Kayaking in Kintla Lake

Kintla Lake is located in the North Fork area of Glacier National Park. It's definitely more difficult to get to so many people don't take the time to go visit it. However, WE DECIDED IT WAS TIME to make the long drive out that way. It took about an hour and a half to get to Polebridge Mercantile from Whitefish (WHERE WE LIVE NOW) and we stocked up on GF cookies and huckleberry bear claws (contain gluten so I didn't get to partake, but they were supposedly delicious).

After hitting up the mercantile we drove an additional 45 minutes to Kintla Lake. There were beautiful landscapes that look completely different from the other areas of the park. There were homes scattered throughout the drive and we couldn't imagine what it would be like to live this far away from "the world." My husband and father in law dropped us off at Kintla lake with our kayaks and then went to go fly fish.

The water was that classic aqua blue that we've grown accustomed to here in Montana and the wind was super mild at first so the water was glassy! We paddled our way out past the ridge to see what was on the other side but then decided to turn around because the wind had picked up. We crossed the lake to the other side which was pretty challenging due to the wind being so much stronger in the middle of the lake.

After taking a quick break bird watching, we kept going until all of the sudden we heard the dreaded sound that no one in inflatable kayaks wants to hear.... there was a loud pop and the sound of air leaking from my mother in law's kayak. We were still a good ways out so I thought she might need to jump in my kayak, but she insisted on picking up the speed and making it back as the leak at slowed down quite a bit. THANKFULLY, it was just the top chamber of the kayak so she basically just paddle boarded the rest of the way back. Sidenote- we LOVE our Paddle North Kayaks and the customer service team actually ended up replacing the kayak because of the warranty.

Making it back to shore, we ate a quick bite and walked along the lake waiting for the boys to come back to get us. Overall, beautiful views and will definitely be back.