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The walk out
from Oldman Lake was easy with the only
difficult part leaving the backcountry.
We saw a lot of bear scat and huckleberries.
Coincidence?
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When I woke up at 0600 I wasn’t feeling any better
about leaving. These would be our last few hours in the
backcountry I didn’t want to leave. Again, I started
to tear up thinking about having to leave this special place.
I woke up Yumi who wanted nothing more to stay snuggled
in her sleeping bag. It was chilly last night but I had
left the fly off the tent most of the night to better see
the stars overhead. She finally mustered up the courage
to get dressed and climbed out of the tent. Soon enough
we were eating our energy bar breakfast. Once again Yumi
would have to forgo her coffee because of the faulty stove.
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| Two Medicine Lake |
By 0700 we were on the trail. Our permit
said we had 6.5 miles to go so I figured we’d be back
to the truck by 1000 at the latest--assuming we didn’t
have to pause for the cause (bears) which was a distinct
possibility. Bear scat littered the trail from the moment
we left the campground. We later heard that Oldman was closed
the week before because mama bear was taking her cubs down
to the lake right through the campground itself. Yeah, that
would probably do it, but I had a hard time believing that
one sow and a few cubs could produce the massive quantities
of fecal matter we were stepping around, through and over.
To combat any unwanted confrontation,
we were being especially loud. It helped that the trail
was easy to traverse--except for the bear poopy, of course.
I belted out a few bad renditions of Bruce Springsteen tunes
which cracked Yumi up. Singing was easy when you weren’t
gasping for air. I took note of the many wild flowers that
were growing in the valley, and stopped often to look back
toward the lake and the cirque behind it. We were approaching
the foothills now and things didn’t feel quite the
same. Still, Lonewolf Mountain was on our right. We had
basically traveled around the mountain which was the largest
mass of rock in the park.
We passed a few day hikers who were attempting
to do the loop today. One man was 43 and hadn’t been
to the park since he was 19. He remembered summiting Lone
Wolf with his brother and father and thinking now how crazy
he was. There was also a husband/wife pair in their late
40’s who were doing the same hike. Heck, if they could
do it them we could certainly do this same loop in the future.
At 0930 I saw a camper trailer at the
Two Medicine campground. At about the same time I felt the
onset of a migraine headache and wondered if it had something
to do with leaving the backcountry. Five minutes later we
were at the trailhead. Our backpacking was now completed.
There was one bit of business that needed
tending to, however. First, Yumi needed her morning coffee
and second, I needed a frozen huckleberry yogurt fix. We
put on our sandals and drove over to the camp store to take
care of our addictions. We relaxed there for about 45 minutes
then decided to head over to the west side of the park.
Our campsite tonight was at the West
Glacier KOA. I’m not normally a fan of KOA’s but
their website made the facility look good and they had hot
showers. For Yumi it was a slam dunk that we stay there,
and by 1130 had made our way over to West Glacier and were
checked in at the campground.
I was pleasantly surprised by the site
they had given us. Situated in a stand of lodgepole pine,
the site was huge! Not more than 50 yards away was the shower
room, water and the garbage. They couldn’t have had
problems with bears because the garbage cans were the type
you’d find at home. Maybe this place wouldn’t
be so bad after all.
It took us a little longer to set up
camp as we wanted to dry out the North Face and air out
our sleeping bags. Even though we slept without the fly
for most of the night we still had some condensation in
the tent when I packed it up. It didn’t take long in
the sun to dry things out. It was another perfect day in
Montana.
I took some time to pull everything out
of the truck in an attempt to get things organized and create
some room in the back seat. We had to pick up Todd and Matt
from their mom’s place in a few days and didn’t
want them to have to cling to the luggage rack on the roof.
While I was doing this Yumi was in the showers making herself
clean again. When she got out I made the short walk up the
hill and took a 5 minute shower.
By 1230 we were all dressed up with nowhere
to go. What to do in a situation like this? Go to Polebridge,
of course. I had wanted to check it out the last time we
were on this side of the park but didn’t have the time.
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| Yumi and I are about to enjoy the
best meal of our vacation at the Northern Lights Saloon
and Cafe. |
Situated 30 miles to the north, in the
remotest portion of the park, this outposts reputation was
based on it’s general store and a bar. Surely there
had to be more to the place than that. We were determined
to find out. We jumped in the truck and started up Camas
Road. We checked out the burned area from the fires of 2003
and noticed it didn’t seem as devastated as Yellowstone
did last year, fifteen years after the fires of 1988. In
a few minutes we noticed a sign stating that the paved road
would end in a few miles. We exited the park turned onto
the North Fork Road. True to the signs word, it was unpaved.
We cautiously drove at about 35 mph and
were suddenly being blown away by SUV’s carrying kayaks
and forest service vehicles spitting up dust so thick we
could barely see. While in Rome, do as Romans do. I picked
up the pace and soon had Yumi white-knuckling it until she
told me to slow down.
The last few miles turned out to be paved.
I think the ranchers in the Flathead Valley and the residents
of Polebridge wanted the gravel road to keep intruders away.
At any rate we arrived just after 1400.
All I can say is that Polebridge has
to be seen to be believed. What a cool place! There was
the Polebrige Mercantile with its false front, the Northern
Lights Saloon and Cafe, a few cabins and The
North Fork Hostel at the far edge of town---and a public
outhouse. Lots of dust rounded out this unique enclave of
hearty Montana souls.
We had to get out and check out the Saloon
and grab some lunch. Unfortunately they did not open until
1600, so we went over to the mercantile, which also housed
a small bakery. The smells of the bakery were every bit
as savory as the pine trees on the trail. Cookies, breads
and other yummy creations were for sale at the counter.
We immediately bought a hunk of Jalapeno and cheese bread,
iced tea and strawberry milk and went out on the porch to
eat. It was so good that we had to get another and decided
on one made of mushrooms, olives cheese and probably other
ingredients. Sooo good.
After we wolfed down the bread and drinks
we made the short walk over to the hostel and made a mental
note that this might be a fun place to stay for a night
or two on a future trip. We walked back to the "Merc"
to browse, bought some souvenirs and took in the atmosphere.
There was a little blonde boy about 5 years old running
around the store. It was clear that the boy’s mother
was the cashier at the merc. He was complaining that nobody
would play with him. When we got back outside I decided
to play with little Max---who preferred to be called “King”.
There was no way we were leaving this place without eating
at the cafe. As much fun as it was to play with the little
lad, I wished we had driven the six or seven miles to check
out Bowman Lake.
The three of us played, making up games
with rocks, a nickel and a cheap rubber ball, until the
cafe opened for the night. Once inside, we were taken back
in time. The building itself was erected around 1915 and
had served Polebridge in some capacity or another since
then. There were only 5, 4-seat tables and an 8 stool bar
in the place. A bar mirror and an old Coke reach-in cooler
added to the ambiance. Very rustic. The innkeeper, a transplanted
Michigan man in his 30’s named Todd, brought us over
a single sheet menu and answered our questions about the
place. He told us that on some nights they served 100 dinners.
I found that almost unbelievable, but would rethink that
after tasting the food. I decided to order the nightly special,
pork loin, while Yumi opted for the Greek salad with Mahimahi.
We would wash down our meal with real lemonade served in
a plastic cup.
Dinner was fantastic, the best we had
on the trip--even better than the Park Cafe. My pork Loin
was served over Mexican rice with a spicy gravy along with
corn on the cob, a small salad and wheat roll. Yumi’s
salad, though large, didn’t stand a chance with her
appetite. She finished it off without a problem. Todd came
over and took our picture and earned himself a $10 tip for
his kindness. By 1730 we were finished and on our way back
to the KOA, stuffed and totally enamored by this place.
I had told Yumi to pack her swim suit
before we left Manitowoc because the KOA had a heated pool
and hot tubs. This was her one chance to use it. We went
over to the pool area and set ourselves down into one of
the tubs for nearly an hour. I was so relaxed I actually
was able to carry on a civil conversation with a man and
his son who were from the hated state of Minnesota. They
seemed very interested to hear about our backpacking trip
so we told stories about our experiences for most of the
hour.
After our hot tubbing we took showers.
I then spent some time organizing the mountain of literature
we had gather the last two weeks. It had been quite a trip.
Now all that remained was tomorrow’s raft trip down
the Flathead and a long drive home. Again, I felt sad that
we had to leave.
We finished off the night under the pavilion
listening to a presentation of the areas early explorers.
Fairly interesting stuff about men whose names I had never
heard before. By 2200 we walked back to the tent and hit
the sack.
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