Fargo, ND to Whitefish, MT: Whitefish, MT to Portland, OR
July 1st, 2019
I began my official solo backpacking trip on Monday, July 1st at the lovely hour of 3:24 AM! What on earth possessed me to start my journey so early in the morning? Shouldn’t I be sleeping in every day? NOPE! With backpacking on a budget, you soon learn you travel at the times that fit your adventure as well as budget. I willingly started at such an ungodly hour to ride the Amtrak’s Empire Builder Train to Whitefish, Montana!
Listed as one of the country’s most scenic train routes, I sought out the train option due to the adventure of it, logistics, and of course price!
Why Amtrak?
Let’s start with the price. At only $109 for a one-way ticket from Fargo, ND to Whitefish, MT, the price couldn’t be beaten. I could have purchased the ticket cheaper at $78. However, procrastination on my end caused me to have to pay the slightly higher price. So my suggestion is to buy ASAP! Like airline tickets, the more you look and the longer you wait to buy, the more the prices jump up!
But Andrea, why not just fly or drive?
Well here comes the logistics of it. Flying would be faster, but also more expensive and not direct. Paying so much for an airline ticket doesn’t fit well in a backpacker’s budget. As a solo traveler, it is also difficult and pricey to be driving everywhere in a rental car. With no one to share the driving duties, costs, and provide some company; this option just wasn’t feasible. The drive would be 3 hours shorter than the train but would be exhausting mentally and physically. And as a solo female traveler, safety is always at the forefront of my mind and driving that far alone….a lot could go wrong. So that left me with the best option of taking the train at 3:24 AM!
A special shout out to my uncle Steve for getting up early on a Monday morning to bring me to the train station!
Off I Go!
When I arrived at the Fargo Amtrak Train Station, I was slightly surprised by the number of people there waiting! Considering the mode of transport, location, and time of day, I did not expect 30-40 people waiting to take the train as well! It must be getting more popular!
The train was slightly delayed getting into the station at 3:35 AM. The train originates in Chicago and ends in either Seattle, WA or Portland OR (train splits in Spokane, WA). Since I was not embarking at the initial stop, a delayed start was unavoidable. (Something to note: Cargo trains have precedence over passenger trains on the tracks. So the train often needs to switch tracks and wait for a cargo train to pass).
Since the train I was taking split in Spokane, Washington, I had to listen carefully to the conductor on which car(s) I could board. I was directed to the coach car directly behind the dining car. On the lower level are the toilets and additional luggage storage. The upper level holds the coach class seats, which was fine by me because that meant a better view! I lucked out and had a set of seats to myself, despite the conductor saying it was a full train (clearly a fib to make sure people didn’t take up too much space!).
Best Seats Ever!
The best thing about taking the train versus airplane is that the train seats have so much leg room! At 5’4”, I could extend my legs straight out and not touch the seat in front of me (as long as those in front of me did not recline).
Another nice feature about the train seats is that they recline further than airplane seats. They also have a leg shelf that flips up so you can lounge and gives you optimal ability to recline and relax. Now, this is separate from the standard footrest attached to the back of the seat in front of you. With having the two seats to myself, I was able to flip up both leg shelves (I’m sure they have a better technical term, but a shelf is the best I could come up with to describe it), and sit at a diagonal comfortably when the train mates in front of me reclined.
After catching a few more Zzz’s in the spacious seats, I woke up to a beautiful sunrise over the North Dakota Prairie. A stunning sunrise to symbolize the beginning of a new day, and a new life.
Stops Along the Way
The train makes many stops along the way, some uninteresting, some unique, and somewhere you can disembark and stretch your legs. The most interesting stop was in Rugby, North Dakota. For those of you that do not know, Rugby, ND is the geographical center of North America!! Pretty neat right?! Unfortunately, we could not get off at this stop. Also,the official center of North America marker is located in the southern part of the town, while the station is at the northern part.
My favorite stop that we could disembark at was a little further on at Minot, North Dakota. The station was so historical and quaint! Many passengers crossed the road to a small café shed to grab some hot beverages and breakfast. I did not join them and instead walked 4 lengths of the train to stretch my legs!
Along the route I took, the conductors allowed passengers to disembark at Minot, ND, Havre, MT, and Shelby, MT. It gave everyone a moment to stretch their legs and/or take a cigarette break. I got off at Minot and momentarily in Havre. In Havre, they shortened our stop there to make up some time as we were close to an hour behind schedule!
Meals on Amtrak
I ended up having Amtrak’s breakfast, lunch, and dinner options while onboard.
The thing I loved about eating in the dining car was meeting some of the other travelers on the train! Since seating is limited on the train, they fill all four spots at the table, regardless if you are traveling together or not. How they arrange seating is to ask how many are in your dining party and fill the table accordingly. For example, they will sit a party of two, then find another party of two, or two singles to dine with them.
Breakfast
For breakfast, I had the Amtrak Signature Buttermilk Pancake Trio, which was okay. They tasted slightly better than Bisquik batter pancakes, but unfortunately had the texture of McDonald’s microwaved hotcakes. Not worth the $10.50.
At breakfast, I sat with a nice couple from Gainesville, FL and a gentleman from Brooklyn, NY, but originally from Connecticut. The couple from Gainesville was also traveling to Whitefish to visit Glacier National Park. And the gentleman was a train enthusiast traveling to Seattle, WA to check off his last state to visit! He took the train to visit all of the lower 48 states, and of course, had to fly to Hawaii and Alaska. Quite the feat to accomplish primarily by train!
Lunch
At lunchtime, I returned to the dining car and had the Romaine and Goat Cheese Salad. It was very delicious and was right up my alley as I pretty much had a goat cheese salad every day at work for 4 years!
Although the food was delicious, the absolute best part about lunch was who I met at my table. I was seated with a lovely older couple and an elderly gentleman. Both parties were on the same group trip to Glacier National Park through the University of Minnesota (I believe, or maybe a senior center?).
Anyways, the best part of our conversation was when we were all saying where we are from. They all, of course, said how they are from Minneapolis, Minnesota, and when I told them I am from Massachusetts, the woman gasps and said: “Oh really what part?”. I replied with Western Massachusetts as most people don’t know anywhere in the state besides Boston. She gasped again and asked “What town?!” I told her and she said “NO WAY!! I grew up in the rival town next to you before moving to Minnesota!” What a small world!
These are the moments that I love about travel. You just never know who you are going to meet along the way! We ended up having the longest and loveliest conversation about Western Mass and a heart to heart about life in general. Betty and Bob were the sweetest, and even came and found me on the train to say goodbye and wish me luck in my future travels.
Dinner
For dinner, reservations were required to dine in the dining car. A waiter started going down the train taking down reservations(starting in the sleeper cars – meals are included for those in sleeper cars so, therefore, get priority for reservations). Once all the time slots were filled up, he put everyone else interested on a waiting list. They did explain though that if you ended up being too hungry to wait for your name to be called, you could order a “To-Go” meal by pulling the yellow button above you . Reservations started at 5 pm, and by 6:30 pm I was too hungry so ordered a “To-Go” meal. And of course, they ended up calling my name right when I finished my meal!
Hands down the best meal on the train was the meal I had for dinner. I ordered the Amtrak Signature Steak. A bit pricey at $25, but so worth it! Very tender and I was able to cut through it with just the plastic knife provided!
After dinner, the train was making its way across the plains of Montana and started approaching closer to Glacier National Park. In the distance, you could see the giant mountains rising in complete contrast to the flat topography in the East. Quite an awe-inspiring sight to see!
Beautiful Glacier National Park
After a stop at East Glacier, MT, the train made its winding way into the park. The train hugged the side of towering mountains, traveled through avalanche protection tunnels, and followed along the path of pristine blue rivers. If you are planning to take the train through Glacier, I recommend for the first 2/3rd of the journey to sit on the left-hand side. You will see more views on the left versus the right. Towards the end, the train switches to the other side of the river and the right side can see some spectacular views.
The train finally arrived in Whitefish, MT around 9:45 pm, about an hour after the expected 8:55 pm arrival. After locating my rental car, I was off to Columbia Falls, MT, about 20 minutes away, to crash at my AirBnB!
*If renting a car at the Whitefish Amtrak Station. Something to note is that the only car rental counter there is for Hertz. Other rental car companies only have lockboxes. Just so no one else reading this post for tips, wanders around the station frantically like me trying to find out where to pick up the rental car! I went through Budget, and I had to call the number provided above the lockbox, finish registering over the phone, then was provided the combination to open the box. Inside was my contract and car keys waiting in a labeled envelope.
** I will not be doing a post about the train ride I took from Whitefish, MT to Portland, OR. The cost was $78.00, which is a great deal seeing as it was a combination of accommodation and transportation! It was an overnight train, 9:14 pm departure, 10:10 am arrival, so not much to note as I mostly slept and it was dark outside! The train arrived in Whitefish only 10 minutes late and arrived in Portland 5 minutes late at 10:15 am. I will note once it was light outside, it is best if you sit on the left side of the train as it follows along a river and there is an awesome view of Mount Hood!
