Route Recommendations Western ND to Glacier NP

[Bill and Elaine]

Hey Jim, thanks for the "on the spot" photos of current conditions in Glacier NP. We see that a storm dumping 4-8 inches (12 in in higher elevations) is coming in today. Guess that the park is just living up to its name...Glacier.

The New York Times had an article the other day that mentioned the Enchanted Highway. We googled it and we became very interested in taking a side trip to travel this road to see all the metal sculptures along the highway. What's your impression of the Enchanted Highway. Is it a cool as the website makes it look?

BTW-Is there any danger in venturing off the highway or stopping at out of the way tourist sites in ND or MT? This may be just a myth but I thought I should ask you about the credibility of the account: A fellow TD owner we know who hails from KS sent me a message warning us to stay on the main routes and to avoid out of the way tourists sites. The risk is that of being the victim of a hold up. I'm from the NY City area and the crime he described would be called a shake down or a mugging in that part of the country. It consists of a small group of men waiting for unsuspecting tourists, confronting them, and "suggesting" the tourists hand over some money to avoid injury. In your experience, is this a concern or is it just a myth? I'd like to think its a myth but I'd rather be safe than sorry.

Bill

[wingnut]

Bill & Elaine,
The Enchanted Hiway is a great idea. It's just a short detour and I think you'll enjoy it. There are 7 scultures from I-94 at exit 72 south to Regent. All of them have a parking area, so you don't have to stop on the hiway. There is a Enchanted Hiway gift shop in Regent. When you get there , you'll be surprised at how small the town is.
I don't think there are ganges of thugs roam the western states mugging people. I was born and raised in the Dakotas and have live in both Wyoming and Montana. In the last 30 plus years I've spent in Montana I have never know of an issue where tourist are being targeted and robbed. So if you want to make side trips to out of the way tourist attaction I think you'll be just fine. There will other tourists doint the same thing, so you probablywill not be alone.

Yeah the waves of stormy weather with snow and rain in the high country is what we call spring time in the Rockies. We've had a below average of snow this year, so we need the moisture. I think I mentioned it before, that the end of July and August is the dryer time of our summer in this part of the state. But I would stilll pack wet weather gear.

[Bill and Elaine]

Thanks Jim for the confirmation that we should plan a side trip on the Enchanted Highway. It will be fun to see what the artist has created. We'll be shooting lots of pictures on that stretch of road.

Thanks too for the clairfication on my crime question. We all know that there are dangerous areas in some cities, so the story had an element of believeablity to it. Based on your answer, we'll just enjoy our trip without being concerned.

We bought long johns a few weeks ago after you and others reminded us about the overnight temperatures. The store clerk wondered why we were buying them in Spring. When we told her where we were going she understood.

Bill

[Bill and Elaine]

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the info. on the Enchanted Highway. I visited my sister who lives outside of NYC the other day and she had the NY Times travel section out with Road Trips. This was one of the road trips. So we will head over there on our way to Theodore Roosevelt Nat'l park.

Where do you guys go on vacation? You live in the splendor of the western states so I often wonder where people who live in the west go on vacation. Out east, we do a lot of historic sights and going to beaches, since there are so many in NJ, Delaware, MD, VA and the Carolinas. We live close to Shenandoah Nat'l Park and that is a beautiful place to camp also. It is better when it is not a hazy day, as the haze can ruin your beautiful vistas.

Have a nice Father's Day. Elaine

[wingnut]

Bill & Elaine,
North western Montana is a splended place to live. We are very blessed, that we were able to raise our kids here. Kalispell had a small town feel to it many years ago when we moved here from Wyoming. It has grown alot in the last 10 to 15 years, but it's still a great place to be. We seem to vacation more in the western US & Canada than other parts of the country. I have family in the midwest & back east in western NY,PA & Delaware, so we do go to the east on vacations now and then. We spent the month of April back east mostly in VA & the DC area. We like history and so we went to places like Colonial Williamsburg, Yorktown, that sort of thing, when were wheren't in DC. Went to some of the Civil War sights. We really wished we'd had more time to spend at those. We did make a side trip, out of your direct route home to go back to Gettysburg. We have been there before, but never with enough to spend as long as we need to see every thing. A bit at a time will have to do I guess.
Jim

[Bill and Elaine]

Yes, the east has wonderful history and we enjoy going to all that it has to offer. We live quite close to both Harper's Ferry and Gettysburg, so we take advantage of things going on there. Gettysburg recently updated their visitor's center. I wonder if you were there in time for that. We were in Harper's ferry last weekend. We ride our bikes often on the Chesapeake and Ohio Canal tow path and it goes right by Harper's ferry. Since it was a holiday weekend, they had lots of talks and reenactments so we locked up our bikes and walked across the pedestrian bridge over the Potomac to take part.

We love the splendor of the west and you are very fortunate to be relatively close to take advantage of all that our country has to offer. The problem for us is that it takes so long to get to many of the national parks out your way. So when we do this, we are extremely excited. We figure it will take us about 5 days to get to TR nat'l park with 6-7 hours of driving per day. But we love it. Our last "out west" trip was about 3 years ago, when we went to Arches and Canyonlands. What a wonderful trip that was. Elaine

[jstrubberg]

We just got back from cruising Glacier National Park and the Tar Inlet. Absolutely amazing! Got to watch the Marjorie Glacier calve off a big iceberg.

We were there two years ago, but our timing wasn't as good. This trip we got to watch brown bear, bald eagles, humpback whales and seals!

[wingnut]

Elaine ,
The new Gettysburg Visitors Center was open when we were there at the end of April of last year. The Diorama was moved and redone from the last time we were there. That was very impressive.
I think you're right about taking 5 days to get to TR if you are doing 6 to hours of drive per day. It took us 4 days from Gettysburg to home in Kalispell, MT. and we drove 10 to 12 hours a day at 60 mph. We could have gone faster , but the milage go down alot if we go much over 60.
We wanted to do Harper's Ferry, but were getting short on time and wanted to stop at Gettysburg more. So it's another one of those places to put on the list for next time.
We went to Kanab, UT in April, five years ago. Got a vacation rental house for a week and used that as our base. We went to Brice and Zion NP's. Hoover Dam. Cedar Breaks and Coral Pink Sand Dunes SP.But, Not necessarily in that order.
You ever get that feeling, so much to see and so little time?

Jim

[wingnut]

jstrubberg,

Sounds like you had a very memorable trip to Glacier Bay NP in Alaska. I've been to Alaska, but never to the panhandle part. That's still on our hit list.

[Bill and Elaine]

Dear jstrubberg.
Glad you had a successful visit this year to Glacier Bay (?). Did you also go to Glacier Nat'l park in Montana? That is where we are headed in August and near where "wingnut" lives.

[Bill and Elaine]

Jim,

We have been to Bryce Canyon. Beautiful place. My sons love it so much that my oldest named his son "Adam Bryce" after the canyon. We have not been to the others mentioned, but will certainly keep them in mind for another time.

We are looking to travel to Texas sometime in the fall, we hope. Looking into taking the teardrop to Austin area, San Antonio, and then down to Galveston and the Gulf. We are also going back to the Florida Keys in the winter. Whew!!!!!!!!

Glad you enjoyed Gettysburg. It is a very popular spot. Elaine

[Bill and Elaine]

Jim,

Is there anything you can pass along in the way of tips for visiting Waterton Park on the Canadian side?

Are there any "must sees" or "must do" while we are there?

Bill

[wingnut]

Bill,
Just bring your passport along, as you'll need it to get back across the boarder into the US. Going into Canada is no problem, just tell the boader agent where you're going and why. They'll ask a few question, like where your from and how long you plan on being the country, stuff like that. Waterton is a pretty small park compared to Glacier, so you can drive up and see it and be back at your camp site in one day. The things to do , are tour the town site, there shops and eating places. If you want to take the time the boat tour from Waterton town site down to Goat Haunt and back is nice. It's about a 2 1/2 hour trip and costs $40 per preson. Departures are 4 times a day at 10am, 1pm, 4pm & 7pm. I like the 1927 International boat the best. I drive to Camron lake is nice. It's a nice place to picnic by the lake. Also the Red Rock Canyon has a nice short nature hike in the canyon, takes only about an hour or so. Last but not least is the Prince of Wales Hotel. the hotel is on the national historic register. It was completed in 1927 and was built by Great Northern Rail Road , like all the other lodges in Glacier were. Hill personally pick the building site in 1912, but it took the Canadian government until 1926 to lease him the land, go figure. The hotel service High Tea from 1pm to 5pm. We did it many years ago, it was fun but very expensive. For my money a trip over to the town of Cardston to visit the Remington Carriage Museum is a much better value and more interesting. But then I like old things and the history of tranportation. Well, that pretty much covers it in a nut shell. The things I might have forgot to mention are things I'm not interested in.
Jim

[Bill and Elaine]

Thanks Jim for the details on visiting Waterton and the town. Your recommendations surprised me because I never would have thought about visiting the town. I probably would have just driven right through the place and missed out on those opportunities.

Hey, we'd be happy to give you all kinds of tips on the Civil War battlefields back here in Maryland. Elaine and I visit Harper's Ferry a dozen times a year. The C & O Canal and Towpath provide a wonderful bike route which we ride often. It goes right past Harper's Ferry so we frequently stop in town on our bike rides.

Antietam Batttlefield...the Bloodiest One Day Battle in American History: 23,000 soldiers were killed, wounded or missing after twelve hours of combat is located less than a hour from our house.

The lesser known, Monocacy Battlefield, is only 12 miles from us.

Of course, you've aleady visited Gettysburg.

Bill

[wingnut]

Bill,
Waterton town site is the hub of Waterton Park. When you drive into the park on Hwy 5, it take into the town site. All the other sites you want to visit are off of Hwy 5. The visitors center is on the right a short distance from the enterence station, stop there and get a park map. I think waterton was a well establish town before the government desided to make the area a park, so it's right in the middle of the park.
One other thing I forgot to tell you about that you might like to do is drive through the Buffalo paddock. There's small herd of Bison in this pasture and you can drive a gravel road to vue them.
Antietum and Harper's Ferry were on our hit list, but time ran out. I was aware of Monocacy because of the biography of Lew Wallace the author of Ben Hur, so I knew he camommanded the forces at the Battle of Monocacy. We didn't have that on the hit list though. As it was, there were lots of things we didn't do and see, so another trip is in the planning for back east.