This last month I was able to stretch my wandering legs once more to take a trip up into Northwest Montana. I have now been on either side of Glacier National Park but still haven't gotten to explore inside, maybe I'll finally make it sometime later this summer!
The last time I was this far north was for my senior trip with my best friend Lynn, we traveled up the continent much further north into Canada until wildfires turned us back toward home. That was on the eastern border of Glacier. This time I was traveling with a group from Church to give some much-needed encouragement to another church in Kalispell. I cannot tell you how good it felt to be deep in the soaring mountains of my home state again! Wyoming is beautiful too, I just happen to live in the wide-open part of the state instead of the majestic mountain part of the state.
A generous family allowed our group to stay in the rental cabin they've been renovating while we were there for the week, which made it so much more realistic for several of us to be there instead of having to pay for multiple hotel rooms. From what I know there is fantastic camping in the area, that just wasn't the best option for our group this time. You also have to be bear aware if that's the option you choose.
The view here was gorgeous so as soon as it's available to rent, I'll link to it and you can check it out for yourself! We spent each night around the campfire enjoying good stories, great company, and a wonderful time of rest. The guys and teenagers, of course, had to challenge each other into taking a swim in the glacier-fed pond just across from the cabin. Two of them actually made it for a full five minutes!
About halfway through our trip, more than half of our group came down with some sort of stomach bug which definitely put a damper on the fun. Still a small group of us went on a short hike to get a better look at the Mission Mountains, we only walked for about half of a mile both ways.
The next day, the Pastor of the church we were helping took us on a drive up the north fork of the Flathead River along the western border of Glacier National Park, the park itself would not open until a couple of weeks after our visit. The mountains were breathtaking and we even sited some elk crossing the river!
I kept teasing one of the little girls we had with us that these are the forests where Bigfoot lives 😂 then we pulled into Polebridge, Montana, and were greeted by a whole family of the infamous sasquatches. The mercantile had a lot of great souvenirs but the best part was the bakery. They make all of their goodies day of so it's all fresh and wonderful. I had the huckleberry bear claw, of course, because that is my favorite fruit!
Overall, it was a great teaser trip for when I get to come back and explore the area more fully. With so many lakes and opportunities for hiking around, I was completely in love. If the cost of real estate up there wasn't so ridiculous, you'd probably catch me making plans to move up there right now!
If you had unlimited resources, where would you move?
Until next time! Happy Trails!
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