Bear at roadside - Glacier NP
The trip from Malta , Montana to West Glacier, Montana was under a sunny blue sky day. In the afternoon some of those “Montana Clouds” (as I used to tell the children they were), began to appear. They were those fluffy, lined up, cumulus clouds. There were a few road stoppages and one particularly difficult one coming through Shelby that was very bumpy, but the rest of the road was good all the way. A workman on the road commented that the day was beautiful but those gnats were about to drive him crazy. They were pesky.
After Shelby the Rocky Mountains began to appear and you could feel the adrenaline rush and remember what it must have been for those first pioneers coming across the pains and seeing the mountains. Or maybe Rogers and Clark and the men of 1804? Rogers and Clark did get into Blackfeet country as they shot two Blackfeet and “\A” in a hurry. That was the only confrontation they had.
I must pause here to remind folks to keep those residents of many towns along that route (US 2) that are being evacuated from the flood zones, and those who fear that will happen to them in the near future. We are blessed to not have that fear in most of our lives. Minot and Williston, North Dakota and Malta, Montana are the largest cities in the floods wake. Many farmers and residents will lose their farming continuity due to land loss, and property losses are irretrievable many cases.
But we did arrive at East Glacier in the mid afternoon with the mountains looming before us. The signage at Browning was noticeably Native American (Blackfoot) as it was at Fort Peck and Fort Belknap. The Blackfeet number some 10,000 tribal members at present.
We found our campground (KOA just outside West Glacier) after a very picturesque and winding drive through the south boundary of the park, where US 2 skirts the edges of some very high precipices following the Middle Fork of the Flathead River some 50 miles into Glacier N.P.
The following morning we found out that we could not drive up to the Going To the Sun Highway as the winter snow was still being cleared and there was no time table to allow traffic up that road. One could drive to Avalanche Creek Campground, but that was still at low elevations and a long way from Logan Pass. We did do just that and got an early start on the still and cool morning. McDonald Lake was very photogenic ( see pic) as there were no ripples at all and the reflections of the mountains was spectacular. Ruth did get some shots of it as well as McDonald Creek that flows into the lake and out again. The spring run off is very strong due to a moisture content of the snow (deep snowfalls) was at 49.5% as opposed to the usual 25% moisture. We did get some good cataract and waterfall pictures and spotted a few new birds albeit not many, for the day. The new birds seen were the Cassins Vireo, Willow Flycatcher and the Vaux Swift.
In the afternoon as we had ample time, by not driving up the “Sun “ highway to Logan Pass, we elected to seek out a new NWR called Lost Trail. It is being developed (1997) by securing property from old logging sections some 60 miles distant from our campground. It was a leisurely trip and we found that there was no formal development there although the potential was high. We saw a DNRC building not occupied, and later Jim found that the HQ for the NWR was some 20 miles further on the road that we started on. You don’t win ‘em all.!
The day ended with a Quick Lube oil change (and a patch of a windshield chip obtained near Williston from a truck, and then grocery shopping so the larder is full. The surprise in shopping was that we now can get Tillamook Ice Cream (and cheese) and Ruth did get a 1/2 gallon so we will have a treat soon.
Tomorrow we take a rare “day close to home” with time to do what we would like to do without a long drive. JIm’s going swimming for one,and Ruth besides reading a good book will work on her DVD of the trip. She is composing as we go.
See ya tomorrow!
Stromboli
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