A Week in the Glacier National Park Area

After our season ended at Farragut State Park, Museum at the Brig, we left our fifth wheel behind and took off in our car. We spent the week at a condo in Columbia Falls, just outside of Glacier National Park. We had a very large two bedroom/two bath condo at Meadow Lake Golf Club overlooking the 10th fairway.

Our unit, 622, was on the second floor with an upper

story master bedroom suite.

View of the 10th fairway from our 2nd floor balcony.

The balcony was equipped with a grill, table and chairs.

Well appointed kitchen, fire place with wood

and two living areas.

The upper loft off the master bedroom even

had a third LCD television.

 

We spent four full days in the National Park exploring many areas we had never visited before. This is our third visit to Glacier National Park. The Going to the Sun Road from Apgar Visitor Center (West Gate) to Logan Pass was closed to private vehicles because of the Howe Ridge Fire. This fire has consumed over 14,000 acres, however, this is only about one percent of the over 1.2 million acres of the National Park.

West Entrance to Apgar Visitor Center

 

CAMAS ROAD TO POLEBRIDGE

View from Camas Road along the west

side of Glacier NP, north of Apgar VC.

The fire was being contained about a

half of a mile east of Camas Road.

The Park Service will allow it to burn itself

out as long as it is not threatening

 any structures.

Continuing north on Camas Road, we

proceeded to Outside North Fork Road and on to the

very small town of Polebridge.

The Polebridge Mercantile had a bakery.

We enjoyed a huckleberry bearclaw and

a cinnamon roll. 

 

EAST GLACIER AND TWO MEDICINE

Tuesday we drove US 2 along the south border of Glacier National Park to East Glacier and the Two Medicine area. We had a nice lunch at the East Glacier Lodge waiting for the morning clouds to break into a beautiful afternoon for hiking in Two Medicine. 

East Glacier Park Lodge

We ate lunch at the Lobby Café.

Running Eagle Falls

This double waterfall is caused by a cave

that opens in the creek bed prior to the brink

of the falls.

Only one falls was running on this

early September day.

This butterfly posed for the camera.

Two Medicine Lake

This boat crosses the lake to the Twin Falls Trail head.

We took this hike/boat trip in 1999.

Interesting tree damage along the

Paradise Point Trail.

View of Two Medicine Lake from

Paradise Point.

Appistoki Falls Trail

The view from the top of Appistoki Falls.

 

IZAAK WALTON HOTEL IN ESSEX, MONTANA

The Izaak Walton Inn, a historic Glacier National Park hotel, was built next to the railroad yard in 1939 for the use of railroad service personnel. It was also intended to serve as an entrance to Glacier National Park between East Glacier and West Glacier, but this plan never materialized. The lodge itself has 29 guest rooms. If you want a different experience, there are a number of cabooses and rail cars converted into luxury guest quarters.

Izaak Walton Hotel

This diesel engine is now a luxury suite.

 

WHITEFISH, MONTANA

The Whitefish Railroad Station,

built in 1927, contains a small museum.

We found many elegant homes while driving

around Whitefish Lake.

 

HUNGRY HORSE DAM AND RESERVOIR

This 564 foot tall dam was completed in 1953. We were wondering why the name, Hungry Horse. The Legend goes that during the severe winter of 1900, two draft horses owned by some Montana logging pioneers wandered away from their logging sled. Almost a month after their disappearance both horses were found alive. Some loggers nicknamed the gaunt survivors, the "Mighty Hungry Horses." The name stuck and was eventually given to this dam, the town, the creek and the reservoir.

Hungry Horse Dam

Hungry Horse Reservoir

 

GOING TO THE SUN ROAD TO LOGAN PASS VIA ST. MARY ENTRANCE

Thursday we drove to Logan Pass.  Since the west side of Sun Road was closed, we had to drive US 2 around the south boundary to reach the St. Mary, East Entrance. This was a 250 miles round trip.

Picnic lunch at Sun Point

Sun Point Trail

overlook St. Mary Lake.

Sun Point

Logan Pass Visitor Center

Highest Point (6646') on Going to the Sun Road

 

Hidden Lake Overlook Trail at Logan Pass

This is the most popular hike in the park. The trail begins as a boardwalk to protect the fragile alpine meadow. Plants at this altitude do not recover easily if they are stepped on. 

June 28, 1999, we started this trail with our children. Because of deep snow and strong winds we were forced to turn back before the halfway point. It was very special that the two of us finally got to complete this hike. It was a sunny warm day, too. 

The boardwalk seems to go on forever.

Beautiful waterfalls and flowers along the way.

Spotted a mountain goat at the overlook.

Hidden Lake Overlook

Returning via Hidden Lake Pass

on the Continental Divide.

 

Alberta Visitor Center in West Glacier, Montana.

This sled placed 9th in the 1988 Calgary Olympics.

 

POLEBRIDGE RANGER STATION/HIDDEN MEADOWS TRAIL

Fall colors were on display along the

Hidden Meadows Trail.

We hiked through a thick

regrowth forest after a fire in 1988.

The trail ended in a meadow and small lake

complete with two tundra swans.

 

LONE PINE MONTANA STATE PARK

The Visitor Center had some nice displays.

A trail leads upward to this viewpoint.

From there is a breathtaking view of

Kalispell and the Flathead River Valley.

Journey to the Palouse

We decided to take a three day journey into the Palouse beginning Sunday, August 5. The Palouse is the most serene and pastoral of the many wonders of Washington State. It actually encompasses south eastern Washington, north central Idaho and northeast Oregon. The Palouse is characterized by gentle rolling hills. It is a major agricultural area, primarily producing wheat and legumes.

The Palouse holds the largest concentration

of wheat per acre in the world.

Thirty percent of the world's lentils

are grown in the Palouse. 

Pullman, Washington, is home to Washington State University.

Just across the state line lies the University of Idaho in Moscow.

The Connor Museum, located in WSU's Science Hall,

exhibits fish, amphibians, reptiles, a dinosaur skeleton,

and several hundred mounted birds and mammals.

The Old Spiral Highway, connecting Lewiston, ID,

to the Palouse was built over 100 years ago.

It is one of Idaho's premier motorcycle drives.

From this viewpoint Lewiston and the junction of the

Clearwater River and Snake River are observed.

The Nez Perce National Historic Park is composed

of 38 historic sites.

The main visitor center is in Spalding, just east of

Lewiston, Idaho.

The Nez Perce have inhabited the Clearwater River

Valley for thousands of years.

The Nez Perce are know for their fine horses.

The museum contains artifacts and exhibits of

their history and everyday life. 

Lunch along the Clearwater River.

The Dworshak Dam was completed in 1973.

This is the highest straight axis concrete dam in

North America at a height of 717 feet

and 3/4 of a mile long.

Dworshak Reservoir

The 65 foot tall Codger Pole in Colfax, Washington, is the

tallest chainsaw carved structure in the world.

It was built to commemorate a football game between the rival

high schools of Colfax and St. John.

 The football game was first played in 1938 and replayed

in 1988 by those still around after 50 years.

Hence the name "Codger" Pole.

The final stop on our tour was in the town

of Rosalia, Washington. This renovated

Texaco Gas station was originally built in 1923.

The Pulaski Tunnel Trail

On Monday, July 2, we drove 75 miles east to Wallace, Idaho. From there we hiked The Pulaski Tunnel Trail along Placer Creek. This historic trail, just west of the Montana border, is four miles round trip with an elevation gain of 800 feet. There are many interpretive signs along the path explaining the events of August 20 & 21, 1910.

 

In the summer of 1910, drought, sparks from trains, and lightning touched off wildfires in the West. These fires ultimately scorched three million acres of forest and darkened skies as far away as Boston. Most of the devastation occurred in two days in August that became known as "The Big Burn". Gale force winds of up to 80 MPH whipped small fires into a violent inferno.

 

Ed Pulaski, a fire fighter for the U.S. Forest Service, led 45 fellow firefighters down a draw to safety inside an abandoned mine tunnel until the fire passed.

This special tool, "Pulaski", 

was named in honor of its inventor,

Ed Pulaski. It is still in use today.

There were six bridges and numerous

boardwalks as we followed Placer Creek.

 

We had unseasonably cool weather, great

day for a moderately strenuous hike.

The trail ends at this mine tunnel where

Ed Pulaski and the 45 men

took shelter as the fire roared

around them dropping ash and huge trees.