Shayan Zadeh: Practical Entrepreneur

Writing the rest of this trip report had completely fallen off my radar until recently a friend told me he will be driving to Glacier National Park for the Labor Day weekend. So, here it is, day 3.

We had planned to spend our 3rd day in the national park. The plan was to leave Kalispell early morning (8-ish!). Unfortunately, one of us wasn’t feeling very well that morning and we had to adjust accordingly. So, we pushed back the departure time to around 11:00 am.

Some of us decided to take a stroll in Kalispell until we were ready to leave. Kalispell is your typical small town USA. It has some signs of being the areas business center, but only from a historic perspective. Just walking around the downtown area, you realize many businesses are closing down and there isn’t much happening there anymore. I think this town is bound to die economically very soon unless someone doesn’t something about it. I found Whitefish much more vibrant than Kalispell even though it seems to be smaller.

While walking in the city we ended up in a very well hidden corridor inside one of the buildings where 20 some very old pictures were mounted on the walls (for whom to see, I am still not clear). Amazingly these images gave us a very interesting story of this town’s history.

One of the images was particularly interesting. As you can see here, it shows four men wind-surfing on the Flathead Lake when it was frozen. If you read Part II of my report you might remember that this is a huge lake. For it to be frozen to a point that you can have surf-boats (I guess, what are these things called?) the temperatures must have fallen significantly for a very extended period of time. Given the fact that during our stay we had 95+ days, the temperature swings in this area must be brutal from season to season. I just find that fascinating!

We finally took off towards the Glacier National Park driving North-East on US 2 highway. If my memory serves me right, it took us almost an hour to get to the park from Kalispell. I should say the closer you get to the park the more you realize what a magnificent piece of nature it is. Even though the road to the park is heavily commercialized (grizzly bear cages anybody?), the scenery still allows you to get lost in the nature .

You need to purchase a pass to get into the park. The passes range from lifetime pass to a weekly pass! There are no day passes, so we had to get a week pass for $25. Once you pass the gates you will be driving on the Going to the Sun road inside the park. This road is beautiful regardless of when you drive in it, but if have the opportunity do so around dawn or dusk to better understand why they call it going to the sun road.

We decided to stop at the Lake McDonald station for lunch. Driving was not too hard as there weren’t many cars on the road (I had read horror stories about driving on the Going to the Sun road after 9:00 am and there were not accurate, at least not on July 3rd). As beautiful Lake McDonald might be, the dining options are a disgrace here. So, I would recommend taking some food with you and using one of the picnic tables around the lake for lunch.

At the station there are two options for food: Jammer Joe’s Restaurant and a dining room in the station building itself. I Strongly advice you avoid Jammer Joe’s Restaurant. The food here is Awful and the service is even worst! If you have to eat, use the dining room in the station.

Originally, we were planning to take Highline Trail – Logan Pass to Goat Haunt – a 7.6 miles hike with a 500-foot climb. Given our new timeline and the fact that one of us wasn’t feeling 100%, with the guidance of the very friendly folks at the McDonald station we downgraded to an easier hike. Instead, we decided to hike on Avalanche Trail. Even though this hike was definitely easier, I don’t think it was any less magnificent and beautiful.

At the end of this trail you reach the Avalanche Lake which is surrounded by a green jungle and water streams that start from the Sperry Glacier and run down the sides of the mountains. A very clam and relaxing lake indeed. Relaxing enough for deer to walk and eat next to where you sit to catch your breathe

As an easy trail, I highly recommend this trail. You can find more information about hike trails at the Glacier National Park here. I also recommend asking the helpdesk folks at different stations in the park. We found them extremely helpful and friendly.

We were hoping to see some bears while in the park. But we had done our hike, our sightseeing and still no bears to be seen. Slightly disappointed, we decided it was time to leave the park. On our way back on the Going to the Sun road we noticed a traffic jam! It took us a few minutes to figure out that it was a Bear Jam (people stopping their cars in the middle of the road to see a bear). Even though it was from a distance, we saw a mother (don’t ask how we know; strong imaginations) grizzle strolling between trees. Mission Accomplished.

We got back to Kalispell around 8:00pm, starving after our hike. What do you know, all dining options are closed at this time in Kalispell. We could not find a single place in this town (or its suburbs) to eat. After looking for places for an hour in Kalispell, we decided to take our chances in Whitefish. At first we couldn’t find anything in Whitefish either and slowly despair was setting in. Until we found it.

We found the Corner House Grille in Whitefish. Truly a hidden gem. Granted we entered the place as all of their patrons were finishing up and leaving. But we got a table and were we surprised. The food was delicate and excellent. The service attentive, helpful but not intrusive. We even got a visit from the Chef to our table with some sweets courtesy of the Chef after dinner. If you are visiting this area (50 miles radius in my mind) and you want to dine out, then don’t miss Corner House Grille. Highly recommended.

I promise to write about our drive way back very soon. You don’t want to miss the drive through the jungle! Stay tuned…