“There’s a mama moose up ahead on the trail with her baby,” the skier told us as he backed out of the trailhead on his cross-county skis. “But I’m sure it’s OK if you wanted to ski around them,” he added, quickly gliding off in the opposite direction.
Hmmm, dilemma… Should we risk a moose trampling to continue on the riverside trail we’d heard about all week? I glanced at my friend. It was tempting, but not this time. We reluctantly turned around, too.
But, luckily for us, we were on the 33 kilometers of groomed trail at the Izaak Walton Inn in northwestern Montana, so our backtracking just led to yet another scenic (moose-free) adventure.
Actually, our adventure started in Seattle a few days earlier last February. While waiting for the 4:45 p.m. eastbound Amtrak Empire Builder, I bumped into former Outdoors NW editor Tom Braman and his family. In a classic “what are you doing here?” exchange, we discovered we were both headed to the same destination. We later realized our families were sleeping-car neighbors on the 16-hour overnighter to the tiny community of Essex, home of the Izaak Walton Inn.
Many alpine skiers and snowboarders may be familiar with taking the Amtrak from Seattle or Portland to the famous Whitefish Mountain Resort. But for those other outdoor recreationalists who enjoy a more meandering, reflective pace on their cross-country skis or snowshoes, Amtrak continues a half hour further east to Essex, the only “whistle stop” on the Empire Builder’s route between Seattle/Portland and Chicago.
Although the train stops a mere 500 feet from the Inn, Izaak Walton staffers greet you as you step off into the snow, pack you into their heated van and check you into your room within minutes of arrival.
Located near the Continental Divide, the Inn is also a jumping off point for winter recreation in Glacier National Park, just a half hour from either the east or west entrances.
By today’s standards, Izaak Walton may appear to be a quiet, sleepy inn, but in fact, they have a full service restaurant and complete rental shop of cross-country skis, snowshoes and ice skates (including an on-site rink) for adults and children.
We quickly signed up for a half-day cross-country ski trip with the Inn’s fabled guide Mark Ambre, who claims he has never skied the same trail twice in over a dozen years guiding for the Inn. With over a million acres of forest in and around the park, it’s easy to believe.
But Ambre does have his favorite spots and he drove us to the top of 5,213-foot Marias Pass on Highway 2 where a sign prominently announced we were at the Continental Divide. I didn’t know whether to look left or right at the streams of melting snow under the blazing Montana sun.
Ambre’s tour through Lodgepole pine forests, open meadows and Glacier’s snow-laden 9,000-foot peaks looming over us is what we had come for. With every turn he identified a bear claw mark on a tree or coyote prints in the snow. With his extensive knowledge and friendly demeanor, he brought the mountain alive. He even took the family Christmas card picture in a field of virgin snow.
Back at the Inn, we snuggled up next to the gigantic stone fireplace in the Great Room that is packed with train memorabilia, antiques and pine-framed sofas. There are no phones in the 33-room three-story Inn, which was built in 1939 to house railway workers.
Today the renovated lodge includes numerous cabins and several recently remodeled sleep-cabooses, but it still retains its historical train character and sleeps a mix of train buffs, outdoor recreationalists and getaway seekers in rooms aptly named Great Northern and Empire Builder.
In addition to getting reacquainted with Tom Braman and his family, we also discovered a group of guests (who quickly became friends) as we gathered downstairs in the game room/lounge each night for music. There were fiddles, guitars, mandolins and even a harp as we sang along to Joan Baez, John Denver and all things Folk
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We felt like we were leaving home when we realized it was time to go. Like children, we pressed our noses on the Amtrak window, wildly waving back at the group of Izaac Walton folks who gathered on the porch to see us off on the evening train.
That’s just the way the Izaak Walton Inn is. You just show up and do your own thing. Along the way, you meet some great people, ski or snowshoe, read and visit in a place taking you back in time when life was much simpler.
And, if you’re lucky, you might even encounter a moose or two along the way.
www.izaakwalton inn.com
Carolyn Price is publisher of Outdoors NW magazine.
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