On our way to Glacier, we stopped in Missoula. We hoped to catch up with niece Greta Rybus, who is a student at UofM. Our RV stop was Jim and Mary's RV park, and it was a gem! The bathrooms were just like the Ritz Carlton. And, we were just in time for the evening's entertainment in the community center: Almost Willie! Yes, you would have sworn it was the genuine Willie Nelson. There we were, with all the RV folks -- well we were the RV folks -- listening to Almost Willie, played by Tom Bradshaw. What a first night. Pat even got an autographed picture of Almost Willy, along with an introduction to him, his wife, Miss Kitty, and their daughter, Missy Lil.
We caught up with Greta, saw her nice apartment, and had a tour of Missoula, including a dandy lunch at the Iron Gate and a mid afternoon coffee at Greta's favorite coffee bar. Then Greta had to part company with us to meet up with a guy about a mattress. So we were left to use the incredible power of our new GPS, aka Jill, which showed us how to walk back to Greta's house where we had left our new rig, now dubbed Peg, short for Pegasus, our mythologic horse and reliable ride. The GPS has become an indispensable tool, helping us find everything, from routes, to the local food stores.
Next morning, off to Glacier. On the way we detoured to the Big Hole Battle Field, the site of one of the important battles between the U.S. Army and Chief Joseph. It is a very well preserved sight with a visitors center and a well marked trail through the battlefield. They have erected 50 teepees where there had been 90 teepees in the original Nez Perce village. The stark appearance of the teepee poles created a sense of sacred emptiness and is indeed regarded as sacred ground. We were very glad we had made this detour.
On our way to the main highway, we noticed a small group of people stopped along the road and looking up through the smokey sky. We stopped, and there, on the ledge above the road, was a herd of Big Horned Sheep. Perhaps the smoke and fire had sent them to this spot near a river. There were about a dozen of them, including four or five lambs, looking down over the steep rocks towards the river below. Pat took some good shots, in spite of the intense smoke from the nearby fire.
We arrived at Glacier and camped at Fish Creek. We found ourselves in a sacred grove of cedar and pines, a peaceful and quiet spot. That evening we listened to the ranger give a talk about building the Going-To-The Sun highway. What a feat! Begun in 1928 and completed in 1932, most of the road was dynamited out of the solid rock of the mountains, and bridges spanning huge mountain gorges were done in the very stones of the mountain. It was an incredible engineering feat, which, most importantly, required over three hundred workers, several of whom died in the effort. One report was that the turn-over rate was three hundred percent!
One of the very best things about this park is the shuttle service. We never had to move the van once we found our camping spot. We took the shuttle to Apgar Village for Huckleberry ice cream and Huckleberry ice tea and then to McDonald Lake, the largest lake in the park. There we took a short walk, and had a cold drink at the lodge. The Mc Donald Lodge is a delightful spot. The railroad built this lodge in 1914 and it is
a classy, woodsy, comfortable place.
The next day we took the shuttle to Logan Pass. No driving for Jon, so he could enjoy the views. At every turn there is a spectacular sight. At the top we had our lunch with the squirrels begging for a crumb. Then we joined the other visitors on the trail to Hidden Lake. These mountains, carved by the glaciers, are majestic. The glaciers are diminishing and the ranger explained to the crowds the impact of the shrinking glaciers. In short, less water will mean fewer plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain, which will work its way up to the inevitable impact on bears and mountain sheep and goats.
At one turn, on a small wooden foot path bridge stood mother Mountain Goat and her kid. We thought these were illusive critters, but there they were there for all of us to photograph. We were reminded of The Billy Goats Gruff.
We saw more goats on the trip down the highway. The next morning we drove ourselves over the highway to the east park. There we camped among Cottonwoods and Aspen groves. We went to the Many Glaciers area, based on the report of our camp host had shared with us about sighting moose the day before. We hiked a short way to this lake, made our way through brush and reeds. But, alas, no moose yet, though we saw some bear scat! We decided we had nothing better to do than to relax and eat our apples, drank some water and doze a bit and then...there they were: mother moose and two young calves. We watched them for a while and then went back to the trail where we found them again right in front of us and blocking the trail. We did not want to cross between mom and kids, so we waited until they moved on.
Nothing worse then be trammeled to death by moose feet!
A bit down the road is the Glacier Lodge, a Swiss chalet gone wild. Another lodge built by the railroad, it reminded us a bit of the Sun Valley Lodge. We had a glass of wine, watched the ladies playing bridge and pretended we were right where we belonged.
Next morning, we were off across the Montana plains...
We caught up with Greta, saw her nice apartment, and had a tour of Missoula, including a dandy lunch at the Iron Gate and a mid afternoon coffee at Greta's favorite coffee bar. Then Greta had to part company with us to meet up with a guy about a mattress. So we were left to use the incredible power of our new GPS, aka Jill, which showed us how to walk back to Greta's house where we had left our new rig, now dubbed Peg, short for Pegasus, our mythologic horse and reliable ride. The GPS has become an indispensable tool, helping us find everything, from routes, to the local food stores.
Next morning, off to Glacier. On the way we detoured to the Big Hole Battle Field, the site of one of the important battles between the U.S. Army and Chief Joseph. It is a very well preserved sight with a visitors center and a well marked trail through the battlefield. They have erected 50 teepees where there had been 90 teepees in the original Nez Perce village. The stark appearance of the teepee poles created a sense of sacred emptiness and is indeed regarded as sacred ground. We were very glad we had made this detour.
On our way to the main highway, we noticed a small group of people stopped along the road and looking up through the smokey sky. We stopped, and there, on the ledge above the road, was a herd of Big Horned Sheep. Perhaps the smoke and fire had sent them to this spot near a river. There were about a dozen of them, including four or five lambs, looking down over the steep rocks towards the river below. Pat took some good shots, in spite of the intense smoke from the nearby fire.
We arrived at Glacier and camped at Fish Creek. We found ourselves in a sacred grove of cedar and pines, a peaceful and quiet spot. That evening we listened to the ranger give a talk about building the Going-To-The Sun highway. What a feat! Begun in 1928 and completed in 1932, most of the road was dynamited out of the solid rock of the mountains, and bridges spanning huge mountain gorges were done in the very stones of the mountain. It was an incredible engineering feat, which, most importantly, required over three hundred workers, several of whom died in the effort. One report was that the turn-over rate was three hundred percent!
One of the very best things about this park is the shuttle service. We never had to move the van once we found our camping spot. We took the shuttle to Apgar Village for Huckleberry ice cream and Huckleberry ice tea and then to McDonald Lake, the largest lake in the park. There we took a short walk, and had a cold drink at the lodge. The Mc Donald Lodge is a delightful spot. The railroad built this lodge in 1914 and it is
a classy, woodsy, comfortable place.The next day we took the shuttle to Logan Pass. No driving for Jon, so he could enjoy the views. At every turn there is a spectacular sight. At the top we had our lunch with the squirrels begging for a crumb. Then we joined the other visitors on the trail to Hidden Lake. These mountains, carved by the glaciers, are majestic. The glaciers are diminishing and the ranger explained to the crowds the impact of the shrinking glaciers. In short, less water will mean fewer plants and animals at the bottom of the food chain, which will work its way up to the inevitable impact on bears and mountain sheep and goats.
At one turn, on a small wooden foot path bridge stood mother Mountain Goat and her kid. We thought these were illusive critters, but there they were there for all of us to photograph. We were reminded of The Billy Goats Gruff.
We saw more goats on the trip down the highway. The next morning we drove ourselves over the highway to the east park. There we camped among Cottonwoods and Aspen groves. We went to the Many Glaciers area, based on the report of our camp host had shared with us about sighting moose the day before. We hiked a short way to this lake, made our way through brush and reeds. But, alas, no moose yet, though we saw some bear scat! We decided we had nothing better to do than to relax and eat our apples, drank some water and doze a bit and then...there they were: mother moose and two young calves. We watched them for a while and then went back to the trail where we found them again right in front of us and blocking the trail. We did not want to cross between mom and kids, so we waited until they moved on.
Nothing worse then be trammeled to death by moose feet!
A bit down the road is the Glacier Lodge, a Swiss chalet gone wild. Another lodge built by the railroad, it reminded us a bit of the Sun Valley Lodge. We had a glass of wine, watched the ladies playing bridge and pretended we were right where we belonged.
Next morning, we were off across the Montana plains...
1 comment:
Oh boy..those are some familiar grounds you are stomping on. Good ole Montana! I love that state. Now you are in new to me territory. I wish I was with you rather than contemplating the first day of school. Oh well...it is all good and an adventure in its own right. Happy Trails
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