Glacier National Park

Its almost 9:00PM and we just breezed through the door having departed from Echtra Cabin nearly 12 hours ago.  Our target today was Glacier National Park and Logan Pass via Going To The Sun Road.  Due to the Howe Ridge Fire at the northern tip of Lake McDonald Going To The Sun Road is closed on the western side of the park.  And because of this the only way to get to Logan pass is for us to drive all the way around the bottom of the park on Hwy 2, then drive up to Saint Mary and enter the park from the eastern side.  So that's what we did.

Our weather was cool and partly cloudy, although by the time we actually entered Glacier it was solidly overcast.  Still, it was a nice day to be outside, especially having weathered a hot Georgia summer.  The trip to East Glacier village was scenic as the route ran alongside the Middle Fork of the Flathead River and through the Flathead National Forest.  About halfway to East Glacier we began seeing smoke and finally entered the area in which the Paola Ridge Fire is burning.  It has consumed roughly 1,000 acres at this point. We all began to notice the smell of smoke in the cab but turning on the re-circulation function of the AC system filtered that out quickly.

On our way to the park we encountered a traffic stop due to construction.  Manning the flag was a young native American man.  He approached each waiting car on the passenger side and explained the delay.  When he finished talking to us he made this incredible mime representing an Indian drawing an arrow from his quiver, nocking the arrow, drawing back the bow and releasing it.  It was a dance-like, completely fluid motion.  Two hours later, on our way back through, he saw us and repeated the movement...it was soooo cool.

Our first stop was to visit Glacier Park Lodge, an historic old lodge built in 1913 by the Great Northern Railway.  The lodge was built using massive Douglas Fir timbers measuring 40 feet in length and 42" in diameter.  The lodge only operates from May-September and sits empty throughout the remainder of the year...just a single caretaker to watch over her through the long, cold Montana winter. Spooky.

Approaching the park the drive offers an incredible contrast between the relatively flat, rolling prairies off to the east and the massive peaks that define Glacier National park.  There is virtually no transition between the two...the prairie ends, the mountains start.  As you ascend the mountains and look over your shoulder you'd swear you can see all the way to Chicago.

Glacier Lodge

From East Glacier we headed north to Saint Mary which is located at the eastern entrance to the park and the start of the iconic Going to the Sun Road.  We stopped at a hotel/grocery store/gas station and noticed a group of four young men sitting at a picnic table.  Karen chatted them up and learned that they had hiked/back packed all the way from Mexico and would finish when the reached Canada...a few days from now.

The first thing that you encounter upon entering the park is Lake Saint Mary off to the left. 

We finished our day in Whitefish at the Whitefish Lake Restaurant.  If our dinner the other night was expensive and mediocre, this dinner was reasonably priced and delicious and it was topped off with a world class waitress who'd waited tables at this place for 23years.Nice.

We headed up to the Echtra as the sun was setting and pulled into our drive at dusk. 

A great day.