USA Rail n Road Trips

I arrived in Whitefish, Montana several hours after my anticipated arrival (seeing a pattern here?) from Minot, but luckily, my next couch surfing hosts were incredibly flexible and communicative, and even picked me up from the train station! The marvelous beauty that I was able to experience in just 3 days in Montana is inexplicable. Needless to say, I will be going back someday, and for a longer amount of time.

My hosts were also hosting another woman on sabbatical from teaching in Germany, so once I was there, we hit the ground running, starting with a short but beautiful hike that provided stunning views and a heartfelt tribute to the canines that used to walk that trail. The afternoon continued at Whitefish City Beach with some paddle boarding and kayaking, but also a vitally long nap on the beach (by me). It was a lovely way to spend the day.

Throughout the duration of my stay, my hosts were incredibly friendly, and just so willing to share all that they had with us. As the German couch-surfer left, another one from St. Louis came through. There was never a dull moment the whole time I was there. We ate all of our meals together and learned a great deal from each other while we ate.

The Hungry Horse Dam, is also a destination point that I recommend. While it did not entirely jive well with my fear of heights, it was an impressive site. To think that men built it all 564 feet from the ground up is painstakingly impressive. The dam’s main purpose is a power source for hydroelectric power production for the neighboring towns, but also serves as a reservoir.

Above are three views from the brief time we were able to spend at Glacier National Park. Unfortunately, the day we went it was foggy and hailing, so we did not get very far. Luckily, we were still able to see a little bit before the weather ran us out.

My host took me with her to ride the chairlift up the ski mountain to experience the stunning views from up there before I left.

Whitefish has a very quaint downtown area that runs several blocks in each direction. I was drawn in to a place called Wich Haus for the live music, but stayed for the delicious sandwich. There were several coffee shops; however, the one that offered the best options and atmosphere for work was WILD Coffee, and some of their proceeds even go right back into the earth where they get their coffee. There are also several breweries, dive bars, and a plethora of ski and souvenir shops. The town is definitely expanding, especially with the development work happening around the ski resort. There is a lot of spirit in the town that will hopefully persevere as it grows.

My late night train out of Whitefish was delayed by four hours, surprise surprise. But since it was supposed to leave at midnight, this now meant a 4:00AM departure. Instead of waiting until that time to go to the train station, I went at the initial time and napped on a bench in the station, along with many other passengers. Luckily, this station was comfortable and warm so I was very content to wait there until the train arrived.