You lose things as you travel north. First to go is the cell phone connection, lost before you’re barely out of town. Then the power lines disappear, then the driveways. No houses, no streetlights, no billboards. When you lose the pavement, you’re still just a dozen miles out of town, “but you have the feeling you’ve crossed a boundary”. And still the road tracks north.
Left behind is the town and all the hurry-up that means. Out ahead is wildness, if not wilderness, the unknown. It’s like some ancient metaphor, this road serves as penance, stripping away worldly distractions one by one before you can find what really matters. And there, at the end of the road, the rapture, heavenly manna. Fresh-baked bread. And cinnamon rolls. And sinful huckleberry bearclaws, piping hot straight from the oven.
A lot of people see Polebridge as a utopia, or a place so special it’s outside the real world. Maybe that’s because of what they must leave behind on the way in. Or maybe because life here is a choice, deliberately made. I didn't write this, but I had to use it because it described so well why I like this little place so much. Original article here.
Polebridge was one of the many places we stopped at last August. It is hard to express the feelings I felt during our trip. They were felt so intensely and strong. I had never felt like that in my life and have not felt like that since. I felt complete, free and inspired.
We pulled into Polebridge on August 25th on our way to go backpacking in (the bear infested) Glacier National Park. The long empty road to Polebridge was relaxing. Once there, we checked out the "Merc" and explored the 2 dirt roads in town. We snacked on some A-mazing cookies and then napped in the car. We ate dinner and then left the little town to find our campsite near the lake for the night.
We then backpacked for 4 days in Glacier. (that deserves a whole seperate post)
After we finished our backpacking adventure, we headed back to Polebridge. It's the only road back to the world. We decided to fill our empty stomachs at the only restaurant around, the Northern Lights Saloon. It was delicious and the town is so laid back. We chatted with other traveleres who had just backpacked the same trail as us.
Before our backpacking trip, we had decided that after backpacking we would treat ourselves and stay a night in Polebridge at the North Fork Hostel. We showered for the first time in days in this little tiny bathroom in the owners home. Also, there is no electricity. We used a candle as our light.
We found the tiny old cabin we were to sleep in, behind the main Hostel house. It was old, had no heater and had a bunk bed and 1 queen bed in the tiny space. But it was the coziest little thing you could imagine. And it was better than sleeping on the ground in a sleeping bag. This is what I wrote in our travel journal that night...
Well here we are. We made it out alive. A little tired and sore though. I am sitting inside our hostel cabin at the North Fork Hostel in Polebridge, MT. Writing in my book by the light of the kerosene lamp. Eric is laying in bed falling asleep. I am happy. Life feels so calm and complete. 
I love you Polebridge and I love how you changed the way I look at life.
