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| Izaak Walton Inn Walking Path, MT | | -
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| | Izaak Walton Inn Walking Path, MT | | | |
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Izaak Walton Inn Walking Path, MT
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| Hiking | 0.87 Miles |
59 AEG |
| | Hiking | 0.87 Miles | | | |
| 59 ft AEG | | | | |
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| partners | | And so it begins. After finally getting a Glacier Park Backcountry permit toward the end of March, I ended up changing it from Belly River (timing didn't work) to the Cut Bank area via a gal from glacier chat that had applied for that permit. I put together a ten day trip to Glacier Park including two days at the Granite Park Chalet. But first I had fly Wendy from CA and me from AZ to Kalispell and managed to do that with us arriving within five minutes of each other. - We rented our car, got an upgrade for free to a Mazda CX-3, Tonto Jr's little brother.
Had lunch at Backslope Brewing in Columbia Falls (packed at 2:30ish), great food https://backslopebrewing.com/. (Also, this would be another of many coincidences on this trip as one of the hosts at Granite Park Chalet works here off-season).
Picked up some groceries at Super 1 in Columbia Falls.
Picked up booze at O'Brien's liquor store (can't buy in regular stores); it's a great store by the way https://www.obriensliquor.com/
Went to get backcountry permit at Apgar VC but that's not where you get them as you need to go into the town of Apgar to the Ranger Station which had just closed.
Rented bear spray from Glacier Outfitters as Izaak Walton Inn said mine had not arrived (but it had), bot stove fuel (don't buy it here as it's a little pricier than other stores).
Finally arrived at Izaak Walton Inn off of Hiwy 2, near the Middle Fork of the Flathead River https://izaakwaltoninn.com/ a place I've driven by many times in my youth, altho I thot it was closer to the road. From the website: The Izaak Walton Inn, a historic Glacier National Park hotel, was built next to the railroad yard in 1939 for the use of railroad service personnel. It was also intended to serve as an entrance to Glacier National Park between East Glacier and West Glacier, but this plan never materialized. As a result, Essex has a hotel that seems disproportionate to its modest needs.
Essex, Montana is a small railroad town located 60 miles east of Kalispell Montana, and bordering Glacier National Park and the Great Bear Wilderness Area. The dominant feature of the town is the railroad yard with its many tracks. There helper engines idle constantly, standing ready to assist freight trains over the Continental Divide at the summit of Marias Pass.
The most unique thing about the Inn other than the Inn itself is the other lodging that is available including old cabooses and a locomotive: https://izaakwaltoninn.com/lodging/classic-cabooses/ or luxury rail cars: https://izaakwaltoninn.com/lodging/luxury-railcars/
After putting our luggage in our room, we went to check the place out and ended up taking a little hike around the property across the tracks via a bridge which was pretty cool. We checked out the sign that shows the cross country trails one can take from here. We went back toward the bridge and took the little loop counterclockwise. It has old-fashioned pathway lights but I don't know when they turn them on. There was some flora along the way and a couple interpretive signs as well. You eventually circle back around up onto Caboose Lane where there is caboose lodging and off to the west is the laundry area and additional cabins.
You walk by an old Great Northern shop/barn before returning to the bridge. You can extend this hike it looks like but we were getting hungry plus I heard a train coming so I wanted to get back to the bridge. It was great fun to stand on this pedestrian bridge as the 100+ car of tankers passed below us. I filmed it as well. We continued walking back to the main complex where there is a pavilion and then over to the Annex that had laundry and sauna. There is also an outdoor spa. Continuing further we ran into a play area that included swings so we did a little of that.
We ended our evening with a wonderful trout dinner out on the patio. Our room was so nicely decorated too and we would listen to the trains go by for the rest of the nite and first thing in the morning. These are some long trains too. I highly recommend it as a stop when you are in the vicinity of Glacier National Park. The Walton Ranger Station is the southern entry to Glacier Park, and is within a mile of The Izaak Walton Inn. There you will find trailheads that lead down the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, or up the Ole Creek drainage, towards the continental divide, a backcountry campground, as well as other trails that lead deeper into Glacier’s interior. Our first nite at Morningstar campsite we would run into three hikers that had started hiking from here.
I think wintertime at the Inn would be awesome too, especially if you like cross-country skiing.
Flying over the Grand Canyon, Salt Lake City and a lake in Montana: [ youtube video ]
Izaak Walton Inn hike and the trains [ youtube video ]
(had trouble loading directly from Premiere Elements after four tries so switched to converting to mpg first and then youtube was fine, go figure) |
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Wildflowers Observation Isolated
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For me, sometimes it's just as much about the journey as the destination.
Oh, and once in awhile, don't forget to look back at the trail you've traveled. |
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