A very cool 36 hours in Woodbury CT. Not sure where I saw information about Hogpen Hill Farm, but it got my attention so we made a plan. The Farm is only open 2 months a year and only Fr-Sa-Su. Our plan, a Thursday night stay in the 1754 Inn and Restaurant, and tickets for Friday admission.
We drove up via the Sawmill Pkwy, always pretty and especially as the leaves are changing color. Lunch at New Market in Woodbury, some antiquing (unbeknownst to us we were on the the CT Antique Trail). Note here: if we are new to hiking and adventuring, we are definitely neophytes to antiquing! Hence we ended up with 2 crystal and very pretty beer glasses, a Thanksgiving turkey salt/pepper shaker set, a pork pie hat, and a rusted bath towel hook for the bathroom. Nothing gets by we two brilliant shoppers.
Dinner at the Inn, low light very innish, good dinner.
Woke up early, ate at West Egg, drove on to Hogpen and figured we’d wait for the gates to open. They let us in early which was super cool. We had the farm to ourselves for a bit. Both of us blown away by the structures, the engineering, the creativity, the artistry.
And per the artist, Edwards Tufte, “Old words deform new seeing, so go and see as only you can.”
Just a few of the amazing structures on this 235 acre farm.
Drive home included lunch at a GREAT British pub in Mt Cisco, NY. The Ambleside, highly recommend.
Apgar Village – very serene at 5:32AM, prime location for sunsets not the sunrise we planned for…oops, on we go
First hike, first friend!! West Glacier
From the Trail of the Cedars to Avalanche Lake – for hiking newbies, heck for most anyone this was pretty darn pretty!!
Worth noting and contemplating
One of them there oldie goldies… oh I mean the fallen tree trunks
A really wonderful first morning in Glacier National Park…
A little drive time up and over the old Continental Divide!
I scoffed at bear guidance and bear spray rental.. who are these rubes to buy into this scare tactic?? In just a day or so I would be proved very wrong..
More friends along Logan Pass Trail and yes that is snow still apparent in July. Also note, hike shortened due to increased bear presence. Okay okay maybe these park rangers know better than me!!
Up since 4:30Am, time to sample the many many huckleberry offerings, attempt to dry out the hiking boots, cool off the feet! And check into tonight’s “inn”: Swift Current Motor Inn and Cabins. A note here, staying in the park is not for weak of pocketbook, similarly eating in the park is kind of like Disney World, made for the masses. It’s a good thing there are not a lot of Sysco food trucks hauling things up and down the beautiful Going to The Sun Highway. That said, don’t have an expectation of eating duck l’orange. We probably should have grabbed a jar of pb and some bread, but we didn’t know. And if that is our worst problem for a few days… yeehaw. On the flip side, there are water stations everywhere and everyone is carrying some variation of a canteen. Plastic is not the go to.
I did not take any pictures of Swift Motor Inn but it was pretty classic long single floor, diner / shop / check in – cabins in the back. We had a perfectly functional cabin, shower worked, towel was clean, bed was fine. Time to call it a day. Enough said.
Ahhhh so this is where you find the sunrise… Up and out early, we drove over Many Glacier Hotel before starting our day It was pretty darn spectacular watching the sunlight cross the “many glaciers”.
Today’s hike (Monday 7/20/26) was an unplanned divide and conquer. And I’m still unclear which trails we took even after looking at the maps (don’t count on me if we get lost!). We started out on a trail right behind Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, climbed quickly, blue sky, beautiful wildflowers, walked past a waterfall and then it got a bit dicey. The mister does not do ledges, not so much fear of heights but any sort of ledges. I wanted to see Iceberg Lake… and that included trails that were on the “ledgey” side. Knowing we would not be alone and find fellow hikers along the way, we divided to conquer.
For me the hike towards Iceberg Lake was stunning and the lake itself, otherworldly. Not sure what I expected but was blown away upon arrival. One minute I was amidst wildflowers and marmot, and the next…
Needless to say it was pretty darn trippy.
And the way back equally story worthy though no camera confirmation. Along the trail, no more than 50 feet ahead of me a mother bear and a young playful cub. There were 6 of us stopped in our tracks. The wild card for me, hah, beyond seeing them, was the playful cub. He kept running back and forth across the trail, I wanted him to listen to his mother and get into the brush!! Anyway, not often I see icebergs and bears in one day! Thank you glorious Glacier National Park.
Great day, we finished with more huckleberry things and checked into Many Glacier Hotel. Are we in the Alps??? Hotel has a very cool history, worth a read up if you are so inclined. Dinner and drinks at the hotel and a real savor of the things we saw in this beautiful park.
One last walk around the easy trail at Many Glacier Hotel before leaving the park. We were sad to go.
On to Whitefish, Montana – cutie pie town. We showered shaved slapped on our aqua velva. Had a fun walk through town, great dinner, cannot remember the name (bad blogger, bad!). And the next morning one last hike before switching gears to wedding mode.
The mister showing his bravery and true love of heights!
And the Overlook loving him back!
Time to savor these amazing memories…and give our shoes a chance to dry!
