Airplane travel in 2020 was actually rather delightful. The airport was a ghost town. No lines at security. Plenty of extra space with middle seats open. Boarding time and unboarding was much faster than usual. Ticket prices were significantly cheaper. Negatives? No beverage choices? Wearing a mask? (That doesn't bother me. I'm one of those people you see driving around alone in her car still wearing one. I forget it's there! Ok?!?) Risk? I guess that is debatable and we all calculate on our own metrics. I have often recalled to myself an interview that I listened to on NPR recently. The interviewer was trying to "travel shame" the 20-something community college student from Miami (while the interviewer hasn't left his "cottage on cape cod". How noble.) She didn't pick up on it, or else she didn't care. She told her story of taking a road trip to the grand canyon. The grandness of which exceeded the expectations she'd imagined. She had never left her birth city of Miami. She spoke of how her eyes were opened by the beauty and enormity of our country. And when she got as far as the Grand Canyon she decided not to turn home, but rather to explore southern Utah. And then eventually made it all the way to California. He asked her if she cared about exposing other people or bringing them the virus. Her answer was simple and maybe uninformed, but maybe not. "We're healthy. We're wearing our masks, and mostly camping."
I just felt myself much more inspired by her discovery and awakening, than by the fear and shaming that seems to be thrown in every direction these days. So I was happy taking off, taking a little more risk but feeling excited.
I love looking down on places that look so different from my home. I have never driven it, but I dream of doing so sometime. I want to experience how long and flat and empty Kansas really is. I look at those circles down there and the long stretches of empty roads and I wonder what it's like to live there. Where do the kids go to school? How far away is the nearest store? Are those people worried about Coronavirus? Probably not, out there alone.
We ultimately flew into Spokane. Spent a night at a hotel across the street from the airport. The next day we set off on the 5 hour drive to Glacier. We arrived at Lake MacDonald that evening. It was spectacular.
We stayed at the Apgar Village. Rustic and old fashioned, but perfect. It had a tiny kitchen, and then a large room with a queen bed and a table for 6, plus another room with 2 double beds. It's a deceptive picture, the cabin was L shaped.
Our first morning in Glacier we woke early to do our first hike to avalanche lake. There were no shuttles or tour buses running, and the parking lots are small, so if you don't get a space, you don't get to hike.
James is pondering jumping in this glacier fed stream. He does. It was maybe 50 degrees.
Back at Lake MacDonald, Tommy loved to play with the stones at the water's edge.
Here we start off on the highline trail. This is a 7.8 mile hike out to Granite Park Chalet, part of a resort system built by the Great Northern Railway in 1914. They used to bring guests on luxury horseback rides through the park staying at a series of alpine style Chalets.
The trail follows along the ridge of the mountains at about 7,000 elevation. The first part from Logan Pass is narrow with a 100 ft drop off down to the Going To The Sun Road below. There is a guide rope to hold on to for safety.
Thankfully we had these boys to pack in our gear. We stayed at the Granite Park Chalet for 2 nights, and we had to pack in all our food and extra clothing. We rented bedding there which was wonderful and lightened our load.
It was a long hike for the youngsters but thankfully we had M&Ms to keep everyone going.
This was Tommy's last rest before reaching Granite Park. He was a trooper.
They said our room was the best one. We had two windows out and being on the end, it was like a private balcony. The room had 3 bunk beds. I was worried the mattresses would be like girl scout mattresses in my memory, but they were divine. One negative? The walls were paper thin. I've heard that said about hotels before, but this time it was true. Funny Story:
As I laid down to go to sleep I heard a whisper. "Did you lock the door?"
"Yes" I whispered back.
Then the voice whispered again from the other side of the wall, "Rachel, did you lock the door?"
"Yes." She whispered back from the room next door.
I could hear him sigh and roll over as if he were in my own bed!
The next day we hiked up to Grinnell Glacier overlook. Luca and Jeremiah went first in freezing morning winds while the rest of us stayed back by the wood stove and played cards. Normally Granite Park is open to day hikers to come in and rest and eat, but with Covid, only those with reservations could come in. With only 12 rooms, we felt like we had the place to ourselves. In the afternoon when it warmed, James and I hiked up to the overlook. 900 ft elevation gain in 6/10th of a mile. I had to stop like every 15 ft on the way up to catch my breath! The view was amazing, but it was quite windy up there!
Granite park was awesome, except for the vault toilets, which Libby was attempting to refuse to use for the entirety of our stay. I had to bribe her with treats. She loved the evenings with hot chocolate and ranger talks, where he regaled us with tales of bears and wildfire heroics. The sunsets and sunrises were phenomenal.
After our return hike out the highline we stayed a night at Belton Chalet. This is right across from the West Glacier railway station. This would be the first and last stop for guests on the tours of glacier in its early days. The tradition is that the staff of the hotel would go out on the balcony and wave to the evening train as it arrived. We still got to hear many trains coming and going during our stay there.
This girl's dream was to go horseback riding, and thankfully we found a place to make that happen. It was a two hour ride through the wilderness, and we saw a bear with 2 cubs.
Tommy didn't go on the ride, because we initially thought he was too young. But when he learned that he could have gone, he was upset at himself for being too afraid. After we returned the owner of the ranch let me lead Tommy for a short ride around the paddock. He was so proud of conquering that fear.
Then we stayed at Honey's Place in Kalispell. Honey is the dog, who came to visit us daily for snuggles and bits of bacon. I suspect he was more motivated by the bacon. The kids loved this little barn house with a hot tub and a fire circle.
We did a full day rafting trip on the Middle Fork of the flathead river. Another fear of Tommy's conquered.
We passed under this bridge (the old entrance to Glacier) and the guide told us how all the workers jump off it at the start of the season. From the moment he uttered this, I knew we would spend the next day trying to find it so my boys could throw themselves off it into the frigid glacier fed river. We did, and they jumped. It just so happened that while we were there our guide from the day before was leading a group through at that moment. His raft paused to watch, and everyone cheered.
I was attempting to take the picture below of the boys on their favorite bridge, but Libby fabulously timed her photobomb!
We ate at Backslope Brewery. The chicken sandwich was probably the best I have ever eaten. Some kind of tomato jam and slaw that was out of this world. Tommy didn't like the choices, so here is his lunch. We made a family rule a while back, after getting tired of throwing away uneaten restaurant kid's meals. We just let them order a dessert instead. I figure I can make him a sandwich in the car, so he might as well get something he will enjoy. Love those crazy eyes.
We concluded our Glacier stay with three nights on the North fork of the Flathead River north of Polebridge. We saw a wolf trotting by right on the banks where this photo was taken.
This was our view from the River house.
The house itself just got the metal roof put on the day before we arrived. It was an amazing place. It had just been updated with electric lights, but the propane lights and old cookstove were still available for use. We spent our evenings snuggled up reading by the propane lights.
This is Bowman lake. It was a rough road to get there, but so breathtaking that it almost looked fake.
The boys enjoyed playing stratego in the afternoons in our river house.
This was the view from the large living room window.
We took a hike up to Hornet Lookout. The drive to the trailhead was terrifying. The narrow gravel road featured steep cliffs, narrow switch backs, no guard rails, and a paralyzing fear of meeting another car coming the opposite way. Thankfully that didn't happen. The hike itself was only a mile of switchbacks with huckleberries all along the trail. The kids enthusiastically picked and ate, and we made jam the next day. From the lookout you could see the massive areas burned in 2018 wildfire.
The lookout was really cool inside. It can be reserved for overnight stays. It has cots, propane cookstove, woodstove, and basic cooking utensils. It was a really neat place with views all the way to Canada.
Entertainment at the river house was easy, from games to hammock swings to throwing rocks in the river. Tommy enjoyed playing war with rigged decks that he methodically planned out to win every hand even if Libby started with all the Aces.
We visited the Polebridge Mercantile and tasted of its renowned huckleberry bear claws.
At the end of our trip we stopped in Coeur d'alene, Idaho to visit dear friends. It is a beautiful area where we spent lots of time out exploring. Our kids were so excited to see their friends and picked up right where they left off although it had been a few years.
I got to spend time with my sweet friend Anya. I have been blessed with many friends in life, but few who become like a sister. She brings out the good in other people and I've never heard her have a mean thought. Somehow she hosted us all, prepared lunches and dinners for all of us, and made it all seem easy. We all found it hard to say goodbye.
When we returned home to Baltimore the humidity hit us like a load of bricks...But there was the rain, and the green and it felt like home.
