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Kalispell MT


TPBO

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If flying in, best to take the established Victor airway routes rather than direct to someplace.  The Victor airways will give you lower crossing altitudes than the high peaks. If you are headed east on departure, best to fly down (south) to the VOR to give yourself a chance to gain altitude.  The west to east winds can push you at the high rocks on the east side of the valley faster than you would like if you don’t have turbine climb speeds. Local pilots don’t like to stay out over Flathead Lake very long during the cooler weather months, they claim the lake creates icing conditions.  Glacier Jet is a pretty good FBO, you can have a rental delivered there. 

As for things to see or do, I remember three that are really worthwhile.  Going up to Glacier Park is one, obviously. The drive out to the continental divide to the east is another. There is a park up there and the wild rams (big ones, three quarters to full curls) would come within yards. I have a picture of a full curl taking a pee which maybe sounds a little gross, but it is certainly something you don’t see every day. There is plenty of space up there to take a hike. 

It is also worth a drive up to Whitefish to find some lunch and stroll the streets and shop. Not sure how COVID will affect that. There are some really cool shops there, and for that matter it is not far from GPI and it would be possible to stay at Whitefish. Lots of good accommodations at Whitefish and much more scenic than Kalispell. 

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Kalispell and Glacier National Park is one of my favorite places. I want to go back and hopefully will have the opportunity soon. We enjoyed going to Moose's Saloon when we were there:

http://moosessaloon.com/

Otherwise, Glacier National Park is great as well as Lone Pine State Park. We also drove to the east side of Glacier National Park and enjoyed that drive. It takes a couple of hours but it's a nice drive. As @jlunsethmentioned, I'm not sure how much COVID has impacted what is open, but hopefully enough is open. If you're into hiking, the Avalanche Lake trail is great.

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For day trips, the little Kalispell Downtown airport is in town.  They have a courtesy car, but you can walk out the fbo and you’ll be next to several restaurants.  Very walkable on a nice day.  Limited parking at the fbo but it’s fine.  Watch the big towers south of the airport.

On the ramp at Kalispell Downtown...

66B5064E-BBA3-4251-8F69-2667A118ADA2.thumb.jpeg.823e1f2ddfa3d5e8df50285bbf9b82e5.jpeg

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They have quite a few good restaurants, something for every taste.  My favorites have been Jagz for steak and Wasabi in Whitefish for sushi.  Jagz is kinda out on it's own but it is a great steakhouse. Wasabi is in the heart of Whitefish next to a bunch of watering holes, had a friend out there a week ago and the restaurants are packed so make time to stand in line or make a reservation at Jagz, Wasabi does not take them.  I would reserve a car right away the last few times I have been over there it has been hit or miss if they have rentals available.  Have fun it's a beautiful area and a fun flight.  

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23 hours ago, TPBO said:

Going to Kalispell for weekend getaway, anyone out that way have suggestions for cool places to stay , good restaurants,

Beautiful place... Glacier national park is must see obviously.  You can also ride mountain bikes downhill at whitefish.  Who Hot is a great Mongolian grill.

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I was out in MT about three weeks ago for an Angel Flight, and also out there about two weeks before that. Be aware that the Gov. issued a fairly stiff “mandatory mask” order and everyone out there is masked and social distanced. At least where I was. Different from the Dakotas where masking and social distancing has been looser, at least up to this point (heard last night that Grand Forks is having a problem, so ND may have changed its policy recently). May still be business closures in effect in MT. Both Glacier Park and the Continental Divide make heavy use of bus services, and the bus policies may have changed. Check before you go.  I was in Billings, not KGPI.

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I fly to Kalispell all the time from Coeur d’Alene.  Grew up in Montana, it’s home.  One of my first trips the FBO at GPI was telling me about this place in whitefish that had world class pie.  Lots of trips later (including one for me to bring pies home for my bday) I can agree.  Best pie I have ever had.  Great breakfast too.  They told me of a couple who flys their citation in from Kansas for pie.  Puts new meaning to the 100 dollar run

http://www.whitefishrestaurant.com

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