Exploring Beyond the Paved Roads

Today we headed for the mountains. Well, actually we headed for the tiny town of Polebridge, Montana which is nestled in the mountains and surrounded by lakes and rivers. More specifically, our destination for the day was the Polebridge Mercantile and Bakery. Over the past week this spot came up in conversation with a local Dad at a park in Whitefish, and again while watching “Living Big Sky” on HGTV. We also spotted the Polebridge Mercantile booth while making our way through the Farmer’s Market in Whitefish a couple days ago. Their booth stood out from all the others because it was the only one with a long line of people waiting to purchase the Mercantile’s mouth watering baked goods. As I peaked through the waiting customers, I saw that many of these delectable pastries were filled with huckleberries, YUM!

So, today was the day that we decide to hit the road and head north from our place in Bigfork. It was about a 90 minute drive but the time just zoomed by as we all took turns pointing out things along the way. We didn’t realize that the route we took actually took us through the West Entrance of Glacier Park. I believe that it was the first left after the entrance that took us through one of the most spectacular drives ever. If you ever decide to embark on this adventure, I suggest that you have a four wheel drive. The road that took us to Polebridge was only partially paved. As we made our way past tree lined rivers and groves of pines, we stopped to take pictures and breathe in the crisp autumn air.

Right before we arrived at the Polebridge Mercantile, we came across this…

We hoped that these will put a smile on another adventurous soul’s face. There was a driveway that led away from the free library. Maybe the person living at the end of this mystery gravel path will find our little tokens of kindness.

Not more than a few minutes up the road we found our destination. We pulled into the driveway of the Polebridge Mercantile and admired the 100 year old structure standing in the middle of several small out buildings. After exploring the store and finding a couple of sandwiches and baked goods which were soooo worth the drive, Noah explored the out buildings in detail. He went from the treehouse, to an old stage, to a building that was used to serve food and drinks to the droves of passing Glacier guests pre Covid days. There were several other folks visiting this hidden Glacier oasis but I couldn’t help but think….How were things a year ago in this once bustling National Park. How could any of us have known that something as simple as a passing smile would no longer exist in the year 2020.