In today’s post, I’ll share one of our recent adventures in NW Montana. I’ll also tell you where we stayed and our favorite spots to eat. We’ve been coming to NW Montana for over 25 years, exploring many wilderness areas including, Glacier National Park, Flathead, Bob Marshall and other wild parts of this beautiful country. Every time we visit, it gets harder and harder to leave. My hubby, Jim and I are thrilled to officially break ground on our new home located on the outskirts of Kalispell, MT. We’ve got more work to do, including moving more earth (dirt & rocks) and building foundation forms for the crawl space. I’ll share a build update once we’ve made more progress on our new house. In the pictures below you can see the beginnings of our driveway (red line) and the views of the Swan Mountain range from on our build site.
Read about our new home build below:
Adventures – Past & Present
If you’re planning a trip to Glacier, you’ll want to pick up Jake Bramante’s Hike734 Day Hikes trail map, which can be found at https://www.hike734.com. Jake is a Montana local who provides information on the trails, including the distance, slope difficulty, and his personal recommendations ranked from first to last. Jake hiked all 734 miles in Glacier in just one summer, but his map covers 88 of the very best trails in the park.
Jim and I have explored 38 of Jake’s trails, including some of the most popular and least traveled. Glacier can be crowded in the summer with many visitors spending most of their time on Going-to-the-Sun Road, which traverses some of the highest peaks in the park. You’ll need a road pass and a park pass, so be sure to visit the Glacier National Park site to get helpful information for your trip: https://www.nps.gov/glac/index.htm#:~:text=With%20over%20700%20miles%20of%20trails,%20Glacier%20is%20a%20paradise
During season the GTTSR pass ensures less traffic, so you’ll need to visit the website below to get details and buy an inexpensive road pass:
https://www.recreation.gov/timed-entry/10087086
I’ve included pictures from past adventures to Italy, Grand Canyon, Grand Tetons, North Cascades, and Glacier. You can find more details about these trips or others throughout my blog:
Pitamakan Pass and Dawson Pass Loop Trail
The first trail we did this trip was Pitamakan Pass – Dawson Pass Loop in Glacier National Park. It featured bright blue skies and fall foliage decked out in gold and red. It’s an epic trail featuring a cliff-side walk, sparkling alpine lakes, and a beautiful waterfall. It was a very challenging day; we hiked 18.8 miles and gained over 3,800 feet in elevation. We’d done the Dawson Pass trail, but not the Pitamakan Pass, so we were excited to do both in one day. Turns out we had lots of enthusiasm, but we ran low on stamina. This hike was the hardest, longest, and highest elevation gain we’ve ever completed. I’m proud of this accomplishment and the thousands of miles we’ve traveled together since our hiking journey began in 1998.
In spite of the difficulty, we plan to do this trail again, but next time we’ll camp overnight at Oldman Lake. This will give our legs a break and provides more time in the park. In addition to stopping overnight, you should also carefully consider the direction you take. We took Pitamakan up and Dawson down, which makes for an easier ascent but a knee busting descent. Next time we’ll reverse our direction.
There are stunning views along this trail which bounces between forest and avalanche chutes as it goes over Rising Wolf Mountain ridge. The trees thicken and the trail gets steeper for a time heading up to Pikamakan Pass. There are gorgeous alpine lakes and “top of the world” views during the next three miles. You’ll wrap around Flinsch Peak and down to Dawson Pass. Bring binoculars or a scope to spot bighorn sheep in Bighorn basin. During fall you might find huckleberries along the trail. We found a few patches of these sweet and tart native berries during our walk. Get up early and finish early, so you can take the tour boat back across Two Medicine Lake, which saves over three miles on this trail (15 miles total).
Here’s what we learned:
- When we do this trail again, we’ll reverse the route and going up to Dawson Pass and going down Pitamakan. The hike down Dawson was brutal after a long day and our legs we sore for several days after our hike.
- We’re in South Florida now and travel to the mountains once or twice a year for vacation. Although we both work out, there is nothing like hiking in the mountains weekly to prepare you for the distance and elevation gains of a challenging hike.
- Once we move to Montana, we’ll do more overnight backpacking trips, which gives us more time outdoors and we won’t have to stick to day hikes.
- We like to take our time on the trail, so having to rush down this trail to get back before dusk was not fun. Save long hikes like this one for the longer days of summer.
Stay
ALMOST NEW! HIKER’S CABIN in West Glacier
Staying close to the West Entrance of Glacier National Park was a top priority this trip, so the Hiker’s Cabin in West Glacier was the perfect spot! At 1,110 square feet with a fully stocked kitchen, 2 bedrooms, a bunk room and 1.5 bathrooms it was the perfect size for us. Jim’s sister and brother-in-law joined us for a week, so that extra bedroom and half-bath came in handy. The cabin has a lovely backyard, which borders the Glacier View Golf Course. The Middle Fork of the Flathead River flows across the street and offers excellent trout fishing with public access just a few steps away.
After a busy day hiking, rafting, fishing, or exploring the park you will love coming back to this cozy home. The cabin is constructed with solid blue pine logs and post and beam craftsmanship. In the great room, there is a cathedral ceiling and wood stove. A loft adds space for kids to play or watch television on the flat-screen TV. Granite countertops, stainless steel appliances, and cherry cabinets in the kitchen provide a great setting for baking a huckleberry pie!
Hiker’s Cabin
Staying in West Glacier provides great access to Glacier National Park, including the famous “Going to the Sun Road,” North Fork Road, and the west side of the park. We didn’t need the seasonal road pass for GTTSR, but we did take it a few times to visit Fish Creek, Lake McDonald, Avalanche Lake, Logan Pass and other locations on Glacier’s west side. You’ll want to spend a couple of days on GTTSR, but the fastest route for the trail in this post is Highway 2. The highway runs south of the park to our destination, Two Medicine Lake. Highway 2 is faster than GTTSR for areas on the east side, including East Glacier, St. Mary, and Many Glacier. As an example, it will take just over two-hours on Highway 2 to get to Many Glacier. The GTTSR takes longer because of the crowds, narrow road, and speed limit.
Eat & Drink
On longer trips we book a place with a kitchen and save money by grocery shopping for drink, breakfast, snack, lunch and dinner items. We did go out to eat quite a bit during this trip, so I wanted to share some of our favorite spots.
Flathead Lake Brewery in Bigfork – Local brewery with good food and fantastic views of Flathead Lake.
Stageline Pizza in Columbia Falls – Super casual spot to get a great pizza.
The Desoto Grill in Kalispell – Immerse yourself in a bit of history while enjoying local spirits and yummy food.
Gunsight Saloon in Columbia Falls- Casual local favorite for food and drinks with indoor and outdoor seating.
We’ve booked our next trip for this December! We plan a quick trip to tour our build site with J Martin Builders and meet with our Interior Designer, Joni Stoll. In a future post, I’ll share more Glacier adventures, including the following trails: Rocky Point, Lake McDonald, Sun Point and Virginia Falls. Don’t miss a post! Subscribe below:
You’ll find more adventure, as well as interior and exterior design tips throughout my blog. Click below to explore:
https://majesticmeadows.blog/design-and-travel-posts/
Design, Garden, & Travel by Majestic Meadows 