Glacier National Park - Montana

The original RVer

First of all we have to say this place is beautiful, but, if you are planning on visiting here, come later in the summer.

Our being here in mid-May had good and bad points.  Good being there are no crowds and everything we wanted to see we could without having to wait in lines, the weather we had was perfect and the RV park was almost empty except for the deer that came to visit and eat each night.

Did you know that Flathead Lake is the largest fresh water lake in the western contiguous US.  A little larger than Tahoe, it is 27.3 miles long and 15.5 miles wide and is the cleanest  in the populated world for its size and type.  The Rocky Mountains are right here next to the lake, so big and so close, you feel you could can reach up and touch them. 

The not so good parts of being here in May is the Going to the Sun Road which runs through the park from the west entrance to the East entrance was not open yet and we could only get about 10 miles up the road.  We also found a lot of the tours and other touristy things were not open until the weekends or June.  We wanted to ride the lift up Big Mountain in Whitefish, but they are not scheduled to open until mid-June....same with Going to the Sun Road.

So, we made the best of it and found some out of the way things that we may not have seen if it had been high season. 

First full day our intent was to visit Whitefish and Kalispell, and decided first to head into the park for  information about which roads and trails were open for our venture the next day.

Well, after talking with the ranger, we ended up taking a 25 mile drive up the west side of the park to an area called Polebridge.  The road is partially paved and partially compact gravel and does not offer you much to see except burned trees from a big fire in 2003 and deer.  When we got to Polebridge, we were surprised and delighted to find a mercantile store with a bakery!!!!  Since we'd planned on lunch  in Whitefish we were unprepared for this drive.  Not only did we not have any snacks, but we hadn't packed any water either.

When we walked into the little store and our noses smelled the freshly baked breads, cookies and rolls, we could not resist ourselves.  A young couple, she graduated from Portland State (is from Idaho originally) with a degree in Science and her husband who has a degree in bio-science bought this little place about 3 years ago.  She bakes all of the goodies herself and OMG..... they were wonderful.  Deane bought and ate a hugh huckleberry bearclaw, I had something almost as decadent which we ate at one of their tables while we chatted with them.  Before we left, we had to make more purchases to go......a huckleberry beer bread (makes the best toast ever), a spinach and bluecheese roll, an artichoke feta cheese roll and a couple of huckleberry macaroons.  We managed to make the bread last about 3 days... everything else was gone by the next day (macaroons were gone within 30 minutes of leaving the store).   She does not ship....  so sad!!!!  http://www.glacier-national-park-travel-guide.com/polebridge-mercantile.html

Another off the beaten path place we found was almost across the street from our RV Park.  It was a small distillery of whiskey, The North Fork.  Neither of us are whiskey drinkers, but when you  have free tastings.... you have to give it a try.  To my surprise it was not too bad.  Infact, I bought a couple of bottles!   http://northforkwhiskey.com/     Of course!

We did manage to get to Whitefish the next day, but because it was early in the season the resort was not open, but the views from the top were pretty amazing.  The town of Whitefish is very touristy, with lots of small boutiques and restaurants and golf courses.


We love small local theaters, and found the Big Fork summer theater was having a pre-season show of their first play, "I love You, your Perfect, now change".  Before the show, we were looking for a place to have dinner on the lake and met a man who suggested the Raven, about 4 miles south of Big Fork.  Interesting place, open all year round and has an interesting menu.  Everything from burgers to Yak meatloaf (from a local source), to Pad Thai.  Food was decent, the view wonderful and the play was very entertaining.  All in all and good day/night.

Our last day in the area was the best for weather and we saved it for our trip into the park.  We could only get to an area called Avalanche on the Going to the Sun Road, and walked their mile trail called Trail of the Cedars. 

McDonald Lake

South Fork of the Flat Head River

There is also a large glacial lake in the park called McDonald Lake and the south and middle fork of the Flat Head River flow from it.  The waters are as clear as glass and look almost tropical with their aqua color.

We also drove around the south end of the park to a place marked Goat Lick.  The area has the river running through it, with high cliff banks that have salt deposits in them.  The mountain goats like the salt and will traverse the sides of these cliffs to get to the salt.    We were lucky enough that day to see some of them.

Our day ended with three deer coming into our campsite to feed.

Onto Canada!!!!!