Vacation 2009 - Polebridge

This is page eight of our vacation 2009 blog. The first page is here.

Polebridge

Polebridge is on the west side of Glacier, north of the main West entrance. It is another of those places that have their own separate entrance to the park, but in this case there is also a road that goes there from inside the park. The inner road is a gravel road, and pretty rough and rugged in places, but that's why we have a 4x4. We decided to take the inner road up to Polebridge, and return along the outer road.

Forest Regrowth

The first part of the drive was through an area that had been hit by fires previously. I forgot the exact years, but I'm thinking 2001 and 2006, or maybe one a little earlier than that. I should take better notes. This area is a good example of how nature regenerates itself. The old, burnt trees may not be pretty, but it is good to see how quickly the area recovers. We took several pictures from various locations along the road.

This picture shows numerous holes from a woodpecker. There is a particular variety of woodpecker who thrives in burned areas, causing birdwatchers to have very mixed feelings about fires.

I thought it was interesting the way the mushrooms were growing out the side of this tree. I'm guessing this tree was dead before the fire that took its neighbors.

We took several pictures at various places along this route - I tried to pick the ones that best illustrated the regrowth of the forest, or that were just interesting shots.

Foresters are learning that not all fires are evil, but I wonder how they distinguish between the ones where it is better to let nature take its course, and the ones that they must fight at all costs.

Quartz Creek

We stopped for lunch at the Quartz Creek campground and picnic area. It was not closed for the season yet, but there were signs up that they had shut down all the water for the winter. We did have temperatures into the 30s once or twice, so it is not too early.

There is a car somewhere underneath this pile of dust. I'm sure of it - look very closely...

There was yet another pretty stream right behind our picnic area

And here are some pretty wildflowers in the area. The last two are significantly cropped from the originals. The butterfly was intentional, but the two bees were accidental. I did not realize they were there until I looked more closely at the pictures. Don't forget that you can click on any of these pictures to see a larger view.

Along the ridge

These pictures were taken from along the ridge as we approached Polebridge

Here is a view looking up at the ridge where the previous pictures were taken. You can see it wasn't really very high at that point, but enough to give some interesting views.

Polebridge Mercantile

There was an old-fashioned general store at Polebridge, as well as some cabins. They supposedly have baked goods that are to die for, but the selection was a little slim by the time we got there. I'm not sure why I didn't take a picture of the store. This view was taken from near the store, looking out across the meadow.

Back to Civilization

After Polebridge, we headed back towards camp along the Outer Road. Parts of this road were gravel as well, but it was not nearly as rugged as the inner road.

We saw a deer at a wayside on the way back. She stayed hidden, and it was hard to get a shot of her head. I think she thought that if she couldn't see us, that we couldn't see her. She seemed really skinny considering how much vegetation there was in the area. I don't know if she was sick, or old, or not eating well for some other reason.

It seems we are alternating long days with short days, but I just know we are seeing as much as we are physically able to see in the limited time available. Before our last day at Glacier, we need to take a break to do some laundry, pick up some groceries, and ummmm... WASH THE CAR!

Next Page: Last Day at Glacier