Glacier National Park, Montana
September, 2014
This was the first long road trip for Wil and me. I was excited to enter Montana; I had never travelled past Coeur d'Alene before. My ultimate goal on this trip was to see The Rockies. Photos can't show what the eye sees. Driving in, when the entire skyline was filled with the jagged, pointed peaks, I actually teared up at the magnificence. They are, indeed, a great sight to see.
To start the trip, in order to not spend too much money on restaurant food, we had a picnic lunch in Sprague, Washington.
We traveled on to St. Regis, Montana and stayed at Little River Motel. I chose it because it reminded me of Uncle Damon's cute, old fashioned motel in Spokane where we all stayed for a family reunion when I was about 12. Let's just say it was not the best night's sleep we've had, nor the nicest furnishings. Its best feature was the bathroom which was probably the only thing that had been updated since I was 12.
It had a kitchen, which was another plan to save money. We cooked dinner and breakfast in the motel, and Wil made our sack lunch for the second day's travel.
Travelling northeast, the first remarkable sight was Flathead Lake. As we crested a big hill we saw it - it is huge, stretching
on and on and on.
We were a bit nervous about the cabin I had rented in Coram, Montana after our less than comfortable stay the night before. So, even though we were intent upon getting to the Glacier shuttle since this was the last day it was operating for the season, we pulled in to the Glacier General Store and Cabins on our way by, just to check in and prepare ourselves for the accommodations.
photo from glaciercabins.net
We were delighted with the cabin!
It was clean and cozy and the bed was like laying on pockets of air. The owners were nice and friendly. They built the cabins themselves from slash wood in the forest. They built the bed frames inside the cabins because they were too big to move in already assembled. It was partially solar powered - an all-around great place for home base. What a relief.
Now, off to enjoy the beauty of the landscape.
We rode the free shuttle from Apgar Village to Logan Pass. When booking our trip, I did not realize we would reach the park on the last day the shuttle operated. Lucky. Driving our own car would have been harrowing. This way we were both able to completely relax and soak in the view in all directions.
Wil could not resist taking photos through the windows of the shuttle. This photo was taken on the way back down from Logan Pass - the highest elevation on Road To The Sun, and just east of the Continental Divide! Not only did I see The Rockies - I crossed to the other side!
We intended to "hike" (although, walking on a wooden plank surrounded by people is not really back country hiking) to Hidden Lake but I had crammed my backpack so full of stuff to be prepared for the wilderness and bears, that I could not walk all the way. Plus, we had been told to NOT miss the last shuttle back down to Apgar Village or we would be hitchhiking after dark. So, we did not really want to hustle to the lake and hustle back while worrying about the shuttle.
There was plenty to see, even without making it to the lake.
I always marvel at how things like that were formed.
Traffic had to stop for several minutes while a herd of mountain goats wandered across the road.
Wil was able to get pretty close to a herd of big horn sheep. The animals in the park did not seem too nervous about people or vehicles.
A coyote...
and the sheep again, photographed from the shuttle on the way back down.
The next day we drove around the south side of the park and across the Continental Divide to East Glacier and into Two Medicine.
Sometimes, it took us a long time to get to where we were going becasue the scenery was so spectacular I wanted to stop every few minutes to have Wil take more photos.
The hikes we took were all on main trails. I would not let Wil wander, even though he really wanted to, because everything I had read or heard was that if you left the main trail you WOULD encounter a bear.
Wil is crossing a creek on the way to Trick Falls.
It is called Trick Falls because, in the spring, there are actually two falls - another one that would be hiding this one. The water from this one was falling from a sink hole. It looked magical, or like a trick, as if the water was pouring right out of the mountain.
From Two Medicine, we drove north into the park as long as we could and still have time to get back to the cabin before dark. We searched and searched and searched for a bear, and finally, about half way back down the mountainside, Wil spotted a bear for me! That was the other highlight of my trip. I had never seen a bear before, and will always remember the sight. It seemed as if he turned to look at us just for me to see him, then he lumbered over the hill.
Documentation of our expedition across the Continental Divide. Woohoo!
The next day, I was being daring, and did not have lodging booked. I told Wil he could choose where we went. So, he looked at the map and said he'd always wanted to go to Bonners Ferry, Idaho. So, off we went, of course, stopping at all the pretty spots along the way...
McGregor Lake,
a snack at Middle Thompson Lake,
and lunch along the Kootenai River.
We were headed for a "Point of Interest" labelled on the map and thought it was much further ahead, so were zooming along. Luckily, Wil caught a glimpse of something out his window and said to stop. I'm glad we did. Turns out, it was the Point of Interest -
magnificent Kootenai Falls.
The suspension bridge across the river was thrilling. See Wil standing in the middle?
We passed through a couple of cute, little towns - Libby and Troy, Montana - and were amused by this bumper sticker.
We left Bonners Ferry in a huff after I was given a speeding ticket. Wil was so mad - he said he'll never visit that town again. We drove south to the next town of Sandpoint, Idaho, and had a grand time. We stayed at LaQunita, ate at an Italian restuarant, strolled through downtown, and the next morning drove up to another place with a spectacular view - Schweitzer Mountain.
Not being snow people, we had never heard of it, but, apparently, it is a famous ski resort. While there, we hiked up the hill a bit, and it began to snow on us.
We decided to be carefree and stay another night in Spokane. We enjoyed the falls at Riverfront Park.
On our way home, we thought we'd stop in Tri Cities and see a movie, but we missed the movie because I somehow ended up in Moses Lake, Washington! The lake was impressive - the freeway drove right through the middle of it - as it did in Sandpoint. Feeling silly about my error, I took this photo while driving to show the scenery between Moses Lake and Kennewick!
Another fabulous trip with my best friend.
Glacier National Park.
