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.

Bat!

Wednesday, August 24

We took a nice hike in the state park this morning and decided to stick around the park for the afternoon to swim, read some more Harry Potter and make a delicious, low-key day of it.

First, though, we had to pack up the campsite and move the van.

I was behind the van pulling the bug screen off the back. I pulled down the right side of the screen when all of sudden this little black head pops down.

[Insert loud scream.]

Holy sh** - it’s a bat!

I had slept with the back doors open and the bug screen on so I could look at the water and the stars over the lake. I did remember seeing a bat flapping by and noting it. BUT I HADN’T EXPECTED IT TO SLEEP OVERNIGHT IN OUR VAN!

What creeped me out the most was that I had shut the back doors of the van and locked up that morning when Auggie and I went for our hike. That means that little bugger was nestled in the very tiny space left in the crack between the door and the rest of the van, and he had obviously crawled into the inside of the bug screen. I’m so glad he wasn’t squished! (cause I didn't want to clean him up) But the hairs on the back of my neck stood up as I realized how close I had been to a bat for several hours that night/morning.

I pulled myself together enough to think about getting the camera. I then realized that he wasn’t moving from his spot and I was going to have to dislodge the evil flying rodent.

And then I thought … “What is it with me and rodents this trip??? First a mouse in my pantry. And now a freakin bat in my belfry." Let's just hope I don’t end up with a squirrel in the shower or something – all things come in threes, you know!

In the storage area in the back of the van, I had a dustpan and brush right there, so I grabbed it. I tried to brush the bat out, but he did not want to go. He moved a bit over to the side, but started to hiss at me and open his mouth, showing his little bat-fangs. He didn’t like being woken up in broad daylight, and he certainly didn’t like me moving him from his roost.

[Oh good lord, I can’t believe I am doing this.]

[I am also fully exposed here. What if he flies into me and starts to attack? I have nothing to shield myself with except this teeny little dustpan.]

He didn’t want to go. He was a tenacious little bugger and did NOT want to be moved. I kept prodding him with the dustpan and he kept squirming and turning around and hissing, not wanting to be in the sunlight and not wanting to be poked.

[Oh, please let this thing leave. Please, please, please.]

Finally, after another couple of prods and bad, four-letter words, followed by gutteral, squeamish breaths from me, he understood that I was not stopping and that he needed to go. He FINALLY flew away, up into a tree. I don’t know where he went from there because I got the shakes and needed to scream again.

Another adventure in the Champagne Chevy, eh? Yes. But a gross one!  Ew ew ew.

OK, now where is my martini? Because I have certainly earned it with this escapade!

I didn’t get my martini, mostly because I didn’t have any vodka in the van. But I did get a lovely few hours down by the lake to swim and read. That calmed me down.

Then it was off to Whitefish, MT, to drop off Auggie at a kennel for a few nights. I have a horseback ride in Glacier National Park booked for tomorrow and he can’t come with. Boo!

Once he was dropped off, I found my campsite, cooked some dinner and uploaded a few belated blog entries. (I know, I know – I’m majorly behind!) More Potter, then sleep. G’nite. 

Foothills of Glacier National Park

Tuesday, August 23-Wednesday, August 24

It’s hard to have a bad day when you wake up and see this.

We got a slow start to the day, poked around beautiful Seely Lake (pictured above) and read about the bizarre earthquake in DC. What is going on back home??? Glad to know everyone is OK, as is my house on Fleetwood Terrace. Whew.

We did a quick workout and stretched under the trees. After that, it was back into the car for another short ride to get us closer to Glacier. We passed another huge and beautiful lake, Swan Lake. And we stopped and poked around this cute little town called Bigfork, Montana.

We were headed to Westshore State Park on the (you guessed it) west shore of Flathead Lake. What a pretty state park! We got a beautiful site with a view of the water, which looked like this. Pretty awesome place to camp, eh?

And now my preferred word seems to be “Wow!” But it is honestly hard to describe the grandeur of Montana in many other ways. Flathead Lake is gorgeous. Big. Vast. Blue. Sun shining on it. Water skiers zipping by. Forest surrounding it. Aaaaaaaah.

I even took a quick swim in the lake. I say quick because, man, that water was cold!!!

We made an awesome camp fire that night and had an (over?) abundance of marshmallows. Another good night’s sleep ahead! (after the sugar buzz wears off, of course …)