Big Sky Vacation Day 10: Good Samaritans of Cut Bank


Another sad day on our vacation.  Zerah, Sean, and the boys are heading home today.  We always knew this day would come.  Rich and I have a couple of more days in Glacier before we head to the Canadian side of the park.

Last night, I was keeping tabs on the boys.  They pretty much slept through the night with very few whimpers.  I heard everyone of them.  That and the trains passing in the night.  I swear they sounded like tornados approaching the house.  I hadn’t heard them really before then.  I guess I was blocking them out until I needed to hear Zane and Owen in the next room.

Sean and Zerah packed up the car after breakfast.  They were headed to Sean’s parents first.  Zane is staying there for a few days when the rest of the family moves on to Tacoma.  I know he was excited at the prospect of staying at Grandma and Grandpa’s.  We will miss them though.  The trails will be strangely quiet.

Rich and I headed out for breakfast this morning.  We went up to Luna’s Restaurant on the other side of the tracks.  Luna’s is right next door to where we had dinner the other night with everyone.  It must have been early because there were lots of empty tables.  We got seated and ordered our food.  The coffee was pretty good.  I ordered huckleberry pancake and Rich got the breakfast burrito.  The pancake was done to perfection.  The salsa for the burrito was smoky ancho and delicious.  This should get us started on our day.

We came back to the house and got our gear together to go on yet another hike.  Today, we were driving down to Cut Bank to walk the trail back into the meadows and forests.  First, you have to drive down my favorite road.  Everyone on the road this morning was new to it and going slow.  We finally got to the Cut Bank turnoff.  This is a gravel road that you go back 5 miles to the ranger station and campground.

When we got there, a sign told us to park at the ranger station as the parking lot was full.  OK.  The ranger station looked more like someone’s house with laundry drying on the front porch.  We got our gear and had to walk maybe another mile or so to the campground.  We hit the bathroom before hitting the trail.  Seemed like a good idea after so much coffee.

As we started to the trail, a couple of rangers stopped to talk to us and find out our plans.  They appeared to be a couple of kids, but it was their job to watch over the campground and those hiking the trail.  This trail leads back to an overnight campground for those doing backcountry hiking.  So the ranger attempt to know who might be out there on the trail so they know who to look for when cars don’t leave.  They told us to talk loud to scare any bears.  Where is Zane and the gang when you need them?

The trail ran through a meadow before entering a forested area of pines.  It also picked up the Cut Bank River in the forest and ran along with this for most of our hike.  The trail was moderate and stayed pretty level.  This was important today since we’ve done some big hikes and we were tired today.  Rich decided to follow the trail back to where a creek from the mountains meets the river.   This was approximately 3 miles in.  I was hoping I could do without getting too tired and whining to be carried to the car.

We did pretty well though.  There were some ups and downs, but everything was pretty level.  We found the creek by looking up for the waterfall on the mountain.  It was quite broad where we had to cross it.  The park service had created a log bridge to span the creek.  This was our further point out though.  After a short break, it was time to head back.  We actually did pretty well on the trip in at 1 hour for the 3 miles.

We had passed a couple of trail runners on our way in.  Then a couple of overnight backcountry hikers went ahead of us at the creek.  On the way back, we finally ran into the couple who were getting ready to come on the trail.  They must have been going really slow.

Our next group was a family of four heading to the overnight campground.  They were loaded down.  The Dad had a Texas accent and said they were going for a 3 night stay.  Good luck to them.  The next group was a family of five wearing Brooklyn t-shirts.  They didn’t say much as they went by.  Finally, a young couple passed us on their way out.  We exchanged hellos as they went.

We had almost made it back when we began to feel the heat and fatigue.  I think the temp must have been around 85 out there at that point.  We saw what we thought was a very dark brown squirrel on the trail.  Its coat looked like mink, but we knew it wasn’t a mink.  Turned out to be what is called a fisher.  It was absolutely beautiful.  The ranger said they are shy and you usually don’t see them.  Lucky us.

We got to the parking lot when the young couple overtook us again.  We stopped when they asked where the parking lot was.  I explained that this was the parking lot.  They looked a little concerned.  They had come in through Two Medicine to the overnight campground and had walked about 14 miles.  Over the three days out there, they had done different trails.

Today, they were looking for the fastest way out of the wilderness, which was the Cut Bank trail.  They had figured they could get to the parking lot and find someone going to Two Medicine.  However, they thought this was a major trailhead, which it is not.  This is a very remote section of the park.  The parking lot held maybe 8 cars and there were 6 more up by the ranger station.

Most of the cars in the lot were for the people we had passed.  I just didn’t see the likelihood of them finding a ride with anyone.  Since we had to go by Two Medicine, I offered to take them.  They seemed surprised, but really happy how it worked out.  We got them loaded and talked to rangers at the station to let them know they had come out.

Now, I offered them a ride to Two Medicine, but I didn’t warn them about how I drive.  I did slow down and take it easy.  Rich said he heard a few gasps from the backseat and assured them I knew the road.  We got to the Two Medicine turnoff and I told them I would take them to their car.  It was hot and 7.5 miles back to the lake.  Once again, they were surprised.  I told them this would give me two days of good deeds done.

We got to the lake and dropped them off.  We found out their names were Nate and Natalie.  He was from Tennessee and she was from Massachusetts.  They worked in Missoula, MT and had come for a long weekend.  Saying good-bye, Rich and I headed to the house.

Once back, we got cleaned up and rested our feet.  Wow, another good day of hiking in.  That was approximately 6 miles round trip, which accomplished by 5 mile goal per day.  Rich wanted to go to the Izaac Walton Inn before dinner.  Our friend, Spank, said we should check it out.  Apparently, it was hotel for Great Northern Railway guest and some of the rooms were actually rail cars.  We ran out to Essex and found the place.  It was pretty cool since it appeared to have been at the turn of the century.  We checked at the desk before we walked around the grounds.  There was an engine converted to a room as well as a couple of cabooses.  Walking across the bridge over the active rail tracks, we found a bunch of wooden cabins and several more cabooses.  This would be cool for kids.

ADDENDUM 7/14:  Rich informed me that the hotel here was really the bunkhouse for trainmen.  This is a train yard and the hotel structure was a place to sleep besides on the trains.

We headed back toward town and found our dining spot for the evening.  We went into the Bison Creek Restaurant.  Alex had wanted to eat here, but we never got to it before he left.  We went in and only a couple of girls were seated.

The waitress told us to see wherever we wanted.  The menu looked pretty good.  I got huckleberry lemonade to drink.  There is a pattern out here.  Huckleberry everything.  I ordered the country fried steak and Rich got the New York strip.  The meat is all Montana raised.  That was a good sign.  Everything we had was tasty and wonderful.  Rich’s steak was a little too rare, but they fixed that pretty quickly.  We ended with huckleberry ice cream.

During dinner, the phone rang and the waitress, who was Molly, said, “Dad is out fishing, Ed.  I’ll have him call you back.”  Apparently, Molly knew the other people who came in for dinner.  She was telling them about what her mom was fixing in the kitchen.  It was a real homemade place.  Molly did the dining room and her mom was the cook.  Apparently, her dad did the fish entry.  No wonder it was so good!

As we sat and talked, or had silence a lot since we were tired, we watched the clouds coming over the mountains just in front of us.  It was pretty cool that you got great food and a great view at the same time.  I also noticed that Molly had a great accent and ended everything sentence with, “Right?”  Is it a Montana thing?  Right?

So we headed back to the house to put up our feet and write this blog. I’m working on cleaning up after everyone left.  Seemed right that I did it.  We still have a couple of days here.  There’s not that much to do anyway.

Well, tomorrow is our last day here.  We plan to go back to Many Glacier and hike the Swiftcurrent Valley.  We plan on another flat trail day.

Miss y’all, Zerah, Sean, Zane, Owen, Alex, and Joe.  Safe travels.

Trail sherpa about to start down Cut Bank trail.
Trail sherpa about to start down Cut Bank trail.
View of the mountains at the beginning of Cut Bank trail.
View of the mountains at the beginning of Cut Bank trail.
Waterfall that told us where the creek was.
Waterfall that told us where the creek was.

 

Our destination about 3 miles into the trail.
Our destination about 3 miles into the trail.
Great tan hunter looking for the river and creek confluence.
Great tan hunter looking for the river and creek confluence.
Alex, we saw bear scat on the trail today.
Alex, we saw bear scat on the trail today.
Izaac Walton Inn in Essex.
Izaac Walton Inn in Essex.
Front side of the inn on the Great Northern Highline tracks.
Front side of the inn on the Great Northern Highline tracks.
Caboose room at Izaac Walton Inn.
Caboose room at Izaac Walton Inn.
Engine room at the inn.
Engine room at the inn.

 

 

Standing on the bridge over the tracks looking at the inn.
Standing on the bridge over the tracks looking at the inn.
Cabooses on the opposite hill from the inn.
Cabooses on the opposite hill from the inn.
Other cabins in the woods at the Izaac Walton Inn.
Other cabins in the woods at the Izaac Walton Inn.
Bison  Creek Restaurant where we had dinner.  It was truly a homey place.
Bison Creek Restaurant where we had dinner. It was truly a homey place.
View of the mountains from Bison Creek.
View of the mountains from Bison Creek.