Kalispell and Whitefish and Kallispell

After we had paddled fifteen miles and Mom and Dad had hiked 11 miles in two days, we were ready for a change of pace. We had heard that there was Cabela's in Kalispell, about 45 minutes away. A good thing, too, because most of the outdoor stores in the Glacier area are lacking. So we made a plan for a shopping trip followed by a visit to Whitefish Mountain, where Gabe would have an opportunity to be connected real WiFi (he's actually in summer school, getting ahead on requirements by taking an online course through Victor HS this summer) and Kieran, Iz, and I would try out what has been recognized as the #1 mountain bike park in the West.

Unfortunately, despite their time at Dryer Road Park back home, I may have overestimated Kieran and Izzie's comfort level on MTB trails. And it was an 80-minute odyssey of getting them down the mountain. There was worry, and crying, and yelling, and even swearing. (No, I don't mean by me.) But they survived, and Lizzie took them from the bottom of the trail into the lodge for onion rings and ice cream while I got in one ride at speed from the top. It was, absolutely, the greatest thing I've ever done on a bike.

The view from the summit of Whitefish, looking toward Glacier.

Well, I didn't actually take an pics from the trail. But here's the trail.

We got back to camp and had dinner and relaxed a bit. Personally, I was exhausted after two days of paddling and a hard MTB ride. But we made a plan to return to Logan Pass the next day and do the hike we had meant to day on our final day in Glacier. At about 8:15 pm I went to move the bike rack from the Suburban back onto the hitch-mount on the back of the camper, and discovered that one of the four bolts that secures it to the camper had broken. I had no way of knowing when this happened (could have been day 1 and just missed it), but if another bolt failed, all four of our mountain bikes would hit the ground at highway speed and be destroyed. This is, I believe, the 17th thing to be wrong or go wrong with our new camper.

And so, at about 8:30 pm, I departed for Kalispell, and the Lowe's Hardware that is right next to the Cabela's. Grabbed a few other provisions at the Target across the street, and drove back to West Glacier. 

While in Kalispell, the full moon came up over the mountains, which were lit perfectly by the waning light. Unfortunately, this is Kalispell, and every shot I tried to get had a strip mall in front of it.

The full moon from our camper in West Glacier, which lit my re-installation of the hitch-mount for the bike rack.