Life, family, and travel

Mountain Cabins, Mountain Lakes

A picture I forgot to post yesterday... these are the owners of that cute little cabin I stayed in just west of the park. Chuck, Jori, and Buddy Bear (who wasn't at all thrilled to see JJ getting a bunch of lovins) These very nice people gave me a lovely little picture book as a parting gift. If you're ever out this way, look for Glacier General Store and Cabins - very hospitable and comfie.

 

 

 

I didn't drive very far on the 10th - actually never made it to Idaho! JJ looked really tired of driving, and we both needed some hiking and relaxing. So by 1 o'clock, we stopped at this little resort on McGregor Lake on Rt 2 west. There were 2 cabins (1 without plumbing!) and 5 motel rooms. None had ac, but the weather here isn't supposed to get really hot, and the nights get downright cool. I opted for the cabin with running water and a queen sized bed covered with a handmade quilt. Ended up chit chatting with a group from WI, some of whom came out on bikes. (motored kind)

 

They shared their company, porch, beer, chicken, brats and sundry other dinner items with me, loved on JJ constantly, agreed with my politics...and then Lori and I decided to go jump in the lake!

 

 

 

If you've ever gone swimming in a mountain lake, it's an unforgettable and thoroughly enjoyable experience.

The water is as clear as glass, relatively warm on top and colder down deep. It's clean, refreshing, and the perfect accent on a really hot and sunny afternoon. And Lori happens to be one of the few people who, when you agree to jump together on the count of 3, actually jumps! I'm almost, but not quite, tempted to stay another day just to go swimming again, but... No, I think I'll put in a couple hundred miles today, and find a place with either a mountain lake, or air conditioning, and a laundry.

 

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It's a dry heat

All of Sunday was spent driving through Montana. It's a lot bigger than I thought! I kept watching for mountains, and finally realized that most of the clouds I saw on the horizon on 3 sides of me were the only indications I would get of the mountains on this day. The only real mts. I saw were to the north, and the only clouds in the north were directly over the tallest of them. So until I get to Glacier, later today, I'll have to settle for the clouds that herald the presence of the beautiful Rockies.

 

 

I stopped a bit early, about 3:30 pm, at Shelby MT. The Comfort Inn was charging more than 150.00!! so I found a locally owned place for 50.00. Ne reason to spend ALL of my savings before I get to CA, now is there? This motel is built on a serious hillside, as is half the town, and it consists of a lot of little buildings. As you can see - JJ and I stayed in room 60. She doesn't like all the strange noises here - big man footsteps in the room above me, a train whistle now and then, and other equally unfamiliar sounds. She's quite the coward. We won't be able to do any hiking in Glacier, as they don't allow dogs on any but 1 trail because they are so tasty and attractive to bears. S'okay. I'll pull off at the inevitable overlooks and take lots of pictures. I read that the best pics are at dawn and sunset. God woke me at 3 am, just in case I wanted to try for dawn, and I politely said I'd rather stay in bed, if that's ok. It was, and I did. I'll never be a photographer, now will I? And when you consider that sunset is after 9 pm, which is after the point at which I am gritty eyed and dragging, I doubt that the sunset photo shoot is an option either.

 

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Going to the Sun!

Cindy: I'm posting the following info and pics I received from a friend of a friend who lives in northwestern Montana.  It's interesting for 2 reasons.  One, Chuck had considered taking the "Going to the Sun" road through Glacier Nat Park, as it's one of the most beautiful places on the continent, if not in the world.  Two, because the snow conditions in Glacier are much worse than what's typical in June, and the snow melt that is just beginning is going to effect those lands on the Missouri River throughout the next month, at least.  I'm including both pictures and comments:

Date: Sunday, June 12, 2011, 6:44 pm.  Expecting more snow tonight (12th), with drifts up to 90 feet when you take into account the existing snow.  Typically, snow in the Montana Mountains, now 6-10 feet deep, is half water, so 3-5 feet of water is yet to come down.  Snow melt is just beginning.  In the above photo, you can see the cut in the sides of the mountains that represents the "Going to the Sun" road.  If you've never been on it before, it's crazy steep over the edges and the road hugs the cliff wall most of the way up!

As you can see in this close-up, these boys have NO FEAR!  That rock wall/ledge they are above and plowing is about 2 feet high off the roadway, and is the only thing that is between the roadway surface and a several thousand foot trip to the bottom of the mountain.

And they have a LONG way to go!  You can clearly see where the road is "supposed" to be on the left side of the photo, and almost make out the road just to the right of center.

A REALLY long way to go!!!!  Here the roadway is completely covered by snowpack, but it's there.  (the L shaped bend between the rock walls and the tree line below it)

Here is what it looks like at the top.  This is Logan pass.  The Logan Pass Visitor's Center, usually open for tourists by June 18th, is in the center of the picture.  WAY behind the visitor's center, on the other mountain, you can see the road in the background climbing it's way to the visito center.  From the right side of the building to the small group of trees located some distance to the right, is normally a large parking lot full of cars and campers. This is what 180% of normal snowpack looks like, and how it affects the tourism industry of this area.

A ham radio friend of mine (a friend of a friend of the friend who forwarded me, Cindy, this email) who lives at the lower elevation of 3400 feet near Flathead Lake, sent me these photos taken by a helicopter flyover by the park service, said:  I'm hoping they have the road open to Logan pass by July 4th.  I hope that if the road is open by July 4th I can take the kids sledding in the morning and swimming at the lake by evening and watch fireworks over the lake at night!  Latest word is the road might open on July 18th (one month later than the average) ...

Current status of the Going to the Sun Road.

Current schedule and conditions for plowing the road.

June 10th-11th

Friday, June 10th.........Last night I looked at the Yellowstone river and saw that it was pretty close to the top of the banks. I spoke to a SAR fella, he said I didn’t have to worry about all the rain. It’s the snow melt I should be concerned with. I remember years ago when the family was car camping in the Medicine Bow wilderness. We camped along a stream. Every night the water would raise substantially and then go down slowly during the day. When I got up this morning, I noticed that the river had raised and was even overflowing the banks in a few areas. Needless to say, I was glad to be pulling out!

I stopped at a McDonalds and was able to send off an e-mail to Cindy for the log. I had been checking along my drive but had been unable to locate a WiFi area.

I got on I-90 and saw my first snow on top of Mt. Douglas in the Absaroka range. By the depth of the snow, I can see why they were concerned with snow melt. It was pretty until I realized I was going through it.

I turned North at Springdale MT on route 89. First, it cut off about 150 miles from my trip. Second, by the atlas, it is supposed to be pretty scenic. And boy was it ever !!! I drove up this long valley with mountains on both sides. I eventually went through a 7,000 foot pass in the Lewis and Clark national forest. As I drove, I noticed innumerable pull offs that would have been suitable for an overnight boon docking stay. They were right next to a stream that had a beautiful white noise. Unfortunately, it was way too early to stop. My bad luck, but I know for next time.

It was pretty cold up there with all of the snow. Even the deer had not lost their winter coats.

I eventually got into the snow in the Little Belt Mountains. It was very deep in spots and the wind coming off of it was pretty brisk.

I turned off in Great Falls MT. Stopped at the falls where Lewis and Clark had so much trouble getting their big boat around. I tried, but for some reason my photos didn’t turn out. 

I stopped at Lewis & Clark RV Park in Shelby MT about 35 miles from the Canadian border. They have a dump station, showers, laundry, WiFi etc. I’ll get this log out today and cross over into Canada tomorrow.

 

Saturday, June 11th.............

What a dreary, raining, cold, windy place. I’m starting to get tired of rain!

I left about 6:30 as I had a long way to go. Not too much excitement because of the rain. I even forego the “Spock” festival in Vulcan, AB because of the weather. I know Cindy will be horrified when she learns I didn’t go. The wind was head on to my travel and dropped my mileage down to +- 7.5 MPG.

(Cindy:  yes - that's awful.  How many opportunities will you have to go to the Sock festival in Vulcan, AB?????hhmmmmm?????)

 

When I got to the border there were only a couple of RV’s ahead of me. I didn’t have to long to wait. When it was my turn, a pickup truck cut me off to get in first. The joke was on him though as the border guards must have given him the third degree. He finally had to park and go inside with his paperwork. The guard just asked me the usual questions and let me go on.

I was scared to take a photo of the whole thing because of the new regulations.

One thing I did notice, NT and AB looked an awful lot alike

Do you know which is which? (Hint MT is the top one, AB is the bottom one).

I had hoped to make it past al of the civilization today. Because of the wind, I was constantly running between 45 and 50 MPH. It took a lot longer than I had planned (I did put in about 475 miles).

I finally stopped at Lessard Lake Public Campground just outside of Sangado AB. Pretty cheap and I ended up overlooking the lake. It has electricity, showers etc. I didn’t want to pay the extra for the water and sewer. Just like I anticipated, this is still too close to civilization for me to find a boondocking spot. Hopefully this will change within the next day or so. As luck would have it, the sky cleared and the wind stopped about 7:30 when I arrived. Here is a shot out of my window of the lake.

 

 

June 9th

Really ugly day! Rained most of the day and it was cold and windy. I wasn’t in a hurry to leave the campsite. I had wanted to see the battlefield at the little Big Horn. I arrived there about 10:30. As I was preparing to pay the admittance fee, I asked the young girl about the senior citizens nationwide pass. She said the annual fee was $10.00 (less than a single admittance to the battlefield). This allows me to enter all federal monuments etc for free for the whole year. Eat your heart out all you young whipper-snappers !

As I had saved some money, I paid $5.00 to go on a guided tour bus with a host speaker. She was very good and answered all of our questions. I could not understand how Custer walked into this fight as the terrain is fairly open. After she explained everything (several circumstances, mis-communications, not believing the scouts etc) it becomes clearer. It's way more information than I want to go into in this log!

 

 

 

 

I will add a couple of tidbits. This is only 1 of 3 battlefields in the world where the headstones are erected on the actual locations where the men fell. Many of the stones are side beside one another.

This is because when they ran out of ammunition, they fought hand to hand, back to back. Out of the 100 or so Indians killed here, the location of only about 20 is documented.

 

 

After I left the battlefield, I ended up in Columbus Montana at one of my boondocking places I had researched. As it turns out, it’s really a nice place called the Columbus City Park. I set up about 15 feet from the Yellowstone river. Unfortunately, I did have to move down a little bit later as they were having “Search and Rescue” training and that site was their main training location. Still, the next site was just as wonderful.