Sisters To St. Paul
Day 4

Date: July 28, 2005

Route: Kintla Lake - fishing

Highway 2 - cycling

Distance: 120 miles to the lake - fishing

13 miles - cycling

Ride Time: 6hrs - driving

1h - cycling

Elevation Climbed: ? in car

500’ - cycling

Weather: 70-80 degrees with fierce winds on Hwy 2

 

Log

This was Jon’s day and he, of course, wanted to go fishing. He selected the most remote lake accessible by car in Glacier thinking it would have lots of fish and few people. We got up bright and early and headed toward the northeast corner of the park. A quick stop at Polebridge for water was a treat: the homemade huckleberry bear claws had just come out of the oven. The final 30 miles were down a one-lane bumpy gravel road. We arrived at the campground to find it teeming with people. It turned out that the more remote campgrounds and trails leading away from Kintla Lake were closed due to grizzly activity. It seemed as if we had entered a time warp putting us back in the 60s … complete with friendly, laid back campers and the music of the Grateful Dead blasting the air. Not what we expected, but not altogether unpleasant either. I headed for the shade with my book and Jon, armed with rod and reel, went in pursuit of lunch.

Jon returned two hours later unsuccessful at catching fish but very happy to have spent the morning trying. We had lunch with our “back-up” provisions and returned to the hotel. We arrived in time for a quick bicycle ride past the Blackfeet Bison Reserve. Even though the bison were far from the fence and barely discernible in the distance, the lovely early evening light and warm, fragrant wind made the excursion well worth the effort.