Glacier National Park / Montana

September 30 – October 8, 2020

We should begin each blog with a Covid Closure / Restrictions section as there is always something we can’t do or see because of Covid. As I mentioned in the last blog, we knew the east and Canadian entrances to Glacier National Park were closed, most campgrounds, several smaller roads, the Visitor Center, and part of the “Going to the Sun” road. That still wasn’t enough to stop us and all the other travelers from going to the park. In fact, with so many families and children – it almost seemed like August and not October.

Driving in from the east, we passed the east entrance to Glacier National Park (which was closed) and continued on US 2 to the west which proved to be quite a challenge. With the changing elevations, constant winding road, and the mountain views of the National Park, we knew we’d have to come back to a portion of the drive to take in the natural beauty and enjoy the train traffic which ran parallel to our drive almost the entire trip.

Our camping reservations were near the West Glacier entrance. Adventure RV Park was only 5 miles from the park entrance. We were glad to find a campground so close as most were already closed for the season. We will be here 8 days. No problem with the campground – gravel sites, full hookup, laundry (a really nice laundry area), decent internet, and mail service (we knew this in advance so we could get our election ballots sent to us plus bonus mail from Cameron, our grandson).

The drive into West Glacier was lined with trees of yellow and gold leaves with mountains covered with green pine trees in the background. What a great start.

Glacier National Park in Montana borders Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada. The two parks are known as Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park and are designated Biosphere Reserves, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and an International Dark Sky Park.

Our first day exploring the park, we stopped by the Visitors Center for park/trail maps. Although the Visitor Center was closed, two park rangers stood outside on the porch behind Plexiglas (with their laser pointer) and answered any questions we had. All the information we needed was on our side of the Plexiglas.

We spent the first 2 days driving the Going to the Sun road. We drove the road the first day stopping where we could for some excellent views of the mountain and valleys. The second day we went on a few hikes and spent more time driving the same road at a different time of the day which made the scenery look so different. It also made the road much more of a challenge to drive especially when the sun is behind the road. Other days were spent exploring other parts of the park and the surrounding area. We did go back to the park a few more times to go back to sections of the park that we just had to see again. We couldn’t get enough of glaciers, enormous snow topped mountains, U-shaped valleys.

FYI: The tallest mountain in Glacier National Park is Mount Cleveland at 10,479’.

When you look at the pictures, enjoy the beauty but keep in mind that what you see is a small fraction of what it really looks like.

Right picture -Into the tunnel. Left picture: Exiting tunnel there is no room to make a mistake.

Left picture: the arches are constructed with surrounding rock so in blends in naturally. The guardrail is made of timber - keeping the look as natural as possible.

So beautiful!

If you have to be stuck in traffic, at least you get entertainment!

As the trip progressed, we noticed one of our day/night shades in the RV was having difficulty raising and lowering. Upon further investigation, one of the strings was about to break due to high wear. We called around to see if we could get the blind repaired and fortunately, one repair place knew someone who repaired RV blinds. Her name was Vicki and was about 20 minutes from our campground. Best news is that she would repair them overnight. All went well, the blinds were fixed, reinstalled (although a bit tricky to get the tension correct), and working just fine. Thank you, Vicki. Having to work around the broken shade would have been a problem and it was great that we caught the problem when there was someone so close to us. With our last motorhome, we had similar shades repaired. We had to send them to Iowa which meant it would take up to one month before we had the back.

Since we were out for a drive dropping off and picking up our blind, it gave us a chance to enjoy the local surroundings. One thing that we both noticed was the thought taken to blend buildings with the environment. Most building were brown either made of wood or trimmed in wood with a dark brown metal roof. Some buildings were green but wood trim was incorporated into the design. Every road had a great view of the mountains. We wondered if the locals ever take that view for granted.

An example of a house that just blends into the environment.

One piece of literature from the campground listed local companies. We would have loved to go to some of the nearby bar/restaurants especially those that always had full parking lots. Although not a Covid closure, it was something we could not participate in. It would have been nice!

We did however stop by and partake in some axe throwing from a local establishment called Hank’s Hatchets. Our boys are fond of axe throwing – so much so that one of the activities at Andrew’s bachelor party was axe throwing while they were camping. Hank’s Hatchets had 4 lanes with 2 targets per lane, plus 2 party areas with their own lanes and a long table and chairs. This place was “bring your own beverage” and “bring your own food”. After taking our temperature as a Covid precaution for entry, we were able to get a one-hour rental started. We got our own lane with two targets, 4 axes (2 different weights) and instruction on how to throw an axe. What fun! Joe did better than I did but I had a great time. We did wear our masks the whole time we were there (as did other participants). It is certainly something you have to practice rather than just “walk up”.

Thank you, Patrick for treating us to such a great evening.

A popular activity for us is train watching. We have been following the same train line (BNSF) since North Dakota. Most trains came in the evening but there was some activity throughout the day. Most of the trains consisted of 2 engines, grain, lumber, or merchandise cars, 2 more engines, more cars, plus a rear engine. Joe even spotted a 2 lead, 3 middle, and 3 rear engine train. It had to be a heavy train going through the mountain passes.

No trains but a beautiful trestle bridge.

One of our back-road adventures was to the Hungry Horse Dam (located in Hungry Horse, Montana). The dam was relatively close the campground and it fit perfect into a side trip for us. Of course, the visitor center was closed but there were many descriptive signs and exhibits. The view of the mountains in the background at sunset was fantastic.

The above gantry moves on two rails and services the water side of the entire dam from side to side. It is designed to provide the Dam operators the ability to service the electric motors which open and close the spillways.

In another back-road adventure tracking some train watching “hot spots”, we stumbled on and visited the Izaak Walton Inn that was built by the railroad to lodge railroad workers who worked up in the mountain passes through that area. It is now a very busy, quaint inn Besides the inn, there are other properties for rent - converted caboose train cars and one engine. The train tracks cut through the property so it must get pretty exciting when the train rolls through. The only stop at this location is by Amtrak’s Empire Builder route. The hotel was due to close in mid-October and would reopen in December for cross country skiing which is their busiest season. This would be a very relaxing place to spend time with no schedule. I also can see that this would be a place that train watchers would really enjoy and go out of their way to visit.

There was a very comfortable covered outside patio area where took some time to enjoy the afternoon with a couple of drinks and food.