September 9, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Staying on the East Side of Glacier

On Wednesday we took our time moving from Fish Creek to the St. Mary’s campground on the East side of Glacier. It was Deb’s idea to split our vacation week between two different campgrounds in Glacier, and it was a good one. Not only did we get to experience both sides of the park, but the two campgrounds had a totally different look and vibe. St. Mary’s is very open, good for solar, and has an absolutely breathtaking view of the mountains from almost every site.

View from our site. The clouds are obscuring the mountains, but when they cleared…WOW!

Plus, bears. Yes, the campground is full of “service berry” bushes and the bears just love to munch on them. We got a very serious talk on bear safety when we arrived, and throughout our stay there were numerous bear sightings by rangers and fellow campers, throughout the campground. In fact, our original sites that we reserved were in a loop that they closed due to excessive bear activity! We didn’t see the bears initially as they come into the campground at dusk and dawn, but you could hear horns from parts of the campground whenever they were seen. The rangers use negative conditioning; loud noises and if necessary shooting them with a bean bag gun, which doesn’t hurt so much as irritate them, but the bears couldn’t resist the berries and just kept coming back. I have to be honest, I was incredibly unsettled. It’s one thing to be on a hike or wilderness and be “Bear Aware” but to have to worry about it when you step outside your rig is a different story. Our site, Loop C #107 was on bear path central and we saw pretty big piles of bear poop everywhere.

This was two steps away from our stairs. See the berries in it?

Service berry bushes everywhere

This nice big present was next to our rig one morning…unnerving.

Wednesday, we got settled into the area and went to the local grocery store. It was a small one and the prices were absolutely crazy but they did have some outstanding Huckleberry ice cream which sort of made up for it. Steve and I are obsessed with Huckleberries and tried everything we could find that had Huckleberries in it. It turns out because of the fires the crop had been small this year and the prices were $75 a quart so everything huckleberry had a high price (ie: $45 for a whole pie) , but we didn’t care. We were huckleberry crazy. Plus Steve shares my love of a good gift shop and there are many of them on the Eastern Glacier side, so we munched and shopped our way through East Glacier. In our defense, we kind of had to because the weather turned. It rained on Thursday, Friday, Saturday, and Sunday and although we would go out and see things during the lighter rain periods we weren’t up for doing any big hikes. The rain actually caused tons of snow up in the mountains and my pictures changed from rocky tops, to snow-capped mountains as the week went on. Poor Deb, who just wanted to go on hikes, had the worst of it, but it was no picnic for Lee and I either. For the first time we had limited battery power, no internet, and very cold rainy temps. We actually talked about moving on at one point, that is what the lifestyle is about after all, but Lee wanted to wait it out, so we stayed. I am glad we did, because despite the crappy weather we managed to squeeze a few things in and they finally lifted the fire ban so the last two nights we got to have a campfire with Steve and Deb. As a side note, Steve and Deb stayed an extra day and on Monday they finally got to do the hike she wanted to Iceberg Lake. It was 5 miles each way through Grizzly country and they had a wonderful time, but you’ll need to read Deb’s blog to get the details on that!

Anyway, I’m jumping ahead.

Thursday was the best day and we decided to get breakfast first. This really great local diner had huckleberry pancakes for $4.95 and the absolute best bacon I have ever had in my life. That’s saying something since I love my bacon, but it was thick and local Montana bacon and so yummy. Our waitress was also very friendly and we talked to her about Many Glacier versus Two Medicine. When she said Two Medicine was the less visited I got interested. When she said there were some great falls there, I was sold.

The Park Cafe

Huckleberry Pancake

Totally yummy Montana bacon

We headed out straight from breakfast in the hopes of beating the worst of the rain and drove to Two Medicine. Along the way we stopped to take some pictures of the lake and I saw two white crosses down a hill. We walked down a path and saw the crosses with bronze plaques on them stating that members of the Blackfeet tribe had their ashes scattered there. It was a beautiful place and I can see why there families chose it.

I absolutely loved Two Medicine. The drive was great and a short walk down a flat nature trail took us to some of the most unusual falls I have ever seen. Running Eagle Falls was named after a real Native American Woman who was a warrior for the Blackfeet tribe. This is very unusual and because her spirit quest took place on top of the falls they have been named for her. What is unusual about the falls is no water comes from the top. Instead the water comes from underground and out of the falls. We actually met a young man who was there spreading his best friends ashes on the site and he told us he had been up top many times and it is just a rocky field. Really neat experience and I really liked the nature trail itself which had signs showing how the local tribes used various plants and trees for medicinal purpose.

The Story of running eagle

The Running Eagle Nature Trail had several of these

On Friday it rained almost all day and we took the day off. It’s been a lot of running around and I just needed a day to chill. We read a little, watched TV during generator hours, and basically vegged. Unfortunately, Saturday wasn’t much better and our tempers were getting a little frayed. Freezing cold rain has got to be my least favorite weather, I’ll take snow over that any day, and the only thing that salvaged the day was the fact that we finally got to have a fire. We had a tiny break in the rain and started one after dinner which was great, but the night was unfortunately cut short by more rain. We drove over to Many Glacier to check it out and found some really nice falls a short way in. Those pictures turned out fine, but it started to rain harder and despite my umbrella but I was super worried about the camera getting wet. We did stop at the lodge in Many Glacier which has a Swiss Alp theme for some hot drinks and Steve and I enjoyed another really cool gift shop, but the rain cut the day short. The high point of my day was I finally found the perfect Glacier T-Shirt with huckleberries and a snow-covered glacier mountain. As a side note, I have been trying to buy a T-Shirt in every really cool place we have been, with the hopes of eventually making a quilt of my travels. Sue can hopefully teach me how.

Overcast day

More clouds

The Lodge

Deb getting warm by the cool fire pit in the center of the hotel

One bear we saw

More clouds…pretty though.. Lee took this pic

Finally on Sunday things started to clear up. The day dawned bright and we decided to go back to Many Glacier. The skies were clear and we got some beautiful shots plus saw some more bears high on the hill. If you go to Glacier and want to see bears from far away, Many Glacier is the place. Just drive along the road until you see people stopping and looking and have them point out the bears. Both times we went we saw more than one. Nothing as cool as our up close encounters earlier in the week but still neat to see.

The rainbow that greeted us Sunday morning

Much clearer day

Immature Sheep or Goats not 100% sure. I think they are sheep because of their coloring

Another bear

This potential bear caves were really cool

These possible bear caves were really cool

It was a much better day and we had a great dinner of Alligator stuffed chicken. Yes it’s true, Deb and Steve had bought it in Louisiana and cooked it for us, so yummy, and another campfire. Right after dinner I heard a car horn going off and walked down to the rig to get my camera, just in case. There less than 40 feet from me by our rig was a 400 pound grizzly bear. I stood there with my mouth hanging open and I swear he turned his head and smiled at me! Then he ambled on his way straight into a deep bunch of bushes behind our rig. It was an absolutely amazing moment and even though I didn’t have my camera it will forever be etched in my mind.

We had a great time with Steve and Deb and look forward to seeing them in Arizona this winter, but on that high note I was happy to leave Glacier and move on to our next adventure in Susanville, CA. Lee starts his first work kamping job and we get to sit in one place and be on full hookups for two months. Not going to lie, I need a little down time, and although I did better than I thought I could with no hookups for almost a month I am ready for some nice, long hot showers!! Still, I will absolutely miss the view.

Campground Reviews

St. Mary’s Campground St. Mary’s, MT 4 out of 5 pine cones

Outstanding views and clear spaces for solar which is important because there are no services at the site. Water spread throughout the campground. but the pressure was so high it broke our water thief device. Good dump station and very attentive staff. The big draw here is the bears. The campground is full of berry bushes and there were several bear sightings in the campground throughout out stay. One of the loops was even closed due to bear activity. The rangers and hosts keep a close eye on everything, but I would not recommend if you have small children.

Recipe

Skillet Green Beans

1-2 pounds of green beans
4 TBL butter
4-6 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
salt
sugar
1/2 cup water

Melt butter in large skillet over medium-high heat
Add thinly sliced garlic cloves and cook stirring frequently for 2 minutes
Add trimmed green beans and a few pinches of sugar and salt; cook 2 minutes
Add 1/2 cup water, cover, cook until tender about 6 minutes
Uncover and boil until the water mostly evaporates about 1-2 minutes
Serve

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September 7, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

Going To The Sun Road

Tuesday turned out to be a beautiful day, with blue skies and white puffy clouds. When we saw the weather we immediately changed our plans and decided to drive the Going to the Sun Road again. Wow was this the right decision as with the weather we got some of the most beautiful pictures I have ever taken. I will say this. Once before you die you should be on this road. It is like nothing I have ever seen and if you’re not comfortable driving it, they have multiple car tours that will drive it for you. Plus we had a very close encounter with a bear cub that was amazing. Just the perfect day, but I am definitely going to let these pictures speak for me. Oh and Deb asked me to make the pictures bigger. I may give that a try on some of these …let me know what you think.

As we were going up towards Logan’s Pass a short line of cars was stopped. There was a bear cub walking on the wall and people were trying to give it space but it was incredibly narrow and there was nowhere to go. I was particularly impressed by the motorcyclist who backed up as far as they good. Finally the bear went over the wall and I got some great shots of it with the telephoto lens. Very cool!!

Motorcyclist backing up

Bear on the wall

We got some great shots of vistas that were partially obscured the last time we came. It’s definitely worth doing this on more than one day and make sure you drive it both ways as the views change with the light and atmospheric conditions.

Loved this rock, looks like an ice cream scoop carved it out

Nice shot of one of the glacier’s

The waterfalls were running because we had some rain

The parking lot at Logan’s Pass was too full to stop so we drove right past it to a pull off and Lee found us this great place to eat right by a waterfall.

After lunch we were in uncharted territory and headed down into East Glacier. I was surprised by how different the landscape looked and although I think I enjoyed the views in West Glacier more, East Glacier has more hiking trails that go to the glaciers and more bear activity, but more about that in later posts.

Great waterfall right off the road where Steve got wet 🙂 Love his adventuresome spirit

Great views of the sunlight glinting off the glacier

We enjoyed the ride and took the road all the way to the end. On the way we saw our first fire damage, which we found out later had happened about a month ago. It was good to see the forest coming back, but sad to see so much damage. The water in the background is St. Mary’s lake and is absolutely beautiful.

At the end of the road we checked out the campground we would be staying at starting Wednesday. When we got there we were told because of high bear activity they had closed our loop and we would need to move to C. There were only 4 spaces that would accommodate our Open Range or Deb and Steve’s Montana, but we found ones that worked (again more on that later). We also discovered absolutely no ATT, so we had no data for several days which is why this post is so delayed. I’ve been taking pictures like mad though, and if you’ve been reading for a while I am sure you know I hate to get this far behind, so I will playing catch-up as we travel to Susanville, California for Lee’s first Work Kamping job. Anyways, it was an absolutely fantastic day and we were all so glad we took advantage of it because the weather was never this nice again. They actually got some snow in Logan’s pass and closed it for two days the following week, so my best advice is whatever you have planned, rearrange it and spend the nicest day on the Going to The Sun Road. You won’t regret it.

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September 2, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

First Real Hike in Glacier

I should start this post by saying I have taken many a wander in the woods in my life, but really only been on a few hikes. The difference in my mind is when you need to “pack up”. Since Deb has been hiking her entire adult life, I really wanted to try it with her and Steve and she picked an “easy” hike to start. Be really careful here. Everyone’s rating system is very relative and what’s easy for some, not so easy for beginners. Plus of course your physical state comes into play so for a couple of out-of-shape smokers the bar for easy is pretty low. Also for me the content of the hike is important. I have no interest in hiking for the sake of hiking. I am trying to get to the thing I want to see and hiking is a necessary evil to get there. This may change as we get more experience, or maybe not I only went diving to see the fish, but when your reading this I wanted you to understand the perspective I am coming from.

First I wanted to share what we put in our pack. Most things in my pack came from discussions with Linda, but I have thrown a few extra things in for my comfort. Ask 20 people what to put in a pack and you’ll get 20 different opinions, so my overall thought here is put what you can comfortably carry and what gives you peace of mind. So I carry a “pee pack” which has a Ziploc bag, wet wipes, hand sanitizer, and emergency feminine products. I have at least two power bars, waterproof matches, a compass, water purifying pills, and a mosquito head net. Also a first aid kit I made up that includes antiseptic, band aids, an ace bandage, ibuprofen, and cortisone cream. All of these things are probably overkill to some, but they weigh next to nothing and give me peace of mind. I’ve added two items that are a little bulkier that I am still on the fence about but for now we carry a cold compress and a fingertip wire saw. Here’s how I look at it. What would I need if someone was injured and we had to stay in a location for a while until help came. Is it likely? Absolutely not, but the extra pound or two is worth the peace of mind. The big weight items are lunch, bottles of water, and the camera with extra lens. I drink one 8oz bottle of water per two miles, so we definitely are going to need to get camel backs (back packs that have a water pouch in them) for longer trips. I have carried this pack once and Lee has carried it on another. We split the waters between us and whoever isn’t carrying the pack carries the camera. We absolutely haven’t figured all this out yet, but know we need better packs if we are going to do longer hikes.

So now that I have set the stage on with the hike. Avalanche Lake Trail is on the west side of Glacier and one of the most popular hikes. It starts out as the Trail of Cedars loop trail, which has a beautiful boardwalk and is wheelchair accessible. So you really get two trails for the price of one and if you don’t like to hike the Trail of the Cedars is definitely worth doing in and of itself.

Getting ready to enter the trail

Waterfall on Trail of the Cedars

Deep pool of super clear water at base of falls

As you are going along the Trail of the Cedars loop you will see a sign for Avalanche Lake Trail. This is a 4 mile round trip hike that I found moderately difficult because the trail was rough (roots and stones) and there were some points where the incline was on the steep side for me. BUT, you can go up the trail less than 1/4 mile and see this wonderful gorge. This part of the hike most people can do and there is no reason you can’t see the gorge and then turn around and go back to the Trail of the Cedars.

Loved this cut out the water had made over time

See the rock formations in the back so beautiful

I would love to tak credit for this pic but the settings were wrong on the camera and it was completely a happy accident

I would love to take credit for this pic but the settings were wrong on the camera and it was completely a happy accident

If you are able, you can keep going and hike to the Avalanche lake. The whole middle section of that trail is deep woods, which was interesting, but not interesting enough to take my mind off the hiking (just being honest here), but the end…well the end was like nothing I have ever seen in my life. When we got to the end I thought this is like childbirth. Painful, but so worth it at the end. So since I can’t possible explain what we saw in words, I am going to take you on a picture tour of the hike. These are in order so you can see it as I saw it.

The deep woods of the middle part of the trail

Avalanches cause these trees to fall every year

When I was close to my limit we saw this

When we turned the corner this is what we saw. Words and pictures simply do not do it justice

Many waterfalls on the back rock wall

Lee walked over to a log, closed his eyes, and simply absorbed the moment

The lake had a pink shore from all the rocks and turquoise water…so beautiful

Life always finds a way

When we sat down to eat lunch these cute little guys wanted a bite

Steve enjoying the views

It was 360 beautiful as this was the place we had come in

me, Lee, Deb, and Steve. It was windy so I definitely recommend ear protection

We walked all the way along the beach back to closer to the falls

This is where it got funny. We thought we might be able to make it through the woods and see the falls, so we picked a path and started in. By the way, this is not recommended as bears could absolutely have been in the dense woods. Lee actually took the lead though and we all sang songs to frighten the bears away. My favorite was when Steve, Deb, and I sang ACDC’s “You Shook me all Night Long.” Must have worked as we saw no animals, but unfortunately we couldn’t make our way all the way to the other side and finally turned back.

We walked along these rocks but there is also a path which I do recommend

The path we started on at the back of the lake

This is as close as we could get

The guys put their hand over the end and tried to get us to keep going

It was a beautiful ending to a tough hike and I definitely recommend it if you think you can do it. I am very grateful to Deb planning this and being so understanding about our pace. Also, to see something like that, off the beaten trail…well words cannot describe the blessing of that moment.

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August 31, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

First Time Seeing a Grizzly Bear

So funny story, there is more cell coverage in this beautiful National Park than their was in that crappy State Park we stayed in. But I am jumping ahead. Despite the stress of last week we did really have a good time with our friends Deb and Steve and Mario and Ellen. Every night we got together for joint meals and I was amazed at how easy feeding everyone was. We fell into an easy rotation where each couple took the main meal one night and then one other person provided a side of one kind to help. Lee and I love eating other people’s food and since Mario and Deb are such great cooks it was a really nice food week. Also it was great to reconnect with our Dreamers friends. Of the original group that got together at the RV-Dreams rally in 2014, Ellen and Mario were the last to go on the road, as she was waiting to retire. She’s a month in, and they are having a really good time, but still working through some of the mechanics of living in a rig. Even though they are long-time RVers it is very different living full-timing in an RV than taking long vacations and since we all learn from each other, it was great to share stories and advice. Ellen and Mario are headed to Yosemite while Deb, Steve, Lee, and I move on to more of Glacier, and I was so glad to spend time where our paths crossed and get to know them better. I learned how to use my timer on my camera for the shot below and thought the goofiness captured the spirit of the fun we all had together!

Ellen, Mario. Lee, me, Steve. and Deb being silly

Saturday, Steve and I were both off work, and since checkout time at the state park was at 1 pm we could really take our time. Lee and I actually prepped the night before, and went to a few stores in the morning. When it turns cold in the northern states, lots of products we used go on clearance, and since you can never have enough bug spray in this lifestyle we use this as a chance to stock up. So we bought lots of bug spray and new metal tiki torches at Target (on clearance) and then went to several stores looking for a new percolator. The boon docking overall has gone much better than I expected but we only have a small, cheapie camp style percolator for coffee in the mornings that I have to use a pot holder to pick up since the “handle” is just a ring that gets very hot. Since we love our morning coffee I really wanted to get this problem solved before tackling the next week. Unfortunately although they had them online we didn’t have much luck at Target, Walmart, or Bed Bath and Beyond so Lee finally recommended Cabela’s. Wow, was that ever a good choice. Not only did we find an awesome percolator I also finally found my perfect camp chair. The people who have hung out with me around a campfire know I have been in search of the perfect fold-up chair for over a year now. We started with the gravity chairs (which Lee loves and I hate) and have been limping along with canvas chairs we bought over 15 years ago. We spend quite a bit of time around campfires and for me, the chair matters. So I was $97 poorer, but richer in quality product when we left Cabela. Even though I am budget conscious, some things are just worth a little extra money, and I don’t regret these two purchases at all. On a side note, as I am linking these products I notice the online price was a little cheaper for the chair. I didn’t price match, because they were Cabela brand, but I bet I could have saved $10 if I would have used Red Tag. I really need to get into the habit of using that app!

Awesome rubber handle and large coffee holder capacity. (The image does not indicate proper usage of the percolator. Even a moron knows that’s not how you make coffee.-Lee)

Hard arms that flip up and a cool cup holder that swivels out on the bottom

When we came back, Steve and Deb were finishing their prep to leave, and we spent the last 30 minutes hitching up, etc. Coordinating with another couple on travel day could be stressful, and we have never actually followed another camper before to the next campsite, but Steve and Deb are very relaxed on travel day. I chalk it up to lots and lots of experience because they have moved quite a bit more than us over the last year on the road, and from the outside looking in, they have a very nice system. We are still working out the kinks in our routing, but we are definitely getting there, and we all stopped together at the local Cenex to dump and take on propane and fresh water. The campground we’re heading to has a dump station, and this is definitely dealer’s choice, but I like to dump prior to making the drive just in case you get to your destination and there is a problem. I just find it less stressful in general and Lee is fine either way so if possible we dump before leaving our current stay. The drive to Fish Creek Campground in Glacier was pretty short and we got there comfortably around 3pm. How different from Whitefish Lake!!

Lake McDonald next to campground

Lake McDonald

Cool rock circle someone made on the lakeshore

Huge downed tree we were fascinated by

Lee walked it, was around 75 feet long

Even though the park was very full, it was blessedly quiet, and the treed spaces give an illusion of privacy although you are very close to people. Plus 3 bars of AT&T and Verizon!! You wouldn’t believe the lengths Steve and I went to with our jobs to be totally disconnected for 10 days and it turns out wasn’t necessary. Crazy, and I have to say I am relieved, because we’re not crazy about the kids and our parents not having access to us for such a long period of time. We were in site B89 and Deb and Steve are in B92 across from us and although the pull through circular sites are a tight fit, we both got our 40 foot rigs in with minimal maneuvering. Unfortunately, we are still under a campfire ban, those poor tent campers are seriously hardy since night temps are down in the 50’s, but the solar is working very well. I should mention that Greg from RV Solar Solutions designed a solar solution for us that worked with our budget and our projected solar needs. So far it has worked out very well, and we have been doing a lot of experimenting on how long we can run certain items on solar. Yes, they are friends of ours, but believe me, I would have been mad if I was having major issues, but so far the system has been rock solid. All systems do require a learning curve though, who knew a toaster would suck up so much juice?, and we are using this time to learn. So far we have had excess capacity every night, except the one time we didn’t run our generator in the evening. Speaking of generators, our is propane and we used 3 tanks of propane in a 10 day boon docking period. That’s not awful, but Steve has the small gas-powered external generators and those seem to be more efficient. The major advantage to ours though is it can generate up to 50 amps whereas Steve’s can only do 15 (30 amp if he strings two together.) Anyway, it’s going pretty well, but this campground has very restricted generator hours. Essentially they are during meal times 8-10am, 12-2pm, and 5-7pm. The one time Steve didn’t turn his off on time he had a ranger knocking on his window at 7:02pm They take the generator hours very seriously here! I like it from a peace and quiet standpoint, but it can get a bit tricky if you are out all day, it kind of forces you to be back at the campsite from 5-7 and then really conserve for the evening hours.

We were all very happy though, and wanted to get out into the park right away. It was very smoky coming in, but Saturday night called for rain and we were all hoping that that would disperse some of the smoke. Months ago I saw a picture on Pinterest of “Pebble Lake” in Glacier and that was a must do for me. There actually isn’t a Pebble Lake here, but after some Google research Deb and I discovered the picture was taking at Kintla Lake. This lake is on the West side of the park and requires driving up a dirt road but we were all up for it. We took off at 9am, they were actually 2 minutes early gotta love that, and started the drive. The Inside North Fork Road was closed for a stretch so we were forced to the Outside North Fork Road but it was still beautiful. We had Glacier on one side and Flathead National Forest on the other. In any other place Flathead would have been amazing, but when you can look at Glacier by just turning your head it certainly came off as a poorer cousin. The houses that had both views though, one from the rear and the other from the front, were in an amazing spot.

Glacier Mountains

Flathead Mountains

Saw several of these signs along the way

The road less traveled

Lots of creeks and meadows, clouds were beautifully smoke free

It was a beautiful morning, with the best visibility we have had, so we took our time stopping whenever we wanted along the way. I loved that the views kept changing. Fire had come through here in the past and we saw the forest in varying stage of regrowth along with some beautiful prairies. This is how I always pictured Montana in my head and wow it was stunning.

Kintla Glacier close up

Kintla Peak and Kintla Glacier

The road by the way is variable. Some is paved, some is oiled dirt, and the closer you get to the Canadian border the rougher it gets. It was definitely manageable in our truck though and we saw several smaller cars going by. It is super bouncy towards the end though, which is kind of a good thing because it forces you to slow down and really look around. We were all on animal lookout of course, and Steve was dying to see a grizzly bear. We had made a joke that he tipped the ranger $15 to see a bear and kind of our running theme was “would we see bears?”. As we were driving along and looking at the beautiful views we came upon a really nice house, at a point in the trip where for a handful of miles it was private property as opposed to public land. There were some private residences on the edges of Glacier and as we were looking at one of the driveways I saw what I thought was two bear statues or plywood cutout silhouettes. After my brain registered what I was actually seeing, I told Lee to stop, and he backed up, and holy cow there were two huge grizzlies right in the driveway!!! They were looking straight at us from about 75 feet away and they stayed for a while until Steve got out of his truck upwind from them and they decided to wander off. It was truly truly an amazing moment, one I will cherish forever, and I definitely felt it was the universe’s way of saying, “yes this is tough but look at what you get to see…you are on the right path.”

My favorite pic

We think the little one smelled Steve 🙂 Only partially kidding here they have an amazing sense of smell and as soon as he got out of his truck it turned towards him.

Lifting it’s nose for a sniff. They moved off shortly thereafter

Closeup of the big one

You can clearly see the hump of the back which shows it's a grizzly

You can clearly see the hump on the back which shows it’s a grizzly.

A big clump of what I think was bear hair I saw much later in the day., I got out to check it and it feels like human hair

A big clump of what I think was bear hair I saw much later in the day. I got out to look and it felt like human hair.

The lodge that initially caught my attention. Nice view :)

The lodge that initially caught my attention. The bears were on the driveway

Since mating occurs between May and Mid-July (we think and) the mother’s and cubs stay together 2-3 years we think it was a mother and an older cub. This was a really great sighting because according to Western Wildlife.org “Grizzly bears have one of the slowest reproductive rates among terrestrial mammals, due to their late age of first reproduction, small average litter size, and the long interval between litters: it may take a single female 10 years to replace herself in a population.” All of us were incredibly excited and I was so happy that my hands stayed steady enough on super zoom to get the shot. In that moment, I felt really calm and very focused. And as Deb said, “That made our Glacier.” Not only did we get to experience it, but we got to do it with our really good friends. Plus Steve’s $15 tip really worked lol. That’s only $7.50 a bear…a bargain at any price! (I am kidding about the tip of course)

You might think the rest of the day was anticlimactic, but it was great in different ways. First we stopped at this little town called Polebridge (when I say town I mean 5 buildings and a street, and checked out their bakery and gift store. Steve and I are addicted to Huckleberry Bear Claws and these were amazing. Really cute store and we loved the little town in the middle of nowhere. Plus pastry yummy.

The one store

Working phone and mailbox

Little bit of everything and their prices were decent

Deb and Steve checking it out

I loved the individual bandaids for sale

Lee loved the lending library

Polebridge, definitely worth a stop

After leaving the town we also saw 6 deer at various stages along the road. The sixth was a cool buckling but I didn’t get a picture of it.

Lee’s picture, how awesome is that

In the meadow

Another pair in the woods

After another hour or so of we came to Kintla Lake. It was beautiful but unfortunately overcast by this time and I really wanted a picture with the sun out. We had a snack and watched the lake and Steve intentionally waited until we got a little break in the clouds and I got a few shots with the sun. Very sweet of him. We also saw what I think was an Osprey across the lake on the outer edges of my zoom limit. My favorite part of the lake and adjoining campground was it allowed no motorized boats and all the campers had tents. Even the camp host was in a tent, albeit a nice one. We were only 14 miles from the Canadian border and felt really remote, but it was nice to have a bathroom accessibly, lol. I took about a million rock pictures, I really do love rocks, and made another major check off my RV bucket list. If you come for Glacier I highly recommend staying at Fish Creek and making this drive. It’s long but so worth it, and if you have the chance do it with friends because it makes the experience so much more special.

Kintla Lake view to the right

The view to the left

Favorite rock shot

So much variety in the types of rocks

I could have taken pictures of rocks all day 🙂

With the occasional bird thrown in!!

So we headed back after a full day for some yummy steak dinner and a few games of Qwerkle. Next up: some hikes Deb has scheduled for us and hopefully some more animal sightings. So far this is a fantastic trip and I can’t wait to see what happens next!! And on a completely side note, our friends Bill and Kelly just completed their one year on the road. Here’s the link to an absolutely fantastic write up of their first year. She did a great job and congratulations you guys!!

Campground Reviews

Fish Creek Campground West side of Glacier National Park 4 out of 5 pine cones

Even though the park was very full, it was blessedly quiet and the treed spaces give an illusion of privacy although you are very close to people. We were in site B89 and Deb and Steve are in B92 across from us and although the pull through circular sites are a tight fit we both got our 40 foot rigs in with minimal maneuvering. Dump station and solid Verizon and AT&T coverage. restricted generator hours. Essentially they are during meal times 8-10am, 12-2pm, and 5-7pm. Well kept, well-managed, Showers available but only in Loop A which is a 5 minute walk for those in other loops. Keep in mind you need to by a $30 seven day parks pass (on top of your $23 a night fee), but we recommend the $80 America the Beautiful pass which is good for one year on all federal land.

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August 28, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

First Time in West Glacier

Sunday was the only day off I would have on this side of the park and since none of us had been here before we decided to drive the Road to the Sun. Everyone who has driven it raves about the experience and conventional wisdom was absolutely right. We drove to the park and saw that admission for a 7 day pass was $30 per car so we finally broke down and bought the America the Beautiful pass. The pass is pricey at $80, but since we would need to spend $30 twice for the two-week stay it made more sense. I have nothing against this pass, which offers free admission to all federal parks and lands for a year and I love the fact that when you hit 62 it’s $10 for life. I just don’t recommend it until you are going to be in some of the more expensive parks. We have been on several federal land areas and most cost $4 or less to enter. The big parks require more maintenance, however, thus the higher fees. We talked to the volunteer who sold us our pass about visibility and she said that it was pretty clear up near Logan’s Pass. We were relieved at least part of the drive would be good and of the group I was the most optimistic overall. It turns out I was right to be optimistic because although the smoke was bad early and late in the drive, in the middle when we hit some of the more spectacular views the conditions were at their best. There is no way though I could do the experience any justice in words, so let me just show you some of the pictures we took. Keep in mind when the picture is a little cloudy that was due to smoke, but overall I was thrilled with what we saw and the pictures I took.

At the entrance

The trees were beautiful and so green

Lake McDonald from the east side

We walked down to the water and I loved the rocks

McDonald Falls was amazing and one of my favorite parts of the day

We walked right down on the rocks and got some great shots

Deb came down on the rocks with Lee and I

I am standing on a rock which is why I am taller than Deb 🙂

The grooves in the cliffs were amazing. this is Lee’s shot

This is not enhanced. The sparkles are caused by mineral deposits in the water. For a rock lover it was amazing

Again not color enhanced, the water is this turquoise due to mineral deposits

Loved this mountain reminded me of Doom Mountain from Lord of the Rings

Lee and I

Since there were 6 of us we went in two cars and Steve, who was in the lead, stopped at any pullout that looked good or had several cars parked alongside. The signage is not as good as I have seen in other parks, so plan on stopping a lot along the way so you don’t miss anything. We also used walkie-talkies so we could communicate between the two cars. It worked well and I thought the pace was perfect.

I wish this view had been clear. Looked like a painting I had in college

Great lunch spot

The white on the top was ice. I loved this mountain too

VERY curvy road

There is a Hoary Marmot in this picture Ellen spotted

Flowers find a way everywhere

At about the halfway point we stopped at Logan’s Pass. There is a large visitors center with very limited parking and since a couple of popular hikes start near the center people stay parked for a while. We circled for quite a while but all the open spots were taken by smaller cars. Finally Lee said, “You certainly see a lot about humanity in a crowded parking lot” and just then a young man walked by and asked if we would like his spot. It was so sweet and he let us follow him then refused to leave the spot when a smaller car tried to sneak in. So relived we finally found a space I got out of the truck and immediately grabbed my jacket, ready to go. When Lee said, “Are you going to grab your camera?” I thought, somewhat annoyed, “Yes I am getting my camera as soon as I put my jacket on”, when he said, “Turn around.” Directly in front of me, standing at the front of our truck was a Bighorn Sheep. I just stood there for a second and then grabbed my camera and got some shots. I followed, it keeping back what I thought was a good distance when two rangers came running up. I found out later it was 25 yards for sheep and goats and 100 yards for bears and wolves. Apparently on occasion the sheep and goats ram people. It was so incredibly cool…I felt somewhat giddy during and after, and Deb, Steve, and Mario watched the whole thing from balcony of the visitors center. Unfortunately Ellen had already gone inside and missed the whole thing . It was such a great moment and I can say since I was so close they are absolutely beautiful animals. The horns are amazing.

I was standing on the near side of that car hood

Check out the horns

The rangers chased it off then stayed in the parking lot on watch for quite some time in case it came back

Mario, Deb, and Steve who saw the whole thing

Even though the wait for a spot took awhile, I absolutely recommend stopping at Logan’s Pass and not just for the sheep sighting!! The visitors center has some great educational material, a very nice, great gift shop, and volunteers who talk about the area and answer questions. Workampers maybe?? It’s also the starting point for the Hidden Lake Nature Trail, which has some nice views of the plateau. Bear, Sheep, and Goat sightings are not uncommon and Deb, Steve, and Lee saw some Rocky Mountain Goats. It is a steep climb though at high elevation and Mario, Ellen, and I decided to stop about half way and just enjoy the view. The goats were closer to the end at the lake.

Ellen, Mario, and Deb starting on the trail

This is the view you walk towards

Since it was starting to get late and a little smokier we decided to head back. We decided we would and drive the other half of the Sun Road when we were on the East side of the park next week. On our way back down the mountain there was a little excitement though when a woman on a motorcycle fell over going up the mountain. Luckily she was going slow (which was why she fell) and Lee who was the lead car stopped immediately to help her. She was fine but it was gratifying to see how many people stopped to help and she was embarrassed but gracious about the whole thing.

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All the guys helping with the bike

We all absolutely loved the Sun Road and it is a MUST do, but take a lunch and be prepared for a long day. It was one huge check on my bucket list and it absolutely did not disappoint. Can’t wait until next week when Steve and I are both on vacation and we can get deeper into the park.