We’re close to the Continental Divide at the southern end of Glacier National Park. Our room, at Bison Creek Lodge, is rustic – it has plumbing and electricity, a tiny kitchen. It is in the middle of nowhere. There is no phone or internet service. It is beautiful! The view of the Rockies is phenomenal. And I’m hoping there is some train traffic on the two lines just a half mile away. From here we plan to explore Glacier for two full days, and parts of two other days.
The drive here was short, just 108 miles – we took our time. The day started sort of late again, but we were packed and on the road (to the Echo Lake Café for the last time for brunch).
By noon we were fed and on the road - S-H was driving and I could sight-see and take pictures. It’s just so impressive, the mountains, snow, trees – even the roads and train tracks, bridges and everything are impressive. I’m sure I sound like a broken record, and I’ll continue to do so, but you should do this. First hand observation is the only way. Really.
Oh, a side story. We stopped in Columbia Falls to pick up some food for the cabin and car. While Sally-Heath was food shopping I took the boys to a park – it was cool in the shade. There was a young man sitting on the ground studying a book. He was wearing bright red pants that were well decorated – quite attractive (pants) really. After we had been there a few minutes, he got up and went to his car, returning with a 3 foot Iguana! He put the Iguana on the grass, in the sun. the Iguana never moved. The boys were curious at first, but they calmed down and settled into the grass as well. It’s not everyday you see an Iguana…and this was a big one!
Another thing – be sure to get a huckleberry shake as you go through West Glacier – we recommend The Huckleberry Patch.
After unloading and sort of organizing we decided it was time to explore a bit. Up to East Glacier Park, we checked out the ‘town’. It’s about 1 block long on highway 2 – I’m not sure what else counts. But it does have one trading post with internet for sale, so I check that out. It works fairly well, although it took about twice as long as it should to upload 9 photos. And it’s $4 an hour. But I can stay up-to-date with pictures and blog and email there. There are some restaurants in the area, and our cabin has a dining room for dinner (and breakfast).
Just across the tracks from town is the Amtrak station. We head over there, and just as we are parking a loooong freight train of apparently empty cars comes through. It’s just great! Whistle and all. What a marvel these steel machines are. We got a couple of pictures. I was curious – I still want to ride a train in the USA. The last time I remember, outside of Disney World, was when I went to Great Lakes Illinois in 1961 for US Navy boot camp! That wasn’t a good trip. And I certainly didn’t appreciate the train at that time! I used the train extensively in Japan, and they were great, not expensive, and ran a complete schedule that would support the needs of many people. So, I checked the cost and schedule of a round trip from East Glacier Park to Havre MT. The cost is $120 per person round trip. I estimate the length of the trip, one way, to be about 120 miles. There is one train per day in each direction. We can catch a train in the morning headed east, get off at Havre, wait about an hour, and catch the westbound to come back. Why did we pick Havre? It is the longest round trip we can get in one day from here. And it doesn’t matter if you take a shorter one – you still get back to East Glacier Park at the same time – there is only one train going west each day. Amtrak as a people moving system is woefully inadequate. ( S-H: Also there is another problem, only service dogs may board the train)
We didn’t purchase a ticket. We headed west to explore part of Glacier National Park, the Two Medicine area. It’s a fairly short drive, and what wonderful views of the mountains, and of Two Medicine River and Two Medicine Lake. We toured the campground there, it is very large and very nice, and tonight it is going to be very cold – 35 degrees! It already feels much cooler than the 68 it measures. Anyway, the area is just scenic scenic scenic - and much too huge to photograph. We’ll be back there for some hiking before we leave. But we can’t take the boys hiking in the National Park, so they will be short hikes. We have some longer hikes on tap for just outside the park, but we are only here for two full days, so I don’t know how much we will get done.
The drive back to our cabin is quick, about 25 minutes, and we’re HUNGRY! Quick as we can we get into the restaurant. The menu is good, and the food is inexpensive – we both have fish. Back to the cabin to fetch our bottle of wine. We met a couple of bikers from Canada, Doug and Don, and had quite a talk with them – a lot about dogs, hunting, biking, etc. They were fun, and we will probably hook up with them for our whole stay, in the evenings. After the great meal, we came back to free Jake and Woody from the CR-V. Don, Doug, and Molly came over to meet the boys, and we had a good play session, with the local Springer and Alii (King), an Akita. Our boys were full of energy, and played/ran hard. Luckily we were able to keep them close.
Now we’ve all folded our tents. I’m listening to music and typing this, Sally-Heath is studying park literature, and the boys have passed out for the night. My wine is calling. I’m coming! Goodnight.
No comments:
Post a Comment