Montana, Part 4: North Fork and Good-bye

"But in every walk with Nature one receives far more than he seeks." 
- John Muir

 

On our last full day in Montana, we headed up the North Fork of the Flathead River to the northwestern section of the park. We hit gravel roads and this was a much less popular area of the park to visit (fewer people, yay, although a timed entry pass was still required!), but it was still so, so beautiful.

We parked near Bowman Lake (greeted by a few deer), and hiked a mile up towards Quartz Lake, followed by a lakeside stroll. I learned on a trail closure notification app that the Quartz lakeshore was closed due to nesting loons.

Searching for lakeshore moose

Panoramic shots

We then hit Hidden Meadow Trail (missing the turnoff initially), which was a really quiet, secluded trail with lots of wildflowers, berries, and (unfortunately) mosquitoes which ate me alive!

'shrooms 

We made a lot of noise to scare off any bears, as this was the most remote trail we'd been on yet this week.

Mountain strawberry (and other, possibly one huckleberry?) picker!

The tiny town of Polebridge has a happening Mercantile (a shop known for its huckleberry bearclaw and other pastries at the bakery), and apparently had a fun 4th of July parade, which we missed by about an hour. The kids (and Kelvin!) enjoyed the see-saw.

We ended the day with a visit to a riverbank area near West Glacier, which our host Gerry told is popular with the locals. We watched as several people (including rafting guides in stars-and-stripes speedos!) jumped off the bridge into the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, a popular rafting site. We skipped it-- the water was COOOOLD! 

Unfortunately, Iver (against our request!) tossed up Niall's croc shoe from a rock below, and the shoe bounced into the river... where we thought it was lost forever since Iver was frozen in place and didn't lunge after it (the river is cold but he can swim and we urged him to do so to retrieve the shoe!).  However, the croc drifted downstream about 100 meters as I hustled alongside the river, emboldened to ask if, by chance, a passing raft could snag it, and one did (phew! Even if it was lost forever, it would have made a good Montana [and blog] story). 

We tried to get last-minute rodeo tickets for a Thursday show in Columbia Falls, but alas, they were sold out and it wasn't meant to be. Fireworks are a big thing in Big Sky country, but we slept right through them, tired from our long days on the trails. Before we headed back to the airport on Saturday, we stopped at the Huckleberry Patch in Hungry Horse for a delicious Huckleberry shake and some last-minute Montana gift shopping.

Montana has the best bathroom art!

Niall is totally enamored with his "bear paw" slippers, which he was eyeing the whole trip and bought with his own money at the Lake McDonald Lodge as a special souvenir.

The kids tallied the "wildlife" count (of animals spotted on this trip) and edged us adults out by about twenty points (= one bear!). We saw 3 black bears, the kids saw a grizzly, and we spotted lots of mountain goats, bighorn sheep, and deer (alas, no moose or other big mammals). 

Not captured in these photos are the backseat roadtrip fighting ("STOP BREATHING! YOU'RE PROVOKING ME!") as well as countless conversations, laughs, and quality time we spent while on the trails for hours (Niall cracked us all up with "Twins-- they sound the same, look the same, and taste the same!").  Niall and Iver were obsessed with singing versions of Lady Gaga/Bruno Mars' "Die with a Smile") which definitely kept the wildlife away.  We played some hiking versions of "The Price is Right" and "Family Feud" to distract the kids from the miles of walking as well as had innumerable chats about sports and basketball trivia (Iver's current obsession).

We had a truly perfect week in Montana with everything I need in a vacation (time in nature, mountains, lakes and beautiful scenery, hiking, wildlife, good sunny weather, being unplugged from technology, and enough time to rest and read).   The kids said this beat out our Banff/Lake Louise trip last year (I agree. And it’s not just because we didn’t have to evacuate from a wildfire!!).  Glacier National Park, with its >700 miles of trails and ~762 named lakes, is definitely my favorite national park (with Yosemite second and Grand Canyon third).  There were a few trails (Iceberg Lake and Grinnell Glacier Trail) I wished we could have made it to, but the distances were a bit too long for our kids and there was too much restricted entry access.  Maybe I'll have the chance go back again in 30 years or so (and maybe there will be a glacier or so left).