It’s a long, dusty ride from Hungry Horse, to the Spotted Bear Ranger Stations, and back to Martin City, but if you want views and solitude, it’s well worth the trip. Fill up the gas tank, pack a lunch & plenty of water – there are no services out here! We drove down one side of the Hungry Horse Reservoir, and up the other side – including stops and a hike it took the better part of a day.
While we’ve been rather captivated with Glacier National Park, we aren’t allowed to take Samantha any further than the parking lots. National Forests don’t have that restriction, and often the views are just as fabulous.

Just a beautiful sight!
We stopped at several points to snap some pics, and let Samantha out. She especially enjoyed a spot near the river where she could drag Keith all over. We kept her on a short leash, as we are in bear country, but she still loves to explore.

Looks like a perfect Samantha spot!
After all the driving, what we were really looking for was a hike. Even though we bought the forest map, we noticed that several trails were not well marked. We finally came across a trail we were interested in, the Lower Twin Creek trail, as by the topography Keith determined it should give us a great view of the valley.

The overgrown, tree strewn trail
Oh it did, after nearly a mile of vertical hiking. The trail was overgrown and there were several large trees that were laying across the trail. This was also the first time we took Samantha hiking in bear country, so she seemed a tad freaked out that we were constantly clapping & yelling “Yo Bear” at every turn. Every time we stopped to take a breath or a sip of water, she was pretty interested in heading back DOWN the trail.

Love the winding water & the mountains in the distance.
But the view, well, the view was worth it. Flowing, meandering river, mountains surrounding, sun shining down- and no bears. A pretty perfect outing.
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