POLEBRIDGE, HERE I COME

June 19

While I was visiting Kathy and Duane, we compared notes on our favorite places in Glacier National Park (they've been all over the park). We all agreed that Many Glacier was the most beautiful place in the park. And as I was leaving, they said I should try to get to Polebridge, MT -- a very small town that is actually very close to the northwest entrance to Glacier, but outside of the park. On my way back to Bigfork, I picked up a copy of the Flathead Beacon to see what local activities might be going on (that's how I find a lot of the things I do on these vacations -- through the papers). and there was an article about Polebridge.

The paper said this place was a "truly Montana experience." It is located 1 mile from the northwestern entrance to the park (very remote), and it has 2 buildings. There is the Northern Lights Saloon, and the Polebridge Merchantile. The "Merc" has world-class pastries, and I can vouch for that. I had a bear claw stuffed with huckleberries, and covered with frosting and sugar. The dough tasted like I was eating a beignet -- it was fabulous.

By the way, there are some cabins for rent in Polebridge. This is where people come to REALLY get away from it all. No phones, no TV, no Internet, no AC -- just a cabin. I'm not actually sure there is heat in those cabins, but probably no one comes up here in the winter. But you do have great pastries, and a saloon where you can wash them down -- and you might even have some local entertainment.

Now to get to Polebridge, you must drive into the West Glacier entrance, and then take Camas Road, leaving the park further up the western side. Then it is onto a rough, dirt road. It was rare that I was going much more than 20 miles an hour. It was raining, muddy, and the road was like a washboard -- extremely rough. Imagine driving about 50 miles like this. Along the way, there was a "general store" that offered some pizza, hamburgers, lots of little souveniors, and one of the friendliest store keepers yet. He was very talkative and full of information. Apparently this store is sitting on an 1800 acre ranch, and the original owner had died. His heirs had to wait several years before they could put it up for sale. A Texas oil man (was his last name Bush?) bought the whole 1,800 acres and is going to keep it whole. He plans on free ranging long horn cattle. Now that should be interesting.

Finally, Polebridge. I've already told you about the "town". Everyone who comes this direction stops. And the reason they come here is that the northwest entrance into Glacier is the gateway to 4 lakes: Quartz Lake, Lower Quartz Lake, Bowman Lake, and Kintia Lake. Otherwise, I doubt anyone would get here at all.

One feature I failed to mention was a horse who seemed to have his own "open range" right there in town. Several people were sitting at a picnic table eating their pastries, and there is the horse -- standing with his head over the table like he was participating in the conversation. I don't know if people feed him, but he did seem to enjoy all the petting.

After my bear claw, I decided to make the trek up to Bowman Lake. It is the closest lake to Polebridge, although I was told that Kintia Lake is far more beautiful. They were both down this dirt road, but Kintia was 15 miles further, and I'd had enough of bumps and rocks. So Bowman Lake it was.

It is an understatement to say this road winds and has many, many switchbacks. It goes through the deep woods of Glacier, and I kept thinking that my reward for making this drive would be to see a grizzly bear or a moose -- it is their kind of country. All I saw was a deer!! Bummer. The road is really wide enough for 1 truck, so imagine what you have to do when you come upon a big diesel pulling a boat. YIKES!! It was bumpy, rocky, and full of potholes. My truck bounced around so much that my diet coke went flat -- shook the fizzies right out of the soda. Guess Obama's stimulus budget didn't get to Bowman Lake.

Finally.....Bowman Lake. I'm sure I would have been more impressed if I hadn't already seen Lake McDonald and the Lakes of Many Glacier and Two Medicine. It's a beautiful lake -- but there are so many beautiful lakes in Glacier, it's hard to stand out. I thought I might be able to get in a hike, but the shortest trail was about 5.7 miles out -- and like always, you have to hike back. I think there was one trail that was about 30 miles -- WHO DOES THAT??? Someone much younger than me. There were also signs posted that a mountain lion had been sighted and that hiking alone was not recommended -- decided I would take their advice.

One thing I have noticed in all the Glacier locations, even the back country hiking trails are really well worn paths. For some reason I though back country hiking required a machete and you had to hack your way through the underbrush. But they all seem to be well marked and a fairly easy walk -- although when you start to climb there are always rocks to trip over.

There is a ranger station at the lake, and while I am not sure, I think the rangers just live there for the summer. There was a beautiful log house, so that wouldn't be half bad.

So it was an interesting day....another to add to a long list of fun and interesting days.

Here are a couple of extra pictures that I liked, and wanted to share with you. The American Flag seemed so appropriate blowing in the breeze among the pine and fur trees.