Anaconda, MT to Kalispell, MT., Glacier Nat'l Park

Kalispell MT Elks

On August 27, I continued west after a great couple of weeks in the Fairmont RV park in Anaconda, MT. Drove on I 90 to Missoula, MT and then turned north up to the Elks Lodge in Kalispell, The trip took me through some beautiful country, gorges with cliffs with a river along side the road. This leg, took me into the fire zones and I saw several fire camps and helicopter landing fields on the ride. The fires had for the most part been contained and work was underway to put out the hot spots. Parking at the Elks Lodge was in the back parking area and we were all backed up to a local small plane airport that had a lot of traffic.

The reason I decided to come to Kalispell was that it was reasonably close to Glacier National Park.

Glacier Nat'l Park

What a beautiful park it is. I took the Going to the Sun road which goes right through the park west to east. This road was a real engineering challenge when originally built because it runs up on the side of a beautiful canyon for miles. It was quite narrow and in places my dually was a bit too wide when I had cars coming the other way. I stopped at all of the turnouts and enjoyed the views and took many pictures. Little did I realize what a beautiful place this is. Saw mountain goats and even a large ram in a meadow. The park was named not for existing glaciers but for the effect of glaciers of the past and how they carved out the valleys. There were a couple of beautiful lakes while traveling on the ride which were very blue and clean. I have seen pictures of waterfalls taken in the park but unfortunately here in late August most were dry or had little water coming down. My timing was wrong for them. It has been very dry this summer and the snow melt was long gone. The road climbed up to Logan pass at 6646 feet and crossed the Continental Divide. (again)Evidence of a few major forest fires was seen through out the park and they are harvesting much of the good timber from the burnt out areas.

Glacier nat'l Park

The trees were killed but not damaged from the fire. Once again, I am very glad I decided to visit this National Park.

Summary: Elk Lodges visited: 54; Escapee RV Parks: 26; Public RV Parks: 48; National Parks: 63; Ships: 17; Forts: 29.

Expenses: 50 months on the road with an average of $1965 per month

Miles traveled August 2007,  2274 miles