Tag Archives: Polebridge Mercantile

North Fork article appears in Flathead Living

Travel Articles,

A somewhat breathless article about the North Fork appears in the most recent edition of Flathead Living . . .

No matter the season, the trappings of civilization abate on the journey to Polebridge, the nagging fixtures of workaday refinement receding the further one travels north over this far-flung, off-the-grid landscape, its remote, rugged terrain stripping away the polished layers of urbanity like acetone.

Driving through the wild and scenic North Fork Flathead River corridor, the cell phone signal and chirping email notifications are the first to retreat, their attendant, tech-induced anxiety quieted and retooled with a streak of uncompromising individualism that runs deep through the valley and its scant population of year-round residents, who are handily outnumbered by the wildlife.

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Polebridge Merc hosts “Transboundary” interpretive trail

Environmental Issues, News, , ,

Will Hammerquist of the Polebridge Mercantile got together with several conservation groups to sponsor a “Transboundary” interpretive trail . . .

Several U.S. and Canadian environmental groups have carved out a new educational “Transboundary” trail up the North Fork on land owned by the Polebridge Mercantile.

The quarter-mile long stroll runs through scrub brush left from the 1988 Red Bench Fire and offers expansive views of the Livingston Range.

Several interpretive signs along the path provide information on history, geography and biology of the area, historic perspectives, threats to the ecosystem as well as triumphs, including efforts to ban coal and other mining projects in the watershed.

Read more . . .

100 years of the Polebridge Merc

Photos & Images, Travel Articles,

The Daily Inter Lake has a nice write-up on the Polebridge Mercantile’s 100th anniversary . . .

Just before 7 a.m. on Tuesday, the sun is up and working hard to burn off fog that has settled over the Polebridge Mercantile.

Addie Cleveland walks to the front door and unlocks it for the day’s first customer, flipping the sign in the window from closed to open.

Staff members have been at the store since 5 a.m. making the Merc’s famous pastries. Tuesdays are special because not only are workers making treats for the store, they also are baking items for the Whitefish Farmer’s Market.

Read more . . .

The Merc at 100

History, News

The Flathead Beacon did a nice front page spread on the Polebridge Mercantile this week, focusing on the Merc’s 100th anniversary . . .

In 100 years, ownership of the Polebridge Mercantile has changed hands 10 times, according to records cobbled together by historians and hardscrabble locals, with each set of proprietors playing their own unique role in shaping the store, the community and the far-flung, off-the-grid landscape.

And yet the owners of this lone outpost of civilization along the remote North Fork of the Flathead River have not traditionally considered themselves owners, instead embracing the cozier denomination of “caretaker,” a term of endearment that sets the “Merc” apart from the workaday grind of quotidian life, distinguishing it from the modern trappings and clutter that has even crept into a scantly populated place like Montana.

Time passes slowly here, to be sure, but even the Merc must endure change.

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Two North Fork documentaries to show on April 26

News, , , , ,

The Gateway-to-Glacier Trail organization is showing two North Fork-related documentaries in a fund raiser at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish, on April 26. “Mercantile” is about — what else? — the Polebridge Mercantile. “The Lookout” centers around Thoma Lookout . . .

Gateway-to-Glacier Trail is offering a redux of movie night, this time at the O’Shaughnessy Center in Whitefish, to give those who weren’t able to last month a chance to see two documentaries by Brian Bolster.

The original movie night in March was so successful, attendees had to be turned away because the room capacity was exceeded. This movie night, scheduled for April 26 at the Whitefish venue, will feature Bolster’s Northwest Montana documentaries.

Leif Haugan will show “Mercantile,” Bolster’s short documentary on the Polebridge Mercantile, featuring an inside look at the Merc’s baking operation in a rustic setting…

Haugen is the focus of the second award-winning documentary film, “The Lookout,” which features the Flathead National Forest’s Thoma Lookout, above the North Fork of the Flathead River Drainage, a few miles south of the Canadian border…

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Polebridge curls up for the winter

Travel Articles, ,

The Missoulian posted a pretty nice article today discussing the North Fork’s shift from summer’s bustle to winter’s quiet. The Polebridge Mercantile and the North Fork Hostel both get mentions, as well as some other people and places . . .

The knuckles whiten, the undercarriage rattles and the trappings of civilization recede.

This is the route to Polebridge .  . .

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North Fork offers more remote experience at Montana’s Glacier National Park

Travel Articles, , , , ,

Susan Gallagher did a nice Associated Press piece about the North Fork that is getting national and world-wide distribution today. Just for fun, the “continue reading” link below sends you to New Zealand to read the rest of her article . . .

The Blackfeet Tribe named the greater Glacier National Park ecosystem “the backbone of the world.” Use the park’s remote, northwestern entrance and the bumpy access road will have you feeling like you drove over each vertebra. But you’ll be grateful you made the trip.

For an out-of-the-mainstream take on America’s 10th national park, go to its northwestern expanse, the North Fork. It invites “a more self-reliant visitor,” the National Park Service says in its Glacier literature.

The North Fork doesn’t have the grand old lodges like those near Glacier’s principal gateways, but this piece of paradise isn’t without comforts. Rustic, marvelously tasty and memorable, they are in Polebridge, a mile (1.6 kilometre) from the park’s northwestern entrance. This off-the-grid community increasingly reliant on solar power is the hub for an area where the summer population numbers maybe a few hundred, up from five to 10 in the winter.

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An ideal backdrop for relaxation and reflection

Travel Articles, , , ,

The Missoulian has a flattering travel article about Polebridge and the surrounding area . . .

This is the perfect place to celebrate a birthday.

Tucked along the edge of Glacier National Park, this iconic town proved an ideal backdrop for relaxation and reflection as another year passes. Not that you need a reason to visit, however. Polebridge is good for the soul any time and on any occasion – and did just the trick on a recent visit with good friends and great food.

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Polebridge Mercantile closes for the season November 27th; reopens May 1st next year

News,

According to a note just received from Flannery Coats, the Polebridge Mercantile will close for the season on November 27th.

Until then, they’ve still “got hot coffee, baked goods, holiday gifts and good cheer.” They are open seven days a week, from 8:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m.

The “Merc” reopens next year on May 1st.

Flannery Coats & Stuart Reiswig are the “caretakers” of the Merc. For those of you not familiar with the whole North Fork thing, here’s their capsule description: “The Merc has been serving the North Fork community for 100 years. It serves as a general store, bakery, base camp and vacation getaway.” The Merc has pride of place right in the center of Polebridge at 265 Polebridge Loop Road. The phone number is 406-888-5105.

An early season hike (almost) to Akokala Lake

Travel Articles, , ,

Here’s more North Fork coverage from New West. This article by Maggie Neal Doherty concerns her early season hike to Akokala Lake . . .

After 23 miles of dusty potholed road and a stop off at the Polebridge Mercantile for a hot turkey sandwich to add to my lunch, I pulled my camera from my backpack to shoot the stunning expanse of Bowman Lake in the spring – lake blue and mountains draped in white.

The shot didn’t happen.

In my rush must-hike-because-the-sun-is-finally-shining moment, I forgot a few things for my hike to Akokala Lake in the North Fork region of Glacier National Park. My memory card was at home, left in my computer; and as I would come to learn five miles later, so were my much-needed snowshoes.

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