The Apgar campground in Glacier was full of mostly RVs which isnt my favorite environment to camp in but the next closest campgrounds had all been full or closed for the season. Its still a decently wooded campground with a bit of space between each site and the RV owners didnt run generators all night, so it wasnt too bad.
Sunrise over McDonald Falls and McDonald Creek was short, but gave us a decent amount of color and atmosphere to work with.
We decided to spend the rest of the day exploring along Inside North Fork Road, a 28 mile dirt road that travels between Apgar and the tiny ‘town’ of Polebridge. It was a good choice. The sky was a vibrant blue and the temperatures stayed fairly comfortable for most of the day. Even when it neared 90 out, the breeze kept it from being uncomfortable. There were few people on the road. We meandered along for more than an hour before we saw anyone.
We didnt see much in the way of wildlife, but there were quite a few birds, including a few Cedar Waxwing, a personal favorite of mine. The landscapes varied through hilly pine forest recovering from past fires, flat fully green pine forest, tower cedar forests, fields, hidden lakes and tiny campgrounds tucked away off the road.
We were tempted to stay at one of the campgrounds there, but they were completely remote and empty with big red signs warning that bears DID enter this campgrounds. We decided that maybe we werent that interested in photographing bears that close, especially since my friend, Dani, would have been tent camping. I suppose people more familiar with bears would have been ok with the idea, but I suppose we are a bit more cautious.
Polebridge wasnt quite what I expected. I’m not sure what I expected, but this tiny dirt road intersection with a general store/restaurant, several cabins and house, a yurt and a hostel wasnt quite it. We didnt stop to explore, but I noted it down for future exploration. I’m especially curious about the hostel (http://www.hostelsclub.com/hostel-en-13227.html)and what sort of people would be found there. I didnt realize until I looked up the hostel on the internet that Polebridge is completely off the power grid and any power there is from propane generators. I think my next visit to Glacier NP will include a day or two in Polebridge.
We returned to Apgar by way of Outside North For Road and Camas Road. We booked another night of camping in the Apgar campsite and stayed up a while photographing the stars over McDonald Lake.