this pictures and they make me giggle, so I had to share them with you.
PARK DAY 1
I think I have been most excited about this stop on our journey. I had read a lot about Glacier and seen enough pictures to know that this place was going to be amazing. So I was like a kid at Christmas when we drove into the park! Since we were on the west side of the park, our plan for Day 1 was to drive up to the North Fork area. We read about the charming town of Polebridge and Bowman lake, so that's where we headed.
The Polebridge Mercantile, aka The Merc, was built in 1914 and is on the National Historic Registry. They have a bakery inside famous for their Huckleberry Bear Claws! I got a bite of Drew's and it was delish. I opted for the poppy seed, sweet ricotta, and chocolate pastry. (also delish)
The drive from Polebridge to Bowman Lake was a bumpy 6 mile dirt road. It was a beautiful drive through river birch forests, winding river views, and wildflowers. The weather was a little cloudy and we had periods of light rain. (Leftover from that Rocky Mountain front that came through before we arrived. ie the flooding in MT you might have read about). Also neat on our drive: We saw "evidence" of bear activity. There were claw marks on the tree trunks!
It was a little chilly. The highs were near 60 today. But have no fear, Aubrey had to get her feet in that water! Oh and can I just tell you? If you thought the mosquitoes in the south were bad, you should've been with us when we got to the Lake. We opened the door to get out of the truck and were bombarded by pterodactyl-sized mosquitoes! They were SOOO bad. I got bit through my jeans!
These glacial lakes are crystal clear!
Clear as glass!
Next time, we'll visit the Canada side of the park.
Even in the clouds, the scenery is still gorgeous.
Driving back, we passed this little gem and decided to grab a bite of local grub. Home Ranch Bottoms has a bar/restaurant and gift shop. The family that owned it was super nice. I really enjoyed talking to a few of the locals. When I asked how many people lived in this town, she answered, "75 in winter, because we counted, and about 200 in summer." I would LOVE to be one of those 200.
We signed the guestbook when we walked in and just an hour before we were there, there was a family from Auburn, AL! Small world! (War Eagle) Anyhoo, I had the brisket slider and Drew had an Elk burger. The grub was delish!
...as was the Huckleberry pie that Drew and Aubrey split for dessert!
In case you haven't figured it out...huckleberries are a big deal out here.
DAY 2-Two medicine
For our second day in the park, we drove over to Two Medicine for a boat tour with a hike up to Twin Falls.
The Glacier Park Boat Company offers several different boat cruises with or without hikes. I highly recommend taking one of these boat tours! It's an excellent way to take in all the scenery with the added bonus of hearing a little history about the area. We chose Two Medicine 1) because it had an easy hike to waterfalls and 2) it's more of a "hidden gem/road less traveled" location. I thought the prices were reasonable as well. It was $13.75 for adults and $6.75 for children ages 4-12.
This is Two Medicine Lake and our boat the Sinopah.
Views along the hike
Aubrey was thrilled to get to touch some snow.
Twin falls
Andrew loves adventures.
My little hiking buddy.
These two just LOVE getting into the ICE COLD water!
(ya know...GLACIER national park...glacier/snow runoff)
So after we hiked up to the falls and had our picnic lunch, it was time to board the boat and ride back to the other side of the lake. On our way back, I saw movement at the edge of the water. At first I thought it might just be an elk, but when she raised her head, it was a MOOSE! I've wanted to see a moose in the wild FOREVER! I didn't ever see one on our trip to Maine and I was hoping we'd see one here. (Even though when I asked the local back in Polebridge where the best place would be to spot one, he told me the zoo. Ha!) We watched her for a while. She had some grass and then went for a quick dip in the lake before heading back into the trees. It was amazing and totally made my trip!
DAY 3- Going to the Sun
The Going to the Sun Road is a 50 mile road from West Glacier to St. Mary that has been open for 85 years. It's the best way to see all that the park has to offer. The apex of the road is Logan Pass, which is 6646 ft elevation and crosses the Continental Divide. There are 2 tunnels along the road and it opened for the first time this season on Saturday. It takes workers 10 weeks to clear the snow drifts along the road. This year they had a 90 foot drift thanks in part to a record breaking snow season. They got 214% MORE snow that usual this year! Words cannot describe to you the utter beauty that we experienced. I'm not even sure these cell phone pictures can convey, but hopefully you'll get the idea. There were times along the road where the view literally took my breath and brought a tear to my eye. God was just showing off when he created this place! Here's a little bit of our day:
Heaven's Peak
This was one of my favorite views.
Birdwoman Falls: 492 ft drop between Mt Oberlin and Mt Cannon
Every time we saw snow, Aubrey wanted to pull over!
This is what's left of one of the larger drifts along the road.
Visitor's Center at Logan's Pass
We saw this big horn sheep! He came walking across the road, looked at us, and then ran off into the woods.
Shedding that winter coat made him look rough!
As you can see here, the kids are standing at the trail hike head to Hidden Lake. It's a 4.5 miles round-trip to the lake. We were only going to attempt the 1.3 mile hike to the Hidden Lake lookout until we got there and realized that the whole trail was through the snow. We weren't exactly set up to hike in the snow. I don't know if you can see it in this picture or not, but those tiny dots in the snow above the kids' heads are actually people braving the trail!
Once we reached the end of the road in St. Mary, we exited the park and had lunch at Two Sisters Cafe in Babb. These gals have been featured on the food network a few times.
August was happy to be there.
I had the sun dried tomato basil quiche and black bean soup. (yum)
And I couldn't help but take this pic of one of their shirts.
From there we drove north a few more miles to head to Many Glacier and St. Mary valley. Upon entering the park we saw this fox walking in the road. He proceeded to catch, kill, and eat a squirrel while we watched. (If you missed it, there's a video on my facebook page!)
It was SO windy on this side that we didn't stay long. We wanted to a hike to the Grinnell Glacier lookout and Virginia Falls, BUT it was windy...and dogs weren't allowed on the trails AND the baby was tired of the car, so we headed back to West Glacier via the Going to the Sun Road. This time as we approached Logan Pass, we saw some more wildlife! We found the Mountain Goats! (I was all about the moose, but this was the animal that Aubrey wanted to find.) Most of my pictures of this guy are on my other camera. He was standing right by the walking path to the lookout.
At the lookout, we saw 4 more climbing on the rocks, in true mountain goat fashion. Boy, they sure are nimble!
Heaven's Peak in the shadows
We were pretty tired when we got back. (especially Drew after driving that road) But we built a campfire and shared some stories and s'mores with our new friends from Texas. We met Roger and Kathie that morning when they moved into the spot next to us. They're traveling with their 10 year old grandson. He and Andrew were fast friends. We were supposed to leave Tuesday morning, but we weren't ready to leave Montana. Luckily the RV park had an opening, so we opted to stay ONE MORE NIGHT! The kids had really wanted to spend the day at the RV park, so we took the opportunity to let them do just that! Our neighbors hung out at the park that day too, so the kids played together ALL.DAY.LONG! I was productive: bathed the dog, swept and mopped the camper, payed a few online bills, and did all the laundry. That night we all had dinner at the RV park cafe. It was a nice way to end our time in West Glacier.
Kids playing Ga-Ga ball
They wanted to go swimming. (no thanks) The pool is heated but still...it's 51 degrees and windy.
They were in the pool and I was covered up and FREEZING!
The view from my pool chair was nice! I watched the moon rise between the mountains. FYI: sunset was at 9:47 pm. It didn't get completely dark until after 11!
Since Glacier is so far north, at times you can see the Northern Lights. I had been watching the aurora forecast website all week. Our last night, there was a chance we could see the lights from 9 til midnight. So we loaded up the kids at 11 pm and drove into the park to catch a view from Lake McDonald. We sat by the lake and waited. There were some clouds on the northern horizon and the full moon was SO BRIGHT that we didn't really get to see anything. BUT....we did see the sky get lighter, then darker and it did have a greenish hue. I'll have to upload the pics I took on my DSLR later. It was a little disappointing but it was still fun to TRY and see them. Guess I'll just have to see them in Alaska one day!
Here's what it looks like at Lake McDonald when the lights are visible: Photo cred: Craig Goodwin
And here's a map of our travels throughout the park:
Day 1 is in blue, day 2 in pink, and day 3 in yellow
Our reservations in Yellowstone don't start until Friday, so we stayed at the Townsend/Canyon Ferry Lake KOA about 3.5 hrs south of Glacier just to hang out and REST. Our adventures start back up tomorrow! (Maybe we'll get to see a bear!)
