Glacier National Park, Montana

Days 7 – 10 Glacier National Park BEAR COUNTRY

Luke and Jessica, it happened again, just like Pisa…. You know what we’re talking about…..

Glacier Park, Montana is probably one of the most beautiful places on the face of this earth. The people are nice, the scenery and wildlife are amazing, and there is plenty to do. West Glacier is one of those places when us city slickers first arrived (mainly Scott) you start to get nervous (that’s an understatement), limited cell service, limited internet, and no air conditioner in the motel room. Truth be told, at the end of the four days spent there, we didn’t want to leave. Glacier National Park is definitely the perfect vacation spot for anybody. Unfortunately Glacier National Park will not be around forever. We learned that the 26 remaining Glaciers are melting. It has been predicted that in the year 2030 all of the glaciers will be gone.

After Scott’s temper tantrum, he was tricked into taking a 6 mile hike the following morning to Apgar Village; to make matters worst, we had to pay to do it. We had to stand in line waiting between cars, so we could walk up to a drive up window and purchase a park pass. After that, we got a lovely pamphlet telling us what to do if we encountered bears! That’s right folks we is in Bear Country, on the front of the pamphlet it features a lovely bear with blood and guts coming from his teeth, not a joke, and we are the only two idiots walking through the park right now. As we were walking you quickly get surrounded by thick forest, and you feel as if you are in a different world. All the time in the back of our head, we are scared sh-tless waiting to be attacked by bear.

Anyhow I’m happy to say we arrived safely to Apgar Village and tried a few of the local foods, Huckleberries and Buffalo. Throughout our stay in West Glacier we also dined on Elk Sausage and Trout (yuck). On a side note, Huckleberries are great they are found in everything from wine, ice cream, honey, jams, chocolate covered, mustard, lotions and creams you name it they’ve got it in Huckleberry form. Oh not to mention, we had to hike back!

While walking back towards the train station, we had a chance to explore West Glaciers “Main Drag” which consists of a gas station, a few gift shops, a supermarket, a coin laundry facility, a camera store, a latte trailer, a visitors center, a post office, and of course our favorite spot, the West Glacier Bar. Before leaving the main drag, we decided to enjoy a few libations celebrating the 6 mile hike.

At 8:00pm, we left the West Glacier Bar and walked to the train station to wait for the arrival of Amtrak’s Empire Builder train from Chicago. We hoped our praying to the Glacier Mountain Gods paid off, and maybe Josh’s luggage would arrive at the station. After many days of not being able to change his clothing, Josh smelled like Bear Spray which was probably why we were safe on the 6 mile hike.

When we arrived at the West Glacier Train Station, we were greeted by a lady who would become our new friend for the next two days. Diana works at the West Glacier Historical Society, although she could not help us out with internet access, or air conditioners in the hotel room, she definitely could hold her own with the Liebertwins! Lots of laughs! We think she is part of some witness protection program, you see Diana was originally from Jersey and then lived in Long Island and now she is trying to make it as a “hick” (as she put it) in Montana! The train arrived late so we had a lot of time to bother Diana and pick her brain. The good news is, Josh was reunited with his luggage!

The following day, we took a Red Bus Jammer Tour. The Jammers have been doing tours for over 90 years. The trucks hold 17 passengers and they are old Ford vehicles that run on propane. Our Tour started outside the park from our hotel, went to Apgar Village, Lake McDonald Valley, through a Montana rain forest, traveled along side of the glacier (very close to the edge), up to Logan Pass, down into the cirques of the St. Mary Valley where we could enjoy a lovely meal at Two Dog Flats Grill. Unfortunately we did not see a lot of wildlife on our tour except for deer’s and mountain goats, but the views were spectacular.

That night we bothered Diana again, but brought a peace offering of some Huckleberry Ice Cream. Which she said was one of her favorites.

On our last day there, we rented a car a drove East and West of the West Glacier to explore some other hot spots. On the recommendations from Diana, we went to Goat Lick, Essex, and the House of Mystery.

At Goat Lick is a part of Glacier National Park, where you supposedly can see many goats who come down from the mountain tops after a long winter. Diana encouraged us to go off the tourist path and look under the bridge where the most goats hang out because it is not directly in the sun. So exploring we went, along the highway off the paved path, under the bridge. While Scott was looking under the bridge Josh spotted a goat, and then we were surprised by a bigger goat with a baby coming quickly from an entirely different direction. For a moment, it seemed like Scott was going to get his arse kicked by a Mountain Goat. Luckily the goat just walked by and sat under the bridge.

We then drove west towards Essex, Montana. Essex was recommended to us because it has a great restaurant and a very nice historic motel with old train car rooms. Yes, guest can actually sleep in old cabooses that have all of the comforts of home. They have kitchens, bathrooms, bedrooms, private parking spaces and all of the other amenities you would expect to find in a hotel including maid service. We took some pictures to show you how unique and marvelous they were. After exploring and a quick hike, we had lunch in the chalet and enjoyed some Elk Sausage.

Our last stop of the day before returning to West Glacier, was at the House of Mystery which sports the Montana Vortex. The Montana Vortex is a place where the laws of physics are tested and redefined. I really can’t explain what happens or how it works, but check out the pictures. It was freaky.

West Glacier was great! We are off to Vancouver to meet up with Stacy and Bob! Can’t wait!