Den & Kath's Vacation
'99 - Day 7
See
the day 7 map
On
Saturday we again expected mobs in the park, so we decided to head for Bowman
Lake near Polebridge, Montana. Polebridge sits on the edge of Glacier National
Park, 16 miles up mostly gravel roads, so that keeps the crowds down. On our
two drives up to Polebridge, we saw several people turn back after driving
partway on the gravel road. From Polebridge, Bowman Lake is another 6 miles
on a REALLY rough gravel road. It took us nearly 45 minutes to cover the six
miles, including a short pause to allow a mule deer buck to clear the road.
We felt like we were really getting away from it all until we rolled into Bowman
Lake and spotted a Winnebago in the campground.
We
hiked up Bowman Lake trail, which follows along the edge of Bowman Lake. We
briefly considered a hike to the Numa Ridge lookout point but gave that up
after learning that it was a 6 mile hike with a 3,000' elevation change. The
Bowman Lake trail was easy going except for the occasional mud pit in the middle
of the trail. We were also on the lookout for bears, as the rangers had said
that there was a lot of bear activity in the northwest corner of the park.
We only hiked about 2 miles before heading back to the truck.
The
drive to Bowman Lake revealed the most stunning display of wildflowers that
we saw. Much of the area near Polebridge had been consumed in a forest fire
several years ago (including nearly burning Polebridge), and the wildflowers
have taken their moment in the sun. It was quite a stark contrast seeing the
burned tree skeletons standing in amazing fields of lupine and Indian paintbrush.
When we got to
Polebridge we stopped at the Polebridge Mercantile for a snack. The Mercantile
is your typical old-time general store, stocking everything you might need
on a camping or backpacking trip. We were also surprised to learn that the
Mercantile rents cabins for only $31 per day, a real bargain!
Go
to Days 8 & 9
Return
to Vacation '99 Home Page
See
our site comments here! Please feel free to contribute your own comments.
Sign
up for our mailing list here to be notified of updates and new pages.
All images and
text ©1999 Dennis & Kathleen Deery
On
Saturday we again expected mobs in the park, so we decided to head for Bowman
Lake near Polebridge, Montana. Polebridge sits on the edge of Glacier National
Park, 16 miles up mostly gravel roads, so that keeps the crowds down. On our
two drives up to Polebridge, we saw several people turn back after driving
partway on the gravel road. From Polebridge, Bowman Lake is another 6 miles
on a REALLY rough gravel road. It took us nearly 45 minutes to cover the six
miles, including a short pause to allow a mule deer buck to clear the road.
We felt like we were really getting away from it all until we rolled into Bowman
Lake and spotted a Winnebago in the campground.
