We are in again today. Weather looks better for the weekend.
The rain holds off just long enough for Kent to grill some chops for dinner. Carol spent much of the day at her place baking. We have delicious apple hand-pies for dessert.
Carol and I toast the end of sisters’ week with the end of limoncello that’s been riding in my freezer since one of our earlier get togethers. It has been a great week. We need to plan the next one.
It is beginning to feel too much like winter here. It is damp and cold and threatening snow. Time to head south.
No big rush breaking camp. It will be an easy day since our first stop is Missoula, just a 3 ½ hour drive. A quick weather check as we roll reveals a road closure, Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park. It will probably open again for a while before the close of the season but we are both sure moving on is the right thing to do.
Home for the next couple nights is Yellow Rock Campground. It is actually a rename of the square-dance and campground park we found our last time through. It is still a nice quiet place. No sign of square dancers though. It is errand time, haircuts and laundry and a little shopping to hold us over ‘til our flight to NY. We squeeze in a trip to the Missoula Carousel and I ride the dragon but I can’t manage to grab a gold ring so no free ride for me. I forgot how fast it goes! What a fun ride. We hoped to meet up with a couple we volunteered with in Aransas NWR but haven’t connected yet. Looks that will have to wait until next time.
We are set to hike to Avalanche Lake – nope, not today. We hear that there is 1 ½ of snow at Logan Pass and weather apps are posting backcountry warnings for snow and cold temps.
We opt to stay in…actually we hang out at our ¼ turn bridge phone both to work on planning between here and Vegas. We have 2 weeks before our flight to NY for Hazel’s birthday.
We opt for lunch at Eddies in Apgar Village – Carol joins us and together we sample bison burger, fish and chips, and BBQ pork. There is huckleberry cobbler with ice cream for dessert. It is huge and delicious.
We start the day with eggs scrambled with those left over shishito peppers, just two of them. It is as tasty as we hoped. We scope out our new campsites, Carol is moving today as well, and we confirm a place to meet Kent to disconnect the truck before coming into camp. Campground roads are narrow and twisty. By 11:30 we are settled into our sites. Sisters’ vacation is coming to an end.
We check out the remaining Ranger recommendation, the Whitefish Farmers Market. It is about a 20- mile drive but all on pavement this time. Whitefish is predominantly a ski town but they do their darndest to get folks in for the summer season as well. Amtrak still stops here regularly and they have done a nice job restoring the old station. Distilleries and breweries are sprinkled among many bars, restaurants, and shops of the downtown. Carol is on the lookout for hard cider and is assured by the hostess at the Craggy Range Bar, “we have cider”. We take a seat at the bar with high hopes as a cider does appear on one of the taps. The bar tender is rushed and a bit frazzled so it is a few minutes before he slows down to attend to us; unfortunately, only to tell us “I haven’t had any cider for a while now”. Rats. There are several local beers on draft and they claim to have local spirits. I go for a ‘local’ bourbon, Yellowstone Select. It is smooth and great sipping whiskey. Unfortunately, as I find out later when I google it, it is also actually made in Kentucky. Little sleight of hand on the bar tender’s part! Carol’s beer goes down smoothly too. We try blistered shishito peppers but find them hotter than expected. Most come home with us to throw into various recipes.
We stroll the main street and circle through a couple shops including one filled with amazing fine arts pieces – carvings and bronze work and paintings on canvas and stone nearly any of which would be welcome in my someday cabin.
It is 5PM and the market is opening up. We cruise the arts and whatnot section first but find nothing we just have to have. A few booths have local produce, mostly root vegetables but some tomatoes and fruit as well. It all looks wonderful. We pass it up too. We come across baked goods, more on that later. We head toward the food trucks, that’s been our plan all along for dinner. First, we scope them all out: Thai, Russian Piroshkis, grain bowls, and BBQ all catch our eye as does a decadent giant cookie stop. We settle on BBQ, good choice then share a piroshki (lamb and pork filled bread ball, much like a runza) and enjoy it as we listen to the local entertainment, two fellows playing lively mandolin/guitar/concertina/violin. Our tummies are full but we can’t skip the baked goods. We take home a huckleberry bear claw and sticky bun from the Mercantile’s booth plus a loaf of sourdough from a local favorite bakery, if the length of lines tells one anything. A grizzly bun never makes it to the car. It is a crispy, cinnamony pastry. Yum
Kent reports a
dusting of snow on the Many Glacier
side and a black bear sighting near the hotel over there.
We check out the shops, maybe a 20-minute stop. There isn’t much here to see. A bit of housekeeping, propane and freshwater fills; else, it is quiet day in and around camp. We catch the evening ranger program, Night Moves, brought to us by Ranger Leticia. She is a self-proclaimed birder and does a nice job talking to us about owls. There are 13 species here in the park from the huge great horned to a pygmy owl. I think I heard a Great Horned a couple nights ago. So far, we haven’t seen either him or the other more frequently seen, barred owl. We have a couple more nights here so it might still happen. We end the day with a yummy bratwurst dinner.
Our scenic cruise on Lake McDonald isn’t until 1:30 but parking gets horrific at the lodge so we head that way early. Traffic is light but it is slow going because of construction. With the benefit of Carol’s handicap parking permit, we find a spot without much trouble. Great. We have time to explore in and around the Lodge and lake and even stop in for a drink. I go for a Huckleberry Smash and Carol a local ale. We share a charcutier board that includes bison pastrami and braised duck along with goat cheese; all this at the lounge with a view, Lucke Bar.
We board the DeSmit and even get a top deck seat for the launch. It is an interesting ride with fair commentary and nice mountain views. The NE lake shore is another area of recovering fire scar so a bit sad looking. A bald eagle perches atop a blackened snag. The tour is just one hour so we are off by 2:30 and determine we have the energy for a nearby trail, The Trail of Cedars. It is a short 1-mile boardwalk through gigantic cedars and other moist- ground loving species. It is amazing to find these trees here. Even the fallen trees are impressive. Check this out. Very cool.
We head home to BLTs for dinner and a quiet evening with another chance to watch the deer that move through camp.
We start the day with a quick breakfast, eggs and cinnamon rolls.
Oxbow lake trailhead is at the Apgar Visitor Center here near camp and the trail follows roughly along McDonald Creek. We are joined briefly by a doe and fawn and spot a beaver lodge in the oxbow. The walk is otherwise quiet and relaxing as it is mostly flat.
We take a bit of a break but have energy for another walk. We go for the Fire and Forest Nature trail. It passes through a large burn scar from a 2001 fire and provides an impressive lesson on forest succession and the story of local fire dependent species; larch, lodgepole and aspen. Thick undergrowth with lots of berries makes for great grizzly habitat. I have the bear spray but am relieved to not need it. There is a bit more elevation change than we anticipated so we are both a bit tired by the end of the walk. We total 4 ½ miles for the day.
Carol serves up delicious chicken tacos for dinner and we have our feet up for the night. Another great day.
Up late and a lazy breakfast of waffles with blueberry compote. Carol starts cinnamon roll dough to set it rising. We make a pass through our phone booth, quarter turn bridge, to check in and research a couple planned stops then we are off to explore. Carol makes the turn to leave the lot at the bridge and two black bears cross the road in front of us. Very cool. We swing by Apgar Village to pick up firewood (perfect dry wood and a nice selection of kindling) and cruise the souvenir shops then head on home.
Cinnamon rolls are formed, left to rise then baked. As they come out of the oven, we sit down to burgers and potato salad for dinner. Delicious.
Later there is campfire under a clear, dark, starlit sky. No s’mores tonight. We go for a fresh cinnamon roll and hot tea and enjoy a perfect ending to the day.
We are up at 5:45, make the drive east on US 2, and are parked in front of Glacier Lodge (aka Big Tree Lodge) by 8:20AM. There is plenty of time to relax in the sun on their porch before our 9AM departure. It is a beautiful day. The air is cool this morning but the sun brilliantly warm. More and more folks are milling on the porch. Looks like it’s going to be a full bus. Before long a bus, then a second bus, show up in the lower lot. Ah, two heading out at nine. The drivers have lists and divide up the group. We go with ‘Jammer Todd’ and get assigned to a comfy middle row on bus 79. Biggest guy rides shotgun and short-legged groups get the backseat. We are pretty happy with our deal. Todd is a fun host for the duration. He talks quite a bit but keeps it interesting and makes some maybe slightly off the normal plan stops – we don’t get back til 6PM vs the planned 5PM return. We learn about the bus; originals were built by White with bodies built of oak clad with metal (doors still are originals – riders are not to open or close them). Current chassis and engines were rebuilt and sport Ford engines – originally gas or propane now all run only on gas. There is a prototype electric one being trialed, not on the tour circuit here yet. We learn about the Amtrak station and the lodge, Built by Great Northern Railroad using huge pines hauled in from Oregon by train. It is cool looking – slight disappointment learning that the great columns in the lobby nowadays are some sort of posts clad in pine bark.
On to the real ride. We circle around the south side of the park on US 2. Todd relates stories and points out mountain vistas at stops along the way. We pass Chief Calfcoat Mountain and hear Blackfoot stories as related by Todd. At Goat Lick we stop to stretch our legs and look for goats (no luck today either). Before long we make the turn onto Going to the Sun Road. We stop near Apgar Campground to stroll among cedar trees and learn of the microclimate here that supports them and why they are frequently found growing in straight lines – it’s all about nursery logs. We bump through the construction zone to McDonald Lodge by noon where we enjoy our picnic lunch by the lake. There is a stop along McDonald Creek, views of the Continental Divide arête and its missing tooth, we pass the weeping rock wall of waterfalls, and take a stroll at Sun Point to overlook St Mary Lake. Along the way we get a nice look at an impressive big horn sheep but he is there and then gone so fast we don’t get a picture. We are back an hour late but worth every minute. It has been a great no stress way to see the park.
We relax in the lounge at Glacier Inn for a few then make our way back to Apgar after a full day. We are just putting our feet up when a low rumble starts. The Going to the Sun paving crew is just outside of the campground and the equipment literally makes the ground vibrate. As we head off to bed the rumble is becoming fainter as they move on down the road away from us.