This last weekend we road-tripped to a little town called Essex near Glacier National Park in Montana. Really the only thing that is there is about 20 vacation homes, and the Izaak Walton Inn. It's a great location for cross-country skiing & snowshoeing in the winter, and for hiking in the summer (also being so close to Glacier National Park gives you the opportunity to explore there as well).The town is accessible by regular vehicles, which can be sketchy in the winter months, or by Amtrak Train. The Amtrak train stop is just out front of the Inn. We decided to drive for this trip, as the costs of Amtrak were so high. I was grateful we drove this time, as the scenery coming through highway 2 on the way from Sand Point, Idaho to Kalispell, Montana was absolutely breathtaking and well worth the time it takes to drive. During the day and at night, it was great fun to watch all the trains coming into the train yard, and to see the helper trains pulling the ultra-long trains over the pass. The skill and timing required to coordinate the trains is interesting to watch. It was also truly an amazing feeling to be standing just feet from the tracks and to feel the ground shaking as the trains rolled by!
We did a bit of snowshoeing right on the Izaak Walton property's trails, as well as at the Walton Ranger Station, which is just a short down the road. The hike from the Walton Ranger Station goes to Ole Creek and then the trail continues on to Fielding Picnic Area. Before we had made it to Ole Creek, we ran into some other snowshoers on their way out who told us that there was a suspension bridge - what a great surprise!!
The snowshoeing in Essex was great, and we even got a chance to do a night shoe during a snow storm. The Izaak Walton property has a "starlight" trail that is lit at night for skiing and shoeing. It was a blast. It was also super cool to stay in the caboose lodging they have. We stayed in the JJ Caboose which had a full kitchen area, bathroom, queen bed in a bedroom and full sized bed in the second floor of the caboose. It was a great alternative to standard hotel room lodging, and fun to boot!
