It was my last day in the Glacier area so I headed up the North Fork of the Flathead River. The road is mainly gravel and parallels the western edge of the park, with great views of the mountain range off to the right. My goal was to hit Polebridge and the little store famous for its baked goodies and then to go on up to Kiltna Lake to check out the campground.
The gravel road was very dusty and well traveled, but the views were great. I stopped several times to look at the river and stunning mountain range behind, ever-present bear spray at my side.
Speaking of bear spray... locals have differing opinions of how effective it actually is and most say it’s really just to make the park visitors feel more secure - sort of a placebo. In the case of the hiker incident a couple of days earlier, the bear spray did nothing and the hiker had to shoot. Though it’s illegal to carry a gun in the park, I’m pretty sure the hiker was happy he brought it!
Eventually, I hit the turn off into Polebridge and noticed another adventure bike emerge from my cloud of white dust and turn in behind me. When I pulled up in front of the store, a red BMW F800GS Adventure pulled in beside me. As we both took helmets off, I said hello and the rider answered with a big smile and a heavy accent.
My new compadre was Nico and we shook hands. Nicolas, was from Mendoza, Argentina, and had sold all his possessions and flown to Alaska, where the BMW dealer set him up with a well tricked-out 800. Nico had spent a month in Alaska riding back roads and then worked his way down through Canada to Montana. He still had a month left before arriving at the Burning Man event in Nevada, where he was to meet his brother. From there he planned to ride south all the way back to Argentina and Tierra del Fuego.
The Polebridge Mercantile seemed to be the "Terlingua of the North" to me... a bunch of folks who are living in a separate world and enjoying the hell out of it. Word was the best huckleberry bearclaw pastries in the world were made there and indeed there was a line of folks waiting for them. I treated Nico to one and we both agreed they were fantastic.
If you go to Glacier, take a nice drive up to Polebridge and snag a couple!
We talked for awhile and I made some suggestions for the Wyoming area where he was headed, and then asked if he wanted to ride with me up over the range on dirt roads. He was game and we took off north before finding the forest road I’d mapped out.
He led and I trailed in the talcum powder dust trail for about 50 miles. The road was great and it felt fantastic to be on the pegs and off the pavement.
We stopped a few times for pics, eventually ending up in Whitefish where we wished each safe travels - he heading back to ride through Glacier and me for Missoula.
After the afternoon ride, I was dusty and happy as a pig in mud!
By the time I reached Missoula, the worst of the dust had blown away, but enough remained to keep the other Super 8 Motel guests at a distance…
