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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April 2, 2015 by Lee and Tracy

Finding Campgrounds Isn’t Always Easy

I’ve spent quite a bit of time recently trying to book our travel, and I thought I would take a minute and talk about how challenging it can be, especially for a newbie. I knew from reading Howard that he spends hours finding really great campsites, but I guess I thought as long as I did X, Y, and Z, then I would find them too. The problem is that everyone’s situation is very unique and the more limitations you have, the more difficult finding campgrounds can be. At first I was really down on myself, thinking I was doing something wrong, or maybe wasn’t spending enough time on it, so I called my friend Deb who seems to be a genius at this planning, and spent an hour on the phone with her finding out exactly how she is doing it. I got some terrific tips, but I also realized that my restrictions and her restrictions were not the same. So I thought I would write down my steps (along with challenges) in the hopes it might help someone who is new to this as well. These steps start after you have determined an area of the country you would like to be in and a rough time frame.

1. Will you have cell coverage? Most of my work is done on the phone and although I don’t have to have 4G I need at least 3G for emails and conference calls. Deb told me about a terrific app called Coverage? made by a couple called Technomadia who have been working from the road for a long time. They have some great information on their website about finding campsites, internet on the road, boondocking, and many other topics, and the app was certainly worth the very reasonable $2.99 fee. You can select your carrier and the type of coverage (3G, 4G, etc) and it shows the area you are going to visit. Recently I spent quite a bit of time looking up campsites on the east side of Glacier National Park in Montana only to discover that the cell coverage for ATT is very spotty. Some people will buy a short-term coverage plan from another carrier in these situations but since my work phone is ATT, I always need ATT coverage.

2. Do they have sites you can fit into? As I’ve discussed before many of the older campgrounds are designed for 35′ trailers, or shorter, yet more and newer fifth wheels and Class A’s are 40′ -45′. If you have a longer rig it will significantly reduce the places you can stay. Many people downsize to a smaller rig because of this factor, but since we love ours and it’s here to stay we just need to be aware of this. Unfortunately the length information on many websites is either missing or inaccurate. Sometimes you can fit in a 35′ space in a fifth wheel because the back-end can hang over the pad, assuming there is no obstruction behind you. Sometimes campgrounds have a few sites that will fit 40′ or longer. The best websites list the footage by site, but those are rare and in some cases that information isn’t 100%. Calling the campgrounds to verify seems to work the best and I also use that as an opportunity to verify the cell coverage in Step 1.

3. What is your budget? Our budget is roughly $25 a day (sometimes we spend more and sometimes less), but we use that as our starting point and this is where length of stay comes into play. Some places have seriously discounted weekly or monthly rates and others are part of clubs like Passport America, Escapees, or Thousand Trails that significantly reduce the cost but only on certain days of the week or for a certain number of days. Also, contrary to what I used to believe State Parks are not always the lowest price. You can certainly make the case that they provide the highest value, but you also have to be extra careful the criteria for Steps 1 and 2 are met. Again, a phone call for this step is often valuable because they might have a monthly rate that they are not advertising on their website…many do.

4. Would you stay here? This is a very subjective question and very difficult to know if your aren’t there. Many people solve this problem by waiting to make reservations until they get to an area. This can work well if you have a high amount of freedom of movement and the willingness/ability to boon dock overnight if you can’t find a place. We are trying to schedule our travel days on the weekends and be settled during the week for my work. We also need to know at least a couple of months in advance where we will be so I can schedule work flights. I know most people don’t have these restrictions, but others may not be comfortable with a high level of ambiguity in their travel plans…especially not in the beginning, so these factors can cause you to make a decision with limited information. RV Park Reviews has been very helpful. I look for patterns of comments more than any single one and if nothing else it might give me pause and look farther down the road. Also, really good comments can solidify my decision. We also look at Google Maps, especially for long stays. You can see the area that surrounds the campground and then use what you see to ask questions such as…Is there traffic noise? How close is the nearest grocery store? It’s VERY easy to see on Google Maps whether a campground is a parking lot or a wooded area with water nearby. Those things can’t be fudged, but it won’t really show you what the tree height is so if you are in a bigger rig keep that in mind.

5. Do they have availability? Unfortunately you often go through steps 1-4 to find out they have no availability during the time frame you want to be there. This can be incredibly frustrating to get to the end and find that out, but I think it’s better than falling in love with a campground and then seeing it won’t work for you because of 1-4. You might feel differently and do the steps in a different order, but I would rather look at what I can have and discuss changing our travel times than look at what we can’t ever make work. I’m not much of a window shopper. Sometimes the availability information is on-line, but you need to be careful because it isn’t 100% accurate. If you are reserving through Reserve America or KOA (one of the big reservations sites) you’re probably ok, but with the smaller ones I tend to pick up and call and reserve over the phone. Plus many of the family owned campgrounds take only reservations over the phone. Some of these will accept credit card deposits, but others will only accept cash or a check in the mail. So they are holding the site until your check comes theoretically. This can be a little stressful until you get a confirmation the money was received which in some cases can take a couple of weeks. If you live in the area, these campgrounds are not hard to book, but doing it from another state can be challenging.

As I am going through the various steps I have numerous windows on my computer /Ipad open, because as I am answering the questions in the steps above I am going through the various campsites one at a time.

Have Coverage? open to see the area with a 50-100 mile radius
Check Ultimate Campgrounds for city/county/state/ federal parks
Check Recreation.gov for federal campsites which include Bureau of Land Management and Corps of Engineer sites
Check Passport America
Check Escapees Campground book for deals
Look at RV Park Reviews for trends in comments for sites you think are possibilities

So as I was sitting here writing this I thought I would go and try to book two weeks at Glacier Park in August. Because it’s a Sunday and still winter there I was unable to verify cell coverage and if we would fit. Kept going though because I was feeling pretty good about it and then picked a spot and got all the way down to the end and read the Park Reviews. First three reviews for St. Mary campground in Montana state very clearly that there was no ATT service. So that was two hours spent and I am just left frustrated at the end and frankly without the immediate energy to start all over. Shame on me…I should have followed my own steps.

So after taking a break …Deb called me and what ensued was amazing. I was working from the computer and desktop. She was working from her laptop and phone in the car while they were driving and between us we managed to coordinate a week together right outside of Glacier Park. It was fun doing it with Deb because it took some of the pressure off, and making decisions on what would work gave me a higher level of confidence. So happily I can report we are all set from Aug 22nd – 30th and then Steve and I will both be taking a week off from work so we can go deep into Glacier and not have to worry about cell service. Should be a ton of fun…miss Deb and Steve quite a bit and can’t wait to see them.

Lessons Learned

Don’t underestimate the complexity of planning your trips, especially if you’re new at it.
Don’t panic! You will figure something out, it may just take a while.
Figure out what your process is and follow it to avoid making yourself crazy.
Don’t skip steps as it will probably burn you down the road.
Planning with a friend is more complicated but can also be more fun as many hands make light work.

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