This is the second leg of our LOOP through 7 Northwestern States
This was our first journey into Montana, and what a wonderful experience it was! We set up our itinerary to take advantage of Hipcamps on our way up along the western edge of Glacier NP.
We did this to avoid the summer holiday crowds at the primary entrance gates. It worked perfectly.
We basically followed the Salmon River (Highways 75 & 93) all the way, from Stanley, ID to the MT border. From there we continued on to Missoula.
We stopped in Missoula at the Notorious P.I.G. for barbeque as our late lunch. We then continued on to the Rusty Nail Farm in Arlee, MT. It is a HipCamp hosted Jenn & Mica. We highly recommend it. The following day, prior to our drive up the eastern shore of Flathead Lake, we stopped at the nearby Ewam Garden of One Thousand Buddhas. It didn't exactly fit my notion of Montana countryside but it was a very interesting stop, if you happen to be close by.
Heading north, we stopped for dinner in the tidy little town of Kalispell. We had a lovely dinner at the women-owned Hops Downtown Grill and then spent the night in Whitefish, at the Mountain Shadow Ranch. We wanted to be well rested because we were not quite sure what to expect when we begin venturing up to the "backdoor" entrance into the park.
One of the ways to avoid the crowds in the peak season is to use the entrance at Polebridge, which entails driving over gravel road (or worse) for more than 30 miles to get back into Bowman Lake (our destination). Other than being a bit slow and bumpy, it is a real adventure and the Mercantile in Polebridge is not to be missed!
We arrived at Bowman Lake without incident and found a spot. A neighbor came by to welcome us, we checked the local news on recent happenings, and we finished setting up camp before heading to the lake for a swim.
I have done a lot of hiking and backpacking around black bears but never in grizzly territory. I have to admit being a bit nervous.
We armed ourselves with His & Hers Grizzly Bear Spray, a Satellite SOS device, and really loud "bear" whistles. Hoping for the best...
Then, the week before we arrive in Montana, a woman from California was tragically killed by a grizzly outside of Missoula. So, with some trepidation, we decided to take a long hike on our second day in camp. Distances are vast and there is nothing in that area of the park (20 miles south of the Canadian border) other than rugged mountains, dense forest, and the occasional river or lake. We checked out the route in the unmanned visitors' information tent (there was no cell service) and we decided to head for Akokala Lake.
My hiking partner (Sal) was badass! The trails were narrow and often steep, it was rather hot, the visibility in the forest was quite limited so we were blowing our whistles every 20 seconds, and sometimes the silence was deafening. I am happy to say that we made it to lake where we had a well deserved swim and some lunch! It was 11-miles round trip and we never saw another soul the entire time. We had another swim when we made it back to camp, made dinner, and slept like logs!
The lakes were truly gorgeous and the kayaking was splendid. We had the most glorious time and hope to return to see even more of this spectacular National Park.
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