Does anyone have any experience with flying out of Calgary after finishing in Waterton?
This seems to be fairly straightforward compared to all the hassles of getting to Kalispell or any other airport…
freebird
Waterton to Calgary
system
#2
I’m not sure about the cost of flights from Canada vs. Montana. You could hitch to Pincher Creek, about 50 miles from Waterton, and pick up a Grayhound bus to Calgary. There is no bus to Waterton. It’s about a two hour bus ride from Calgary to Pincher Creek.
If you finish in Glacier, you can take the park shuttle to East Glacier, then Amtrak to either Kalispell or Spokane to catch a plane. Or rent a car and drive to Butte or Helena.
G.
system
#3
I’ve gone into Waterton twice to start hikes (GDT 04 and CDT 05) after flying into Calgary. I’ve got friends that live there, which made transit easy. There is a Greyhound to Pincher and then you can either hitch or try a shuttle bus. There was one running for park employees that agreed to give me a lift (I didn’t use it, though). I don’t remember where I got the info, sorry.
Suge
system
#4
I can’t speak for the Calgary route, but as long as park shuttles are still running when you finish and you’re able to get down to East Glacier you can easily find transportation to an airport, either by train or renting a car.
Kalispell is the closest airport, and you can rent a car in East Glacier to get there. Great Falls might be another option, about half hour longer in drive time, but I wouldn’t bother driving anywhere else in the state. Fares are pretty similar throughout Montana, so you won’t save anything by driving farther to somewhere like Helena.
Amtrak does have a station in East Glacier, but the train doesn’t go through Kalispell. It stops in Whitefish, about fifteen miles north. From there you can take a cab to the Kalispell airport for about twenty dollars. There’s also a local bus line running from Whitefish to Kalispell, but kind of an upstart program with only a couple of runs a day, and I don’t know if they go out to the airport.
Whitefish is a great town (obligatory plug) but if you take Amtrak, you might be better off just riding it to Spokane. They have a larger airport and it seems you can find cheaper fares flying from there rather than Kalispell. Along those lines, you could also take Amtrak to Seattle, but there lies finding the balance between train ticket cost, airfare, personal time and how anxious you are to get home.
If by chance I am in the area next fall I will make efforts to assist hikers in getting to Kalispell, notifying NOBO’s via trailjournals or posting messages in East Glacier with my contact info. However, I hope to be in northern New Mexico around that time on a SOBO hike of my own. Hope to see you out there!
Gesh