Leavenworth to Whitefish
This next portion of the Empire Builder route was overnight, departing Leavenworth, Washington at 8pm and arriving in Whitefish, Montana around 7.30am the following morning. Shortly after Leavenworth, the train passed through Wenatchee which my guide book describes as one of the apple capitals of the world.
There was some excitement when the train arrived in Spokane, Washington around 1am. Prior to Spokane, there are two east-bound Empire Builder trains, one departing Seattle and the other Portland. Upon reaching Spokane, the trains are joined together. This process, which involved some loud noises and mild shaking of my train carriage, reminded me of the long bogie exchange process that occurred in the early hours of the morning at the Chinese-Mongolian border on the Trans-Siberian Railway. Fortunately, the middle of the night excitement on the Empire Builder was a few hours quicker than my Trans-Siberian experience. Departing Spokane, the newly merged Empire Builder crossed Idaho in the darkness. I awoke the next morning in Western Montana. The pictures below show the view.
Whitefish
Whitefish is situated in Montana’s northern Rocky Mountains. It was a pleasant but quiet town which was only capable of holding my interest for half a day. After wandering around the centre of town, I visited Whitefish’s City Beach, before enjoying a nice lunch at the Buffalo Cafe. While there, I witnessed a kind man pay for an elderly stranger’s lunch. The old man was overwhelmed and did not seem to understand that he did not have to pay for his meal. As I was soon to discover (please refer to my next blog post), this was not an isolated act of kindness, but something which is apparently common amongst Montana folk.
