US Northwest Inland Northwest Annual Glacier Trip!

PapaDave

PapaDave

Local Expert Northern ID and North East WA
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Steward II

10,598
Coeur d'Alene, ID, USA
First Name
Dave
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Addington
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10123

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KN6BKH
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It’s almost here! Ever been to Montana’s Caribbean beach? Ever tasted the famous Huckleberry bear claws at a quaint off-grid town bordering the less traveled Glacier entrance? Ever camped on the river stones of the Flat Head river yards away from the boundary of Glacier National Park? Ever made the rocky climb through the Ten Lakes wilderness or cruise the gorgeous highway alongside Lake Koocanusa? This trip is gonna be awesome!

View Rally Point

 
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THINGS TO KNOW​

Be sure to download the GPX file for this trip as we will not have service for large sections of the trip.

1- The trail will get dusty so you need to have amber lights installed on the rear upper portion of your vehicle. You can get simple ones off of Amazon that plug into a cigarette lighter if need be, or build them permanently on your rig. But they need to be amber as it has the longest wavelength and diffuses less in the dust and helps the vehicle behind you SEE you.

2- You also need to have a GMRS radio which you can get pretty affordably off of Amazon. Something like a Baofeng is fine. Please understand how to use it and get to channel 17 before the trip starts.

Both of these are essential in order to come along on this trip. Otherwise you can place yourself and others in danger And we want a safe and fun time. Bear spray is a good idea as well.
 
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I am not sure if I will be able to join this trip at this point, but I came across some info from the USFS, Kootenai NF to be aware of.
A culvert is going to be replaced on road 114 in the Grave Creek area with a short section of closure starting June 23 and is scheduled for 1 week, so it should be good to go. I hope they have it opened back by the time this trip starts, but the official order on the website shows it lasting until "December 31 unless rescinded sooner".

The official order: Kootenai National Forest : Alert - Grave Creek Road #114 Closure

The FB page they sent a notification on:
 
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Hags said:
I am not sure if I will be able to join this trip at this point, but I came across some info from the USFS, Kootenai NF to be aware of.
A culvert is going to be replaced on road 114 in the Grave Creek area with a short section of closure starting June 23 and is scheduled for 1 week, so it should be good to go. I hope they have it opened back by the time this trip starts, but the official order on the website shows it lasting until "December 31 unless rescinded sooner".

The official order: Kootenai National Forest : Alert - Grave Creek Road #114 Closure

The FB page they sent a notification on:
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Thanks for the heads up!
 
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I will be there if I can juggle the schedule. I have to be in Texas the week following this trip so tryng to minimize my time away.
 
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Don’t forget for this trip that you will need amber lights mounted to the top rear portion of your vehicle. It needs to be Amber, preferably non-strobing, and it doesn’t have to be fancy. You could even use something like these cyclone lights that are easy to mount along with a cigarette lighter with a switch. If you have any questions, let me know.

Two-Light Add-On Cyclone V2 Kit - Amber - 3.5 Meters Long Amazon.com: Two-Light Add-On Cyclone V2 Kit - Amber - 3.5 Meters Long : Industrial & Scientific

12V Fused Replacement Cigarette Lighter Male Plug with On Off Switch - 2FT 12Volt 15amp Cigarette Lighter Plug with Leads and Led Lights, 16AWG Cigarette Plug for Car Cooler,Cb Radio, Air Compressor https://a.co/d/iHAaKjd
 
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PapaDave said:
Don’t forget for this trip that you will need amber lights mounted to the top rear portion of your vehicle. It needs to be Amber, preferably non-strobing, and it doesn’t have to be fancy. You could even use something like these cyclone lights that are easy to mount along with a cigarette lighter with a switch. If you have any questions, let me know.

Two-Light Add-On Cyclone V2 Kit - Amber - 3.5 Meters Long Amazon.com: Two-Light Add-On Cyclone V2 Kit - Amber - 3.5 Meters Long : Industrial & Scientific

12V Fused Replacement Cigarette Lighter Male Plug with On Off Switch - 2FT 12Volt 15amp Cigarette Lighter Plug with Leads and Led Lights, 16AWG Cigarette Plug for Car Cooler,Cb Radio, Air Compressor https://a.co/d/iHAaKjd
Click to expand...

This reminder made me find another rabbit hole!! I’m debating if it’s a good thing spending more money verses the wifey rolling her eyes!! For those that like tech specs!

 

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highboy4x4 said:
PapaDave said:
Don’t forget for this trip that you will need amber lights mounted to the top rear portion of your vehicle. It needs to be Amber, preferably non-strobing, and it doesn’t have to be fancy. You could even use something like these cyclone lights that are easy to mount along with a cigarette lighter with a switch. If you have any questions, let me know.

Two-Light Add-On Cyclone V2 Kit - Amber - 3.5 Meters Long Amazon.com: Two-Light Add-On Cyclone V2 Kit - Amber - 3.5 Meters Long : Industrial & Scientific

12V Fused Replacement Cigarette Lighter Male Plug with On Off Switch - 2FT 12Volt 15amp Cigarette Lighter Plug with Leads and Led Lights, 16AWG Cigarette Plug for Car Cooler,Cb Radio, Air Compressor https://a.co/d/iHAaKjd
Click to expand...

This reminder made me find another rabbit hole!! I’m debating if it’s a good thing spending more money verses the wifey rolling her eyes!! For those that like tech specs!

Click to expand...

I agree with the article that it depends on your driving situation, I have a combination of Amber and White on the front of my truck as most of my nighttime driving is on a highway watching out for deer so I have white driving lights. I can turn them off and use an Amber bar for Snow, but for rear it definitely needs to be Amber for dust Chase lights. That wave length is longer and it helps people see you. As far as your wife, I would just claim it as safety :-) 
 
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Excited to lead this trip! Special thanks to @jad3116 who showed us this route a few years ago. It has been a highlight for us ever since. I should also note he's not joining us, so if you have any issues with the route it's all his fault.


Also, I'll bring my drone and will share all of the photos from this trip via Google Drive at the end. I had a lot of people reaching out last year. They will all be high-res if you have any interest in printing them.
 

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Nat is definitely looking forward to this one, loves her some Blue Lake!

I'll have my drone as well, looking forward to some quality campfire time (even if it's propane) preceeded by some Lake and River time!

Bring your Thermacels for the misquitos! and a flyswatter for the horse flys!
 
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PapaDave said:
Kootenai Falls Swinging Bridge

We can hit this on the way home, they have great milkshakes there too at the snack shack

View attachment 293370
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That would be nice. Nat and I say every time we drive by "oh we should stop on the way back/next time" lol... think we're on iteration 5 of that comment
 
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