The long way home…

Well folks…  we’re home in Florida now, and it’s time to do one last update of the blog.

After 9,928 miles I have finally reset my trip odometer.  We took the long way home from Montana, taking 94 through North Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, the UP of Michigan, down through MIchigan to Ohio, where we stopped for 7 days to visit Joyce’s parents and other relatives.

We decided to stay in the higher latitudes rather than drive through the storm belt of the mid-west with all the heat and thunderstorms they were having at the tie.  Also.. we’d never been to those states, and the weather was cooler at night.  We stayed in Wal-Mart parking lots twice on the way home saving some money, and making our grocery shopping and early get-aways easy.  We might not have been able to do that in the heat of the mid-west.  

We stopped one night after making a 64 miles detour to the “Enchanted Highway” in N. Dakota.  The folks of a small town had gotten together with their high school shop teacher and created enormous metal sculptures that towered over the road.  They were positioned every five miles or so along a two lane blacktop that ran south from I-94 for 32 miles.  Here are a couple of the sculptures that we saw along the way:

Yes, you can see Joyce standing next to the hugh grasshopper.  These things could be seen from the road from 3 or 4 miles away.  Very enchanting to say the least!  We thought we could stay in the “campground” in the tour book that is in the little town responsible for the sculptures, but it wasn’t much, just a grass field with electrical hookups that were quite rusty, so we drove back to the interstate and went west for 11 miles to a really nice campsite that was even less money!

I can’t tell you too much about the scenery along the northern highway except that there was a whole lot of wheat being harvested, and fields and fields of sunflowers and hay.

We made a stop somewhere along the way at a Scheel’s sporting goods store, advertised as the largest indoor sporting goods mall.  It was!

We even had dinner in this place!  The top floor was gear for every sport you can imagine, and the lower floor was apparel for the same sports.  The display of hunting trophies was very impressive.   But we had to move on!  

Deluth Minnesota is the gateway to the great lakes, and an inland seaport.  Arriving by interstate, you can stop at the information center overlooking the city and enjoy a view for miles:

Finding our way across Minnesota, and Wisconsin at their very northern edge, catching sight of Lake Superior occasionally, took the next two days until we crossed into the UP of Michigan.  There we stopped a few times in dip our feet into the two largest great lakes, Superior and then later in the same day, Michigan on our way to the bridge to the main part of Michigan.

The first photo above is Joyce by Lake Superior and the second is her by Lake Michigan.

Here I am at the farthest north point of Lake Michigan:

Man… I need to get back in the gym! 

Here’s a shot of the famous Mackinac Bridge.

The next two days took us to within a few hundred miles of Columbus Ohio, near where Joyce’s relatives all live.  I won’t bother with family stuff, except to say that we had a great stay at the Dear Creek State Park, and visited with all our favorite relatives!

The trip back to Florida was made interesting by the movements of TS Fay, who decided to move back toward the NE and Georgia just as we were going through that long flat state.  We were lucky to only see a few bands of clouds and a bit of rain, however.  Lots of folks in our home state of Florida weren’t so lucky.

Seven Weeks and  9928 miles later, what was learned?

You can actually tour the US at between 55 and 62 mph.  Regardless of the speed limits.  Sure, we stayed in the right lane for the most part.  There is PLENTY of room on the interstate highways out west for people who want to go faster.  The speed limits out there are mostly 75MPH. They do that, and more!  But it isn’t a requirement.  You ARE allowed to go slower, see more, save fuel (and money) and enjoy the ride at a more relaxed pace.  We were passed by many, but saw much.  Here’s one last shot to show you that we indeed were not trying to set any speed records.

That’s right… passed on I-94 by a Smart-for-Two!  He was doing his probably top speed of 75 MPH!

We just laughed out loud when he went by!  And look at all that traffic!!

 

Thanks for following along with our journey!

 We’ll catch up with you on our next trip!  Any suggestions??

 

Ron and Joyce

West Yellowstone Rodeos and Ghost Towns…

It’s Sunday, August 10th, and we’re at the Yellowstone Holiday Lakeside Resort on Hebgen Lake.  Hebgen Lake is a mountain lake NW of W. Yellowstone by about 10 miles.  The campground is very nice and fairly priced at $37/night.  The view is spectacular, and there are even a few sailboats on the lake.  Small cabins even have their own docks right at the water’s edge.  Joyce and I rented a small skiff this morning and took it out.  There was a bit of fog still around but the sun began to peek through as we motored across the lake.

A few days before we’d discovered this place on a drive to Virginia City west of here along the same road.  Virginia City was once the Territorial Capitol of Montana and a real Old West town.  Today it is being restored and some of the shops are like museums, while others are working tourist shops with items from the Olde West that you can purchase, like clothing, and food items, and a working saloon.

It was great fun imagining the characters who lived, died and were buried at the top of Boot Hill (really still there).  On the way back we were caught in a terrific thunderstorm that blew out of the SW and almost took us off the road!  

Back in West Yellowstone, we noticed that there was a lot of attention devoted to snow removal vehicles and snow traveling devices.  That’s when we found out that they usually have 5 feet of snow on the ground by Christmas!  Actually W. Yellowstone is one of the main ways to get into YNP in the winter.. by snowmobile and by snow coaches.  Here are a few photos:

Joyce thinks that West Yellowstone has TWO tourist seasons… summer AND winter.  I think she’s right.  The guy who changed my oil told me a bit about the snow coaches.  The little straps on the back hold cross country skis, and they are putting more powerful engines into them so they can go about 60 mph. 

Here’s a photo of my Chiropractor, Kyle and his West Yellowstone Neck and back Clinic.  Note the Cougar that he shot with a bow after chasing him through chest high snow for six miles!  What a guy, and a hell of a chiropractor.  Thanks Kyle!

We did the tourist thing in town too, before coming out to Hebgen Lake.  Some of the shops go back to the opening of the national park including the Madison Hotel… here’s a few shots of it:

The other cool thing about W. Yellowstone is their Driftboats.  Driftboats are modified dories that are all set up for a guide to steer through the rapids of the local rivers while the “dude” casts his fly rod for trout.  They are very developed and specialized craft.  Here are a couple that weren’t being used at the time:

Note the extreme rocker for maneuverability.

We found one other cool accessory that could be VERY useful in Florida Bay when trying to drag a boat through the muck:

Didn’t buy them though.

We also took our last long drive through the northern part of the park itself, around the Grand Loop Road to Mammoth Hot Springs and Teddy Roosevelt Lodges.  The park headquarters is at Mammoth Hot Springs, and the old US Army Calvary Barracks (they used to run the park before there was a park service!) is still there and being used for Park Service employees.  We stopped at Tower Falls, and to photograph a pair of bull elks.

That evening we went to the West Yellowstone Rodeo outside of town.  It’s a small Rodeo, as Rodeos go, but they had all the vital engredients!  Here are a few shots and videos…(scroll down).

Now that we’ve had a few (13) days of rest around Yellowstone Wyoming, we’re heading east tomorrow.  We’ve decided to take 94 through Montana, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Upper Michigan and then down to Ohio to see Joyce’s Parents.  It’s a route we’ve never taken, and should be cooler than driving through the corn belt.

Stay tuned!!

 

Ron and Joyce Hoddinott

Bison, Bears and Backaches

Today is Wednesday August 6th,

And the start of our second month on the road.  We’re in West Yellowstone (town) today in Montana, and will be here until Saturday.  Our visit to Yellowstone National Park started last Thursday when we booked four nights in the Grant Village campground near Yellowstone Lake in the park.  There were no facilities, so we depended on our new 12 volt gp 24 deep cycle battery for lights and to run the water pump.  We did manage to get through 4 nights, but we had to be very careful, using only one overhead light at a time.  I used my head lamp from the Watertribe’s Everglades Challenge to read by at night.  We had some nice campfires, made “Smores” and burned marshmellows… just like you’re supposed to when camping.

During the days we drove around the park, and watched for animals.  We got off the main road on our way to the marina of the lake and saw a black bear.  He had a collar on, and Joyce got a good shot of him before a ranger, who just happened to be coming the other way on a very deserted back road, blew her siren and scared him/her off into the bush.  Here’s a shot:

We haven’t seen a moose (here) but we saw a LOT of bison in the Hayden Valley.

Here’s a You Tube video of the bison on the road to Canyon Village:

 

That was when the bison came around the car and tried to stick his nose into Joyce’s open window!

The rainbow is from Butte Montana.. where we were right before we left for Yellowstone.  You a can see how hard the wind is blowing by looking at the trees!  The next day I twisted my back out of shape getting the camper ready to roll, and bull headed as I am, I left on a 5 hour drive anyway.  When we got to Yellowstone I couldn’t stand up straight, and further put up with it for four days until we were at Old Faithful, and I checked into the National Park Clinic.  They gave me the number of a Chiropractor who’s office is in West Yellowstone, so we drove down to see him, and we’ve been here since then.

Here’s another video of the bison in Yellowstone.. right by our car.

Anyway… to get on with the story… we got to the Canyon area and took some photos and videos of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, and the great waterfalls there:

 

Note my posture.  I think I’m standing up straight!  After two sessions at the Chiropractor, who by the way is about my size and chases mountain lions through the snow to shoot them with a bow and arrow ( whole skin and head is on his wall), I can now stand up straight and walk without pain again.  The geyser in the photo above is the Great Fountain Geyser which we saw on the first day (Monday) in Yellowstone on our way to the campground.  

On another day in Yellowstone we visited the Old Faithful Lodge, and took a tour of the place.  Built in 1905 for the rich who came here by stage coach from Bozeman MT it is built entirely of lodgepole pine and local stone.  It’s quite a place and you can still get a room there, but the bathroom is “down the hall” as it was in 1905!

After the tour we went out on the big balcony over the driveway to watch our second eruption of the Old Faithful Geyser…

So… here we are now, in West Yellowstone at a little campground mainly used by “work campers” who come here for the season to work in the shops in the town.  It’s VERY quiet compared to the National Park campground where generators were constantly running (except at night) and hoards of screaming and yes even crying babies broke the silence of nature on a regular schedule.  And we have fantastic WI-FI here, so I’m able to upload videos and update the blog.

Last night we went out to the local Pizza emporium and had a huge pizza and a beer. This was our first dinner out since we left home, and it tasted great.  Lunch today was left over pizza!

We’re here until Saturday morning, and may take in a rodeo on Thursday (tomorrow) night.  On Saturday we’ll most likely head south to the Tetons.

 

Ron and Joyce.

Banff and Lake Louise

Lake Louise is always on everyone’s Must See list, but actually the closer we got the less we liked it.  It was like coming back to civilization after the week we’d had in Jasper NP.  Traffic got thick, and buses shuttled people around.  Suddenly it was hard to find a parking space if you weren’t first in line!

 

We drove right to the lake, where there is a huge Fairmont hotel and it is quite special looking, mainly for its location at the end of a Lake Louise.  Inside there was every kind of amenity – delis, bakerys, health spas, internet cafe, etc.  It was like being on a well grounded cruise ship.  We grabbed a coffee from the deli ($3 each) and then headed up the path to the other end of the lake.  I really didn’t know how far a walk it was.  At the other end of the lake is a valley with a galcier in between two mountains.  That’s the other part of the great hotel setting.  If you are at one end of the lake you see the glacier… or if you’re at the other end you see the fabulous hotel Lake Louise.  You can guess which one impressed me more I bet.

The walk was fairly flat, but turned out to be about 2 miles to the headwaters of the lake where glacier melt ice poured itself and all the silt it could hold into the lake.  Along the way we saw two groups of rock climbers taking on the sheer vertical cliffs off to the right side of the trail.  The trail continued up into the mountains for miles, stopping along the way at a “tea house” where you could stop for some refreshment before continuing on to your chalet.  But we were happy to be able to make the 4 some miles back to the hotel area after taking a few shots of the hotel from the headwaters of the lake. Back in the truck we decided that Lake Louise was all we needed to see of Banff and we’d had enough “Town Sites” with their trinket stores and coffee shops.  We’re spending more on fuel this trip, so there will be less junk brought home to sit on shelves.  Just photos and memories.. and an occasional tee shirt.  You can always use a tee shirt in Florida!

Back on the road we left 93 and headed down into  British Columbia to return to the states on the west side of the Canadian Rockies.  Along the way we saw two groups of Big Horn Sheep.  The first group were ewes and there young, and the second group was a group of rams.  

We didn’t know where we were going to camp, but kept an eye out along the way.  The first place we stopped sounded good, but when we turned into it and over the hill, it looked really seedy and there were no hook-ups, so we continued on.  After another hour or so of driving we found a nice motel/campground along a river and were lucky enough to get the “last spot” available!  It was a great campsite, and the showers were very good as well.  That night we lit  a campfire outside and stayed out until it burned down and it was too cold to stay out there. 

Next day we returned to the US and drove all the way to Butte Montana, a 10 hour drive !  

In Butte we did laundry, went shopping at a Wal-Mart, had a loose hub nut tightened, and did a general cleaning up to get ready for Yellowstone National Park!

 

Ron and Joyce

Hot Springs and Glaciers!

July 26-27th 2008 ( I think..)

We’ve had a amazing few days!  We spend an extra day in the Hinton/Jasper KOA to try out the Miette Hot Springs and walked on a Glacier at the Columbia Icefields!

The hot springs were a few kilometers up Miette Road in Jasper NP, so it wasn’t too far to drive one afternoon, after taking it easy around the camp.  With a senior discount it was only 5.20 each to enter the Hot Springs, and we could stay as long as we liked.  Four different sources of water are piped in from the surrounding mountain natural hot springs, and blended to creat four pools from 105 degrees down to a cold 72 degrees.  The one we liked was 101 degrees.  You could stay in it longer than the really really hot one.The mountain surroundings were spectacular and we stayed about an hour, soaking up the heat from the water and relaxing.  It was hard to believe that we could be enjoying such a soak in a land surrounded by glaciers.

And speaking of Glaciers!  If you want to see glaciers by the dozens, you should definately drive the Columbia Icefields Parkway from Jasper NP to Lake Louise, in Banff National Park!

The next day we headed down that world renowned roadway, and were struck by the number of hanging,  and valley glaciers that were visible from the pull outs along the road.  

 

When we got to the “Columbia Icefields Visitor Center”  The Athabasca Glacier was right across the road, and we discovered that it covers 124 square miles and drains into three ocean, the Artic, the Pacific and the  Atlantic!  

 

The park offers tours of the glacier by enormous 6 wheeled bus-like ATV’s that carry 50 passengers each.  For only $35 you too can walk on a glacier!  Let me just say that I was glad I’d brought along my Alaska coat!  We put on our long johns that day, and left them on!  Temperatures up in the icefields are always just above freezing and it was raining part of the time!

We’re standing on the huge Athabaska Glacier with another Cirque glacier in the mountain behind us!  The tour guide took this one!  Needless to say, you can really get a feel for how awesome a glacier is when you take this two hour tour!  Be careful!  Walking on thousands of year old ice is dangerous and slippery!  

I added the photo above with three of the Glacier Crawers on it to give you a feeling of the awesome size of the glacier!  

We considered staying in the parking lot of the Icefields Visitor Center overnight, which is allowed, but the park rangers told us that with a rig our size we’d be able to find a space in the park campgrounds without any trouble down the highway.  We located the campground after an hours drive down the parkway and after cruising through the campground did manage to find a spot for our little trailer.  And it was large and flat enough that we didn’t have to unhook for the night.

  No hookups of any kind meant that we had to conserve our battery use, but there was no problem.  We had homemade soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for diner and turned in eary covered up with every blanket we had.  I got up in the morning and turned on the heater to warm up the camper before Joyce woke up.

Here’s a “wanted poster” for a bear who likes to frequent the campground where we camped!

The next morning we drove toward Lake Louise in Banff National Park – another “Must See” on our list of spots to check out.

 

 

 

Lake Louse – Banff National Park.

Elk, Coyotes, Mountains and Glaciers…

 

Friday, 7/25/08

Here’s a photo of the black bear we saw a few days ago in Waterton Lakes NP.  Just downloaded it last night from Joyce’s camera! You can see more details in the full sized photos!

 

Last night I extended our stay here at the Jasper/Hinton KOA, the only KOA in Alberta, and as the owner says, the last one until you reach Alaska!  In fact highway 40 near here has a sign that says… “The scenic route to Alaska.”  Several campers have told us we really should drive toward the Pacific coast and a little bit north to the edge of SE Alaska and canada.  Apparently there is a spot there where you can watch the grizzlies fish in the rivers for salmon this time of year.  Only problem is the distance.. It’s mostly west, and a little north but it’s over a 1000 additional miles!

We did so much yesterday, and had so many things to do around camp today, that we needed one more day here in Jasper Alberta before heading south down the Icefields Parkway toward Lake Louise and Banff.  Joyce took a shower and did the laundry this morning, while I cleaned the camper, straightened out our gear, and emptied the grey water tank.  Then we drove into Hinton to browse the aisles of Wal-Mart for stuff we might need, and then went grocery shopping for the next week.  We’re pretty well stocked now.

While working on the camper I found a nick on the side wall of one of the trailer tires and vaguely remember hitting the side of a big rock in some campground or another, but it was way back, and if the tire hasn’t blown out by now, it’s most likely OK.  I’m planning on replacing all of the tires when we get back.

 

We’re taking it easy around camp today, but yesterday we were up early and out exploring.  We drove into Jasper National Park, through and around gray, brown and black rocky mountains and then up towards some of the highest mountains in Canada.  Jasper Towncentre is mostly a small mountain town of 5000 that hosts an additional 15,000 during the peak of the season… right about now.  Restaurants, hotels, shops of all types go on for blocks.  We parked and one end and walked the entire town, taking in the local history museum where they were featuring a display called “Bears in the Alley,” in which grizzly bears, and black bear encounters with the local population were showcased.  At one time they folks here had the same kind of problems with black bears that we had in the Smokey Mountains back in the 30′s through 50′s before proper bear control was instituted.  We did our share of cruising through the gift shops, and I did find one really good deal on a $10 tee-shirt, but Joyce was better and only picked up a few postcards.

 

 After walking my feet off we hopped in the truck and drove to the base of a mountain near town where you could ride a cable car up to the top, or almost the top.  You had to walk/climb the remaining 1/2 mile, almost straight up.  The view from up there was supposed to be worth the $25 each that they charged to haul you up and back.  We bit on this one, being very fond of long views.  There was a restaurant at the top, and a couple of observation decks.  It was a clear day with a few puffy clouds.  At the top we needed our jackets, even when climbing the half mile to the top (we almost made it). From where we stopped, we could see Mt. Robson, the highest mountain in the Canadian Rockies (pictured above).  It was sometimes obscured by clouds, but mostly we had a great view of the entire Canadian Rockies.

I thought we were done climbing or hiking for the day, but we talked to a local Albertian, who said we couldn’t miss going to the Edith Cavell Mountain and Glacier. She said it was a short hike, “Nothing like this!”  She forgot to mention that to get there you had to drive 14 Kilometers up a mountain over very rough switch backed roads.  It took us about a half hour to reach the small parking lot, but by then, about 6 PM, there was plenty of spots to park.  The hike was up and over a small hill, for about 1/2 mile, but without much elevation rise.  When we finally reached the glacier, the view was stunning!  Actually there were two glaciers.  Angel glacier hung in between two mountains above the lake, and below right next to and creating the lake was Cavell Glacier.  The milky aqua blue water was studded with icebergs that had calved from the Cavell Glacier on the opposite side of the lake. 

 

We walked carefully over the glacier moraine field of rocks and bolders to the edge of the water where you could actually grab hold of a piece of ancient glacier ice.  The ice was filled with bubbles full of air from thousands, or millions of years ago!  Air that had last been free of the ice when Mammoth roamed the area.

By the time we were ready to leave, the sun had gone down behind the mountain and half of the lake was already in shadow.  A long drive home featured a herd of Elk, and a coyote beside the road.  We didn’t get a photo of the coyote, but we stopped to photo a few of the elk.

By the time we arrived back at camp it was just after 8 PM, but the sun was still up and we had time to grill some kilbasa and joyce heated up some mac and cheese.  Cold last night, but we slept well… and long!

 

Ron and Joyce  

Oh Canada!

July 21st, 2008

Departed St. Mary’s near Glacier National Park about 8:00 am this morning, and drove toward Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta Canada. It wasn’t long before we approached the border crossing, and a very impressively dressed and armed customs inspector approached our truck. We’d been told of invasive inspections of every drawer and stowage space on RV’s but after a few friendly questions about how long we planned to stay and if we had any firearms, bear spays, or other weapons, we were allowed to pass without inspection of the interior of our trailer. We had no reservations, but had planned to camp in the Waterton Lakes Town Campsite, which is part of the National Parks of Canada.

When we checked in at the National Park Entrance station, and paid our 15.70 per day fee to get in, we were told that the Park Campgrounds were indeed full, and that our book was wrong… this year they did accept reservations. We were directed to drive a few miles east to a very nice camp site called Crooked Creek campground, which offered us a very large grassy site with water and electric hook up for $25. We set up and were back at the National Park in about an hour.

Before going into the town of Waterton Lakes, we visited the Bison area, where a herd of Bison are maintained by the Canadian Park Service. Driving slowly around the area, we didn’t see any bison, until almost at the end of the loop drive. They were all in a little valley between rolling hills. There were some very larg males in the herd with huge black manes grunting and dominating the herd.

Waterton Lakes is the Canadian side of Glacier National Park, and one of it’s main attractions is the Prince of Wales Hotel on Waterton Lake. The hotel was built in the early 20th century to cater to the tourists who came in by train and then went off into the wilderness from chalet to chalet by horseback. It’s sits on a hill overlooking the lake like a grand old dame, and is quite romantic and charming. Run by the park service, it is booked for years in advance. The town of Waterton Lakes, in the park is mostly geared for tourists and campers. Gift shops, coffee shops restaurants, and one little grocery store are lined up along the main street and people are riding four wheeled bicycles, and scooters around the town. One of the landmark stores, the “Park Service Store” sold gasoline, rented bikes and scooters, and sold souvenirs, camping supplies and sundries.

Down by the marina there were private vessels including a Hunter 19 sailboat in a slip, and slips for the tourist boats that ply the waters of the lake. We booked a 1:00 passage on the International, a 81 year old wooden tour boat that was built on the shores of the lake in the early 20’s, and is hauled out and maintained during the winter months in a shed specially designed for that purpose. The International was very well kept. tickets for the tour of the lake to the Montana side and back were $32 each, but we thought we would have a better chance to see some wildlife and learn about the history of the Canadian side of the park. While we waited for the tour to start we walked around the town to the south end where the campground was and enjoyed a picnic lunch. Then we browsed the shops for an hour, and had a piece of berry pie and coffee at a coffee shop. Boarding the International about 1 PM, we took seats on the upper deck to get a better view.

The wind was kicking up from the south at about 25 knots, and I made sure my hat was fastened down with the chin strap! With two Detroit diesels, the International made good way up the lake, and we leaned about the geology of how the glaciers of the last ice age created the entire area.

About half way there we passed the border with the US. There was a demarcation line through the forest about 30 to 40 feet wide that went right up the side of mountains on both sides of the lake. A little further on we came to a shallow cove on the right side of the boat, and Joyce was the first to spot a huge bull moose grazing in the shallows.

His antlers were at least 6 feet across when he raised his head from the waters. I took as many photos as I could with my Sony digital zoomed in to 12 power. Then we continued on our way with Ian, our naturalist interpreter, on leave from the University of Calgary, giving us more facts about the flora and fauna of the area. We landed at International Peace Park and Ranger Station in Montana for about 20 minutes, so folks could stretch their legs, have a picnic, or take a hike and come back on the 4 pm boat. Ranger Rick (I kid you not) greeted us as we disembarked from the International. Joyce and I took a short hike to the Ranger Station, and ate a snack from my back pack before reboarding for the return trip.

As hard as this is to believe, we spotted another moose on the way back on the opposite side of the lake! There was a lively discussion as to whether it was the same moose who had just taken a long swim across while we were in Montana! But we watched him walk right out of the water and shake the water off it’s pure black hide. The antlers were again just huge!

After the tour of the lake we visited the Prince of Wales Hotel, where they were having “Queen’s High Tea” in the lobby in front of a floor to ceiling picture window while a young pianist played classical hits from the Victorian Era. Quite quaint.

 

Back on the road we decided to drive through the mountains to Cameron Lake, where their used to be a campground. Right as we made the turn onto the road to Cameron Lake, a black bear ran across the road right in front of me. I yelled to Joyce, “Get the camera!” She handed my her Canon, and I took three shots of him before he ran behind a boulder down in a ravine toward the campground. (haven’t downloaded photos from her camera today)  As exciting as that was we saw a very small grizzly cub on the way back from the lake in almost the same location! The mother grizzly was probably very near, but we didn’t see her. Cameron Lake had rental boats, canoes, and kayaks and was at the base of a lovely snow covered mountain.

We watched as an inflatable went out and rescued to young teens who had capsized in the frigid waters. Another canoe dragged their capsized craft in behind it. The rental agent asked if they were going to do it again if he let them back out on the lake. The smart alec kid said he would try not to, but couldn’t guarantee anything! Then the rental agent told him that if they capsized again that he’d let them stay out there for a few hours before coming out to get them. People were actually wading and sort of swimming in that freezing water. I think most of these folks were real Canadians!

This evening we tried to make heads or tales out of the campground guides for this area, and were so confused that we asked for some help from a local couple who were camping only an hour from their home. They told us to stay out of the Calgary area, as it is so booming that most of the campgrounds are taken up by people who are working in the area in the Tar Sands and Shale Oil fields and can’t find any place else to live! They also said that Banff is very pretty but too crowded for their taste and too expensive. We with their help we managed to find a campsite for tomorrow in the town of Black Diamond. It’s south of Calgary, but a good staging place for the next part of our trip into Banff, Lake Louise and Jasper National Park.

Ron and Joyce 

High Trails and Wildlife

Saturday, July 19th:

We needed a day of rest, but of course not complete rest!  We drove to Many Glacier, another area of the park where, naturally many glaciers were once visible.  However, now only the remnants of 5 are in this area, and fewer still are viewable without long steep climbs up into the mountains, something that these two folks were not up to!

We checked out the hotel, and had a picnic, then we went back to the campground and were kind of lazy in the afternoon.

Sunday, July 20th:

We really wanted to hike the “garden wall” trail that led from Logan Pass Visitor center on up into the mountains.  Not to hike 10 or 17 miles, but just to get a feel for walking along the cliffs that we’d seen on Friday afternoon, where the goats and humans were sharing a 3 foot wide path along the cliff.  So we got up early and arrived at Logan Pass about 8:15 am.  There were only a dozen or so cars in the parking lot, so we were in luck.  We packed water, snacks, sunscreen, bug spray and cameras and set off for a hour’s hike.

This is what it looked like hiking on the “Garden Wall” trail.  We both got pretty jittery up there.  It was tough to look down, as the road was hundreds of feet below!  We did encounter some nice critters up here though, including a Marmot, and a nice mule deer buck…

We did two more short hikes this morning, one along the Lake Trail not too far from the St. Mary’s visitor center.  We were following the trail down into some thick growth by the lake, and I came across some bear scat right in the middle of the trail!  Didn’t find any hiker’s bells in it, but I’m pretty sure of what it was.  Don’t know if it was Grizzly or just a black bear, but we didn’t go too much farther on that hike.

The other hike was also near St. Mary’s Lake at Sun Point.  Sounded good, and we just walked a half mile or so before turning around.  Right now Joyce is doing the laundry, I’m… obviously updating the blog in the office of the campground, and this afternoon we’re getting everything ready for the trip into Canada tomorrow morning.  We’re going to stop at Waterton Lakes National Park (CA) before heading up further into Alberta and British Columbia.  Many people have told us not to miss Waterton Lakes, which is actually the Canadian side of Glacier National Park.

Here’s Joyce on the Garden Wall Trail.. she’s not too happy with this one…

Tonight we’re having pie and ice cream after dinner.  We stopped in a cool little cafe that was selling huckelberry pie and bought a couple of slices!

Ron and Joyce

 

 

Day Hikes in Glacier National Park

7/18/08

 

Today way our day to explore part of Glacier by foot.  We started with a hearty breakfast of pancakes and sausage and then drove into the park, using our newly acquired annual pass for all National Parks go through the gates.

We decided that we’d start with a fairly easy hike down to St. Mary’s Falls. As we were getting our gear put in the day pack we saw a mother and daughter standing by the trail head.  Judy and her daughter Emily were waiting for some other hikers  as security to accompany them on the trail.  I didn’t know how much help we would be, but we offered to stay with them down the trail.  Bears in the area required that we make a lot of noise so we wouldn’t surprise any of them.  The most dangerous situation would be to come between a mother bear and her cub, or come upon a grizzly at his kill.  We clapped hands before rounding any blind bend, and made lots of noise as we decended the narrow trail.

Occasionally we would come to an open rocky area on one side or other of the trail, covered with read, yellow, white and peach wildflowers.  One of the large peaks would then be visible overhead.  The day was starting out well.  The air was cool, but the sun was warming, and below us somewhere,we could begin to hear the falls rushing over rocks.  Several different trails crossed our path, and we had to carefully read the metal engraved signs to be sure we were following the right trail to the falls.  After a forty minute mostly downhill switchbacked hike, we arrived at the base of the falls.  Two large overfalls of water cascaded down into an aquamarine pool at the bottom with spray and mist creating rainbows in the air above.  We hiked to the bridge that crossed right in front of the falls, and then hiked up to the area above the falls, where two additional waterfalls could be seen.  

We sat on the warming rocks in the sunshine and ate a granola bar and drank some water that I’d carried down in my day pack.  I took lots of photos, and a few short videos.  Judy and Emily wanted to continue of to Virginia Falls, a few miles further, but Joyce and I didn’t want to overdo it on our first hike in the mountains, so we decided to split up.  By this time there were more people on the trails, and they felt safer to be on their own.

Back at the truck we drove westward toward Logan Pass, and stopped at a pull out where we could look down into the canyons below and up at the towering mountains above.  We crossed the road and found a spot next to a river on it’s way to a waterfall to eat lunch. We kept a sharp eye out though, as we had to pass a sign that warned we were entering grizzly country on the way to our picnic spot! The sun warmed our backs and we enjoyed our sandwiches and fruit thinking of our morning hike an the spectacular waterfalls of St. Mary’s. We talked about what we wanted to do next.  Logan pass was only a few miles away, but when we got there the parking lot was full.  So we decided to drive the rest of the way over the mountains on the Going to the Sun Highway to see what it looked like!  A short way west of Logan Pass we stopped to take photos at a pull out, and noticed mountain goats above us on a trail that was also being hiked by visitors that had walked the trail from Logan Pass.  It looked like one hiker was trying to chase one of the goats!  We took several photos with my zoom lens, and then moved on.

 

This part of the highway was not in as good condition as the eastern section.  In fact there were repairs going on, and sections that were gravel road.  We had to stop and wait ten minutes until a “pilot car” took us through on the one way section.  With sheer drops of thousands of feet on one side, and rock walls on the other with water dropping onto the hood and roof, and dust in the air from road work, it was a harrowing experience.  We’d heard of people hitting the driver’s side mirror of their vehicle on the mirror of the car coming in the opposite direction, so we closed our mirrors, on both sides making them less vulnerable. 

Once through the construction area, it was fairly smooth going down the switch backed highway to Anderson Lake on the west side of the park.  We stopped at the Lodge and had a coffee and then walked down to the boat dock.  We could have rented a small skiff with an 8 HP motor for 22 dollars, but we didn’t.  We watched people getting on a large launch for a tour of the lake.  And rested inside the lodge lobby, which looked on the outside like the Eibsee Hotel in Bavaria, but looked just like Yellowstone Lodge at Old Faithful inside, complete with mounted heads of animals all around the lobby.  

We wanted to go back to Logan Pass and see if the parking lot had cleared out enough for us to get a spot.  So, back up the mountain we went complete with another 10 minute wait for the one-way-pilot -car section of over the brink driving!

By the time we got back to Logan Pass it was after four PM, and we cruised right into a parking spot, just as someone left it.  We loaded up our pack with snacks, water and cameras, and headed up the trail to “Hidden Lake Overlook”, a trail that crosses the continental divide, the Gardens of Logan Pass (a meadow filled with wildflowers), and includes a 500 foot increase in elevation up steep slopes covered with snow!  Part of the hike was along wooden steps, but they pettered out pretty quickly and then we had to negotiate the snow covered hills that looked straight up to our flat lander eyes!  I found that going up sideways helped, digging in one foot and then pushing up with the other.  Joyce found her own method.  We’d take one section at at time.  Some where very steep, but not all of the way.  People on the trial ahead on the hillside looked like black specks against the bright glare of the snow. Once in awhile we’d have to negotiate a section that included a scramble around a steep rocky point to reach the next section of snow.  

 

Once we reached a fairly flat section where a shallow lake had formed.  A mother mountain goat and her young one were scampering around in that area, coming quite close to us.  I thought that we’d reached the “Hidden Lake,” but almost on the verge of turning around, I was told that I only had another half mile to climb to reach the REAL Hidden Lake overlook! We continued on, and soon reached one of the most magnificent sights I’ve even seen!  Standing on the wooden platform, we could look out and see for miles and miles.  Mountains, Hidden Lake, smaller lakes with ice floes still floating in them, misty blue mountains off in the distance, and the wind was howling so hard I had to hold my hat on my head with a strap!

  

We rested and ate an apple, some carrots and the rest of a sandwich left over from  lunch.  A couple joined us on the platform carrying a baby in a backpack.  He was on R & R from Iraq and she lived in Wyoming.  They were quite young and this kind of hike was nothing for them, even through the snow.  But for Joyce and I, it was EPIC!  As we were muching our snack a large male goat came along the trail and right up on the overlook platform!  He wanted to go by, but didn’t want to come that close to humans, so after a few minutes to see if we would get out of his way, he went up on the rocks above us, and appeared on the other side.  

 

 

We stayed at the overlook about a half hour, but it was past six PM by then and we wanted to get down before darkness settled in.  I was worried that the snow would turn to ice and make our descent even more trecherous.  I was also worried that we’d have a tough time descending the snow fields without sliding down on our butts,and getting really wet and cold, but to our credit we took our time, dug in our heels and made our way back down to the Logan Pass Visitor Center by 7:00 PM. 

 

The center was closed up, and the parking lot was almost empty by then.  There was a German couple near our truck who had left their lights on while they were on the mountain and their battery wouldn’t start.  So I opened up my Michelin road emergency kit, and got out the jumper cables to help them get going. They were very grateful, not wanting to have to spend the night in their car at the top of the mountain!

On the way down we thought of some quick warm dinner that Joyce could make when we got back to our camp, and we dined on grilled cheese and vegetable soup soon after.  

Tired but elated at our experiences of the day we slept well.

Ron and Joyce

Glacier day one

 

Text for Blog – July 17th – 2008

 

We slept in until 6:30 or so, and then I made scrapple and eggs for breakfast.  We only had 180 or so miles to make today to get to Glacier National Park, so we didn’t think we had to hurry.  We finally got away from the Lincoln Road RV Park about 8:30.  Heading up I-15 to 287 we made good time cruising along at 55-60 MPH.  After we made the turn onto 287 we realized that this might be a longish drive.  The road was good, but there were a lot of long grades.  We also had to navigate through several small towns.  One in particular, Choteau, had a traffic circle in it, and we had to switch to highway 89 somewhere around the circle.  We got on 89, and 10 miles later I glanced at my GPS and realized that we were going southest!  Exactly the wrong direction.  It took me a few miles more to find a place where we could turn around.  On most of the roads today there was no shoulder at all.  It was like driving on a causeway.  Almost all of the way today we could see snowcapped mountains off the the left and in front of us.  It was easy to see where we were heading!  We finally arrived at Johnson’s RV Park in St. Mary’s about 2:00 PM.  The desk clerk was funny and clever, and we enjoyed bantering with him about our site and what we needed while we were there.  He assigned us a nice site up on the hill overlooking Lake St. Mary and the Glacier Park Visitor Center.  It only took us a half hour or so to unhook and get everything set up for our camp site.  Then we wanted to head down to the town to look around and to visit the GNP visitor’s center. 

 

Everyone had been telling us how dangerous the “Going to the Sun Highway” was, and how we should take a tour bus and leave our truck back at camp.  We asked the ranger about it, and he didn’t seen to think driving on it was any big deal.  After some of the roads we’d already covered, we thought we could handle it.  Neither of us has much fear of heights, at least when our feet or wheels are on the ground.  So we started driving toward Logan Pass, which is about half way across the road, and is a good place to stop for photos and turn around.  The mountains, and lakes took our breath away.  It’s like no place I’ve ever been.  Somewhat like the Swiss Alps, but more primitive and wild.  Soaring snowcapped peaks, pyramidic mountains of red and blue shades with brown slopes and dark green evergreens in the lower sections leading to aqua blue waters of the lakes which are filled with snowmelt and small bergs of ice in some places.  The only problem I had with driving along the road is that I would have rather been looking over the side, or up at the slopes above me!  It  was a good thing that there were lots and lots of places to pull over and take in the breath taking vistas.

 

We made it to Logan Pass Visitor’s Center, took some photos including one of a lazy old mountain goat right near the center, and heading back down to St. Mary’s, and our campground.  I cooked steaks for dinner tonight.  Joyce is sleeping across the table from me right now.  I think the mountain air has worn her out a bit.

 

Tomorrow we take some short hikes off of the “Going to the Sun Highway.”

 

Ron and Joyce.