Day 28 - Glacier National Park

Glacier National Park, 220 miles total and 27.3 mpg. Totals for the trip, 4400 miles, 26.7* mpg. Those are the stats.

This morning there was a wet spot on the carpet. Not their fault – we both heard the ear flap that says ‘I need to go out’, and we let it go. First time. Hopefully last time.

We’re up earlier than usual, partially because breakfast is from 8-9. Now to decide what to do on our first full day here. We have a slew of things that Sally-Heath has found – hikes in the Park (no dogs allowed), hikes outside the Park (with dogs), and just driving to all of the scenic views. Driving alone is probably a 3 day affair.

We have a plan. Today we’ll drive the west side of the park, as far north as we can get before we run out of time. Tomorrow we will drive the Road To The Sun loop, from West Glacier to East Glacier. And Monday, when we leave here for Golden BC, we will drive up the east side and visit Waterton National Park (Canada) on the way. And we’re off!


The drive from our cabin at the Bison Creek Ranch to West Glacier is about 55 miles, normally. This morning we made it a tiny bit longer. First we took a bunch of pictures along the way. That means a lot of turning around and going back. We did get some good pics. We got to West Glacier around 11:30, and decided to get lunch before our drive in the park – so we went back to Hungry Horse (the town), to The Huckleberry Patch (again) to grab a sandwich. Well guess what – they have free internet! And it’s a good high speed connection to boot! So while we ate I finished uploading the pictures and blog for yesterday, and we checked email.

From there it is straight into the park. I must give kudos to the Park Service – the backup at the gate was fairly long, but they had a ranger checking as you arrived, and if you had a pass he directed you to GO AROUND THE LINE! ALRIGHT! Good job, Park Service! ATTABOY!

Our plan was to take the Inside North Fork Road all the way north to the end at Kintla Lake. We didn’t have any trouble finding the road, but after about ½ mile the road was closed! Damn. No explanation, no warning. Just closed. But fortunately there is an alternative, the Outside North Fork Road! Before heading back out of the park, by the Camas Creek Entrance, north of West Glacier, we stopped at Lake McDonald, just to sight see. It’s a really pretty lake, and we remember it from our hike to Sperry Chalet some years ago. You can’t see it from the Chalet, but you get to see it from the trail. And today we can almost figure out where the lower part of the trail to Sperry Chalet is (maybe).


On to Camas Creek. Guess what – when we turn on the road to Camas Creek there is a sign – this is well past the turn we took to Inside North Fork Road – explaining that Inside North Fork Road is closed! Not why, just that it is. I’d say the sign is misplaced, by about 300 yards! It’s about 11 miles of paved road inside the park to Camas Creek Entrance, and the scenery in the distance, the mountains especially, is spectacular. More pictures. Most of the drive is through an area that was burned sometime in the last 20 years. In National Parks they usually let fires burn themselves out, and this one covered a lot of area. As we exit the park at Camas the Outside North Fork Road is dirt and gravel – a decent road, some washboard, some bumps, but not too bad.


There is a short paved section of the road, not in real good shape, but better than the gravel. And along the way there are scenic shots to be taken everywhere. It’s a slow trip for at least two reasons – stopping to look and take pictures and the road conditions, which are about to get worse. We go back into the park at Polebridge. Surprisingly this entrance is staffed! ( It is in the middle of nowhere…the ranger offered Jake and Woody an dog treat! S-H) The road has gotten thinner, with more potholes and washboards, and some big holes. It is slow going, but it is interesting too. The changes that occur in the surroundings, from marsh lands to dense forest, to prairie, to pine forest, with streams, flowers – always something new, as you follow the stream upstream to its source, Lake Kintla. Actually there are several streams and rivers, and they don’t all come from Kintla.


When we arrived at the campground on the shore of Lake Kintla we were greeted by Lyle, the ranger/camp custodian, who wanted me to park so another car might have the same opportunity. He was right, I had been sloppy/piggy. I also wasn’t expecting a lot of traffic, although the campground was full. It’s a very nice campground, with tall trees, Kintla Creek exiting the lake just by the campground, and the lake and views afforded are incredible. Well worth the long, difficult drive.

Lyle is possibly 75, and he has stories. A very nice guy. One of the stories he recounted was from just recently – a dog wandered through the camp, looking pretty ragged. To shorten it at bit, there was an effort just to catch the dog, and through rabies records they were actually able to identify the owner! Contacting the owner was another problem, but all ended happily, and the dog was returned to its Canadian owner on the day they were to hold a wake for the dog! The dog had been lost in Eureka, about 25 miles west of the campground, a week earlier. How it managed to traverse the 25 miles of rugged terrain and avoid wolves and other large animals, is anyone’s guess. Lyle was convinced that if left alone, the dog was headed in the right direction (north) to find its’ way home – if it could survive long enough!
I love our boys, but I’m not sure they could find their way home from next door.

We didn’t stay long, about 30 minutes – boys got wet, drank from the stream. Then retrace our steps, all the way to West Glacier, then to our cabin. We were tired and hungry, and went directly to the ranch restaurant for dinner. A good meal, and none too soon!

Oh – I almost forgot! A really nice thing happened while we were taking our picture at the Continental Divide on the way home. Our new friends, Don and Doug from Canada, went by on their bikes after a day trip to Missoula – recognized the boys and honked and waved. That might not sound like much, but it made us feel really good and happy.

It’s late, I’m going to bed real soon. Goodnight!