Day 29: Canmore, AB to St. Ignatius, MT
After a lazy morning in Canmore, we got on the road and continued our trek down to Montana. The drive between Calgary and the border is pretty flat (see below), but we managed to stay awake for it, perking up for the odd little towns that dot the road. We completed our sixth and final border crossing, with our cheekiest border crossing officer yet, then made our way into Montana.
Beyond the benefit of getting to drive through the parks and see our friends in Canmore, our route also allowed us to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road in Glacier National Park, touted as one of the most beautiful roads in America by many (and it did not disappoint). The route through the park is fairly astonishing. It’s 52 miles of mountain-hugging curves that pass by sub-alpine meadows and lakes, crossing the Continental Divide, and dropping you off alongside Lake MacDonald on the west side of the park. It was the first spot to have been registered as a National Historic Place, National Historic Landmark, and Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.
There are moments on the journey when you can’t help but ask why the hell they built this road—even though we were grateful they did. After just a few miles you realize what a feat it is, and how amazing it is that they continue to uncover it every spring for another wave of visitors. As we made our way out of the park (already intent on planning a longer visit), we stopped for some supplies, then made our way south. Our drive took us along the eastern shores of Flathead Lake, the largest natural freshwater lake west of the Mississippi. Past that we continued down 93 toward St. Ignatius, where we’d be staying for the evening.
Driving along Flathead Lake
As we pulled in, our host was just by her front gates setting up some new bear fencing. After meeting Kathryn, we were greeted by her two giant guard dogs, a Great Pyrenees mother and son that were equal parts gentle and curious. We took in her amazing property, the lovely cob house she built, surrounded by her permaculture farm. Perfectly situated beneath the Mission Mountains, it’s pretty idyllic, to say the least. And tucked into corners of the house are examples of her artwork and little details you have to take some time to appreciate—bits of mosaic built into structure and mobiles of sticks and stones lovingly balanced over the bathtub. The bathtub, we should mention, is in her attached greenhouse. There’s nothing quite like taking a bath and seeing a rooster and his harem of chickens walking around in the garden, just outside the window.
We made some dinner in the cob house and called it a night, ready for some camping tomorrow in Idaho before the big solar eclipse!