Glacier National Park

Thursday - Friday, August 25-26

I didn’t make it to my horseback ride at 08.00 am Thursday morning. I will spare my readers the embarrassing details, but suffice it to say that morning is not my best time of day. They were able to move me to Friday, the campground could extend a night and the kennel could keep Auggie one more night, so all was copasetic in the end.  

After giving myself a lighthearted kick in the pants, I decided to drive the Going to the Sun Road through Glacier on Thursday.

Wait for it … here it comes ... another “Wow”! 

Spectacular scenery. Around every bend, there is another beautiful vista, snow-capped peak, pristine Alpine lake or vast, deep valley. These pics don’t begin to convey the majestic feel of the mountains when you are right there looking at them or driving through.

I drove through some beautiful forest and stopped at lots of roadside pull-offs so I could take in the scenery. I stopped at some beautiful blue-green waterfalls, so pretty they almost look fake, as if Walt Disney World had created them. I took some photos of some pretty flowers along a creek. I kept thinking as I was driving that

Holy sh** - that’s a bear on the road!

I was instantly jolted out of my thoughts by the huge brown-colored black bear that was standing in front of me on the road, standing tall on his hind legs with its front paws foraging through the greenery on the uphill bank, looking for something to eat.

[Well, you’re not going to eat me, buster …]

And I put up the windows on the van as fast as I could, my heart racing. 

And then I just watched. How cool it was to watch this big guy just doing his thing in the forest. He didn’t mind me, I was far enough away from him that he didn’t even turn his head and kept foraging. A few cars started coming from the other direction and stopped as well. The bear just kept on foraging. We all watched him – this was eons better than Animal Planet!  J

It must have been a dry spot with not too much there, so he eventually moved off to the downhill side and disappeared over the crest of the hill. And that was it. Bye-bye, bear.

Well, how bout that!

My critter karma seems to be high.

[Hmmmm … the more I think about that, the more I’m not so sure that’s a good thing … ]

Needless to say, the rest of the day was just as fantastic. Since I had all day, I turned around at the other side of the park and drove the Sun Road back to where I had started from. I actually think the way back was prettier … but we are talking miniscule gradients of gorgeous.

Ran across some mountain goats at the top of Logan Pass, the site of the Continental Divide in the Park. They didn’t seem to mind humans snapping photos of them up there. Hit some snowy patches on that hike, too (which is not so great if you are hiking in open Keen sandals!).

But it was a fantastic day for sure.

Friday, I did make it to my horseback ride. Yaaaaay! And it was great. Jesse was my “Wrangler.” He rode Dunny up the 6.2 mile trail to Sperry Chalet, and my horse was Nick, who kept trying to steal bites of grass and other plants along the trail. Was a great ride.

Since it was just me on the ride that day, I had a good opportunity to talk with Jesse. Turns out he’s from upstate New York. He’d studied business and finance in NYC and actually worked on Wall Street for a while. He and his dad and brother took a pack trip to Montana a few years ago, and that’s the first time he was ever on a horse.

He fell in love with it and made some big life changes. Ended up in California for some forestry classes and now has a forestry degree, hoping to get to the University of Montana in Missoula early next year for more coursework.

It cracks me up that he’s not a native Montanan – doesn’t he look the part?

He was a great guide and we had a really fun ride. I couldn’t feel my knees by the time we got back to the corral, and my butt muscles were already letting me know that I was going to be sorry tomorrow.

Following up on a tip from Jesse, I went across to the Lake McDonald Lodge and ordered a huckleberry martini. Yummmmmm. I finally got my martini!  J  I drank it out on the porch by the lake, followed by a short nap in the late afternoon sun. What an awesome day!

And now, my second “must-see” site of this trip – Glacier National Park – can be checked off the list. A short visit, but a wonderful one for sure. J

I stayed up waaaay too late finishing the third Harry Potter book. Need to pick up Auggie first thing tomorrow morning from the kennel – not enough sleep. Boo! If I’m not careful, I might get bags under my eyes again.