We've had Jeeps for a few years with an 87 Wrangler YJ, 06 Commander WK and now a 14 Wrangler JK. The one thing that is consistent between them is the fun.
The Jeep Evolution
The JK was picked up by us just before our trip to Glacier National Park. We had originally planned on going to Eureka CA, but because of the fires and smoke, changed our plans, about a week and a half before leaving. Luckily we were able to get an RV spot just outside of Columbia Falls, MT. Did we go straight into Glacier NP like a good tourist when we arrived? No, it was Labor Day Weekend and we aren't crazy enough to be in those crowds. Instead a trip away from the masses into the Flathead National Forest seemed like a better plan.
Overlooking the Flathead National Forest
We thought this would be a good time to do our first Jeep Badge of Honor Trail. The Badge of Honor trails are different trails, throughout the US, designed to test your Jeep in different ways. Some include rock climbing, others forest trails, and even long endurance rides. They are rated in difficulty from 1-10 and can vary based on what level of skill challenges you choose to do on them as bypasses sometimes are available. If you check in and do the trail, Jeep will even send you a badge of accomplishment to put on your Jeep.
The trail for the area around Glacier NP was called the Blacktail Wild Bill Trail, rated at a 5-9 difficulty. There were mud zones, lots of descent/climbing combos and even a playground, all along the sides of the trail. Being new to the JK, we took it easy and over a few hours probably did about 1/4 of the skills available. It was really fun, we learned new skills, trust in our Jeep and got our first badge.
The pictures really don't do justice to what we rode through. In the first picture below, my eyes were level with the ground when I was at the bottom of the hole. There wasn't anything I would classify as dangerous, but many places you could get stuck here. By end of day I'd say we accomplished a rating of 6-7 on the trail.
After a wonderful day of mountain driving bliss, we decided to spend the rest of the afternoon circling Flathead Lake, which is enormous! And beautiful too. To end the day off we stopped at a local distillery, had a tasting of their fine offerings, with the place to ourselves, and then headed home to the RV.
Whistling Andy Distillery, Big Fork, MT
Up next, our adventurers take on Glacier National Park.
Comments