Road Trip #2, Day 4 - Flathead Lake, Glacier National Park - Montana

July 18, 2010
Colorado, USA

Choteau, MT -- What a great day! We were up and ready to go early this morning. The continental breakfast at the hotel was so-so but we had enough to get us down the road a few miles. We were loaded and rolling at 7:30 am. It was chilly (in the 40s) starting out so we pulled on our leather jackets. We had clear blue and wide open skies. There’s a reason they call Montana “Big Sky Country”. We appreciated the jackets as we rolled through the shade of the hills and it wasn't too far out that we stopped and pulled on our chaps.

Rolling due north on Hwy 93, we soon found ourselves riding through the Flathead Indian Reservation and along the edge of the 18,000 acre National Bison Range. We rode under the Animal’s Bridge which I have heard about but had no idea it was on our route. Apparently, there are several of these bridges to be constructed in the near future, but most of them run under the road. The signs along the way were written in both English and Native American language. The road leveled out after a few miles flanked by what could only be described in my limited knowledge of the area as marshlands or wetlands and populated with an amazing variety of water fowl.

Our first stop was the small town of Ronan. Our so-so breakfast had worn off and the golden arches lured us off the road. While munching on our dollar menu sausage biscuits, we spoke with a man who lived in the community of Lakeside on Flathead Lake. He told us about the lake and then gave us some good information about Glacier National Park. A few miles up the road we rounded a bend and there it was – just like he said - this huge lake.

Flathead Lake is the largest freshwater lake west of the Mississippi, supplied by the Flathead and Swan rivers. It is very impressive, being twenty eight miles long and about 15 miles wide at one part. Here are the other specs: 160 mile shoreline, 188 square miles of water, 300 feet deep. There’s a State Park located on the largest island in the lake called Wild Horse Island. It is framed by the Swan and Mission mountain ranges.

The small lakeside community of Polson (Poison Tim called it – yes, he needs to wear his bi-focals) sits on the southern end of Flathead Lake. As we entered town, we noticed vendor tents set up on one of the streets of town. They were having a Cherry Festival. Tim loves cherries and I know in his mind he was thinking a slice of cherry pie or a turnover or some other delicious pastry so we drove around until we found a shady spot to park The Ride not too far from the scene of the action or our line of sight. We strolled through various craft and other vendor tents, but other than a few freebies from the Army vendor and a $2 patriotic lapel pin made by a group of young local dance club members trying to fund a trip to Las Vegas, nothing looked like it needed to come home with us. You could buy a whole pie, but not a slice. We found home-canned jars of cherry jelly but no fresh cherries. Oh well! It was a nice stroll on a beautiful morning.

Before long we were on the road again, riding across The Armed Forces Memorial Bridge and along the western shore of the lake which is quite scenic. We stopped at one pull over to admire the view and for a photo-op. The mountains loomed ever larger in the distance. We rolled on through Kalispell and a few other small towns, agreeing that it will be worth a trip back just to explore the towns and some of the other roads. We stopped for gas before entering the park as we had no idea what was on the other side of the park or if anything would be open (since it was a Sunday). We knew on the other side was an Indian Reservation. We’ve ridden through Indian Reservations before on a weekend without much luck.

The entrance to the park was stacked up, but eventually we got to pay our $24. We asked about the roads since we had heard about construction from various sources. We were told a couple of short stretches were down to dirt but they were not too “bad” and there would be a couple of short construction delays but not too “long”.

The ride through Glacier National Park was in-a-word a -- blast. In two words then -- worth it. This is the park's centennial year. The road between West Glacier (west side entrance) and St Mary (the east side entrance) is 50 miles. It was built in the 1930s and the road itself is considered a national landmark. It is called the Going-to-the-Sun Road and is accurately described in the brochures as narrow, steep and winding. This road is closed in winter and has opened as late as July. Around every bend is another oh-my-gawd view. Even the same view changes because of difference in perspective, proximity and shifts in light.

Oh-My-Gawd View - Waterfall

Oh-My-Gawd View - Mountains and Glaciers

The first thing you spy upon entering the park along a thickly forested road is glacial Lake McDonald through the trees with a spectacular backdrop of rugged mountains. This is the largest lake in the park. It is 10 miles long, a mile wide and over 400 feet deep. Today, it was calm and serene, the reflection of the surrounding trees and mountains a landscape artist's dream. At the end of the drive along the edge of McDonald Lake is McDonald Falls. This was a stop for us. We were ready to get the jackets off, because the temperature had warmed to darn near perfect. It was also a photo-op because it was stunning.

McDonald Falls - Glacier National Park

McDonald Creek (looks more like a river) rushes alongside the road for about half of the trip. Heavens Peak (elev 8987) is the highest peak in the immediate area. It has perpetual snow. We crossed through two tunnels on the road I believe.

Water Fall alongside the road

The marvels seen along and from the road are too numerous to mention. From the road one can see many waterfalls, several of which are directly alongside the road not to mention the ones seen cascading into the wilderness valley far far below.

The 100 ft section known as the Weeping Wall, unlike other waterfalls in Glacier National Park, was not entirely put there by Mother Nature. The veins of water running through the rocks in the mountains, were natural, but man opened them up by blasting to build the road. When these veins and springs were exposed, the water poured out on to the road. This section of road was fun. We felt the mist as we rode by, but got lucky in that we were on the outside lane. As we were riding by, we heard a woman scream out because the man driving swung close enough to the wall to let a spray of cold water enter through the sun roof of their vehicle right on her head. I heard a laugh so hopefully she had a sense of humor.

The Weeping Wall - Glacier National Park

Another interesting sight along the way was a sort of bridge known as the The Triple Arches. This was built in the 1920's to direct the flow of water from a mountain gap. I learned later the original plan did not call for the Arches but rather a retaining wall. They look like some ancient aquaduct.

At Logan Pass (elev 6646) the road had climbed 3000 feet up from Lake McDonald. It is the highest point on this trip. There's a Visitor Center at the summit and this is where the road crosses the Continental Divide. A sign posted on the road said the Visitor Center parking was full so we rode on by.

Riding along the road the view is one spectacular vision of waterfall and mountain, forest and river after another and then you ride up on Saint Mary Lake. This is the second largest lake in the park (over nine miles long). At an elevation of over 4400 feet and at a depth of 300 feet, you can bet those waters will freeze your tootsies. Little Chief Mountain poses as a spectacular backdrop. On the east end of the lake is a tiny island known as Wild Goose Island.

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I have to share the romantic legend of the island here:

Wild Goose Island
A Montana Legend
as retold by S.E. Schlosser
Source: American Folklore.net

In the middle of St. Mary Lake in Glacier National Park is a small island halfway between two shores. Many moons ago now, there were two tribes living on either side of the lake. While there was no direct warfare between them, the two tribes avoided one another and had no dealings one with the other.

All this changed one day when a handsome warrior on the near shore saw a lovely maiden from the other tribe swimming toward the small island in the middle of the lake. He was instantly smitten by her beauty and leapt into the lake to swim to the island himself. They met on the shore of the little islet, and the maiden was as taken with the warrior as he was with her. They talked for hours, and by the end of their conversation, they were betrothed. After extracting a promise from his beloved that she would faithfully meet him at the island on the morrow, the warrior swam home to his tribe, and she returned to hers.

Oh, what an uproar they met upon their return. Neither tribe was happy at their meeting, and all were determined to break the betrothal instantly. What to do? The man and the maiden had no doubts at all. In the wee hours of the morning, each swam out to the little island to meet one another -- from their to flee to a new land where they might marry. As soon as they were discovered missing, warriors from both tribes set out in pursuit, to bring the renegades back by whatever means available.

But the Great Spirit was watching, and took pity on the young lovers. He transformed them into geese, which mate for life, so they could fly away from their pursuers and so that they would always be together. When the warriors arrived on the island, the found not a man and a woman, but two lovely geese walking among the small trees and bracken. At the sight of the warriors, the two geese stroked their necks together lovingly and then flew away, never to return.
From that day to this, the little island at the center of St. Mary Lake has been known as Wild Goose Island.
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We did encounter road construction and 15 to 20 minute construction delays along the way. Those sections of road were down to dirt, rutted and washboarded with loose gravel and construction rubble to keep it interesting. Tim did an excellent job of keeping the shiny side up. Our biggest concern was staying back far enough to keep rocks from the vehicles in front us from damaging the windshield.

Saint Mary Lake - Glacier National Park

Once out of the park we found ourselves on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, still on Hwy 89. There was a large lodge/visitor center just outside the eastern entrance but it was packed with tourists so we opted to ride on and look for a place to stop a little further down the road. A few miles down the road we were rethinking that decision. About 20 miles later, we rode through the tiny town of Kiowa (nothing going on there or any of the other tiny towns along the way) and about another 12 miles on to Browning. We stopped at the only convenience store in Browning, but the convenience part of the store was closed. We stretched our legs for a few minutes. A passerby said there was a rest stop of sorts up the road a few more miles. We spoke with two women who stopped us to ask if we had been through the park that day. We gave them all the information we had, including road conditions. I mentioned that there were plenty of accomodations on the other side but I didn't know about vacancies. We thought it was a bit late to head over but twilight is long on the western slope. I'm betting they saw a spectacular sunset from a dozen different angles. They were on Harleys and had ridden from Sacramento CA to New York for a huge women's rally and were on their way home. Wow! That's some ride. I told them if they had ridden all those miles, a little rubble in the road in the park wasn't going to trouble them much.

Thinking it was about time to get on down the road and find a spot to park for the night, we continued south on lonely Hwy 89 toward Choteau, on and on and on meeting very few other vehicles and those were mostly motorcycles. We stopped along the way at an abandoned store pulloff. The sign across the road said US-Canadian border 38 miles. When we turned at Saint Mary we were within about 20 miles of the border. We did eventually find that rest stop of sorts which offered the convenience we were seeking, but I cannot tell you exactly where in the route it was exactly - it was somewhere after the abandoned store. This was an amazing stretch of road, straight for miles then twisting and turning for miles.

Rolling into the small town of Choteau, we were much relieved to see signs of civilization, amused to see dinosaur monuments everywhere and surprised to see a courthouse. As we rode by a small tourist court, we saw a couple on a white motorcycle we had seen throughout the day in the park and riding past us while we were stopped in Browning. We stopped for gas immediately and I called the Folks to check in and let them know how our day went. We rode the length of main street, looked at what motels (there were two more) and restaurants (there were three - one was closed) were available. I suggested we take a better look where we saw the other couple. We did and booked a room at the Bella Vista Motel. They had everything we could have needed including a truly non-smoking room with two beds, a ceiling fan, an a/c we did not need and WIFI. The rate was so reasonable we almost didn't believe it. The manager was pleasant and helpful. Our room/cabin was on the very end. It was clean, quaint and comfy. This would turn out to be our favorite overnight stay of the whole trip.

After checking in and dropping off our stuff, we traveled back down Main Street to the Log Cabin Cafe where we had a couple of great burgers and an appetizer called jo-jos (deep fried jalapeno slices). The other biker couple walked in about half an hour later and were shown to another dining area. On the way back to the room, Tim picked up some well-deserved beer and we strolled out to the shelter on the lawn where we sank into a couple of comfy lawn chairs and struck up a conversation with the biker we had seen check in just ahead of us. Soon we were joined by his wife and one of the locals who lived in the motel. Tom and Linda were the biker couple. They were from Seattle following her son who was racing on the late model circuit. He had raced in Kalispell the day before. We talked until after 10 pm and had a great time. A storm had built in the north and it looked as if we were going to get wet but the clouds suddenly dissipated and the remainder of the night was cool and clear.

Did I mention it was a great day? We rode 316 miles through some of the purtiest country we've ever seen... and that's saying something profound given that we live in Colorado with the Rockies right out our back door.

FYI: Mom told me she googled Choteau (pronounced Show-Toe) after I told her where we were staying for the night. She said the hisotry of the area was interesting so I did the same. This Montana town is named for French fur-trapper and explorer Pierre Chouteau, Jr. Choteau is near one of the most important paleontology sites in the world, Egg Mountain (bones of juvenile dinosaurs were discovered at this site in 1977). Fossil eggs and dug out earthen nests were found in the nearby Two Medicine Formation.

OK - settle in folks - this was a big day of almost non-stop picture taking...

From Missoula to Flathead Lake and thereabouts (40 photos):

Glacier National Park (137 photos):

Hwy 89 to Choteau, MT for the night (21 photos):

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Some outstanding pics and lots of detailed information about Glacier National Park and the surrounding mountains can be found here: The Summit Post.org