The potato has landed!

I'm home! I left Gillette, WY on Wednesday and headed to Devil's Tower. It is a very cool sight and the sheer size is hard to describe. It's one heck of a monolith shoved up out of the earth, and to put it into perspective, I'm posting a pic of a climber to show just how big those vertical troughs really are. Of course I think the climbers are nuts, but that's beside the point.

I then drove to Rapid City, SD so I could check out Mt. Rushmore and the Crazy Horse Monument, and it was there I reached my saturation point for dealing with people. It seemed that everywhere I turned, somebody wanted my money and I was fed up with all the other A-holes on the road. The ones that really grind my butt are the ones driving foreign cars, all decorated up with patriotic themed bumper stickers...grrr! It was time to come home. I got up Thursday and hit the road, not stopping for anything but gas and food, etc. until I got past Chicago, almost 1,000 miles later. I grabbed a couple hours of sleep in the van in a truck stop parking lot and hit it again for home. Needless to say I was extremely happy to see our little town of Durand. Showering and sleeping in my own house was great!

I had a great vacation, but it is nice to come home too! Needless to say I don't think anyone will be particularly interested in reading about my day-to-day activities now that I'm home, so the blog is going on indefinite hiatus--maybe I'll restart it for my next vacation. Adios.

Starting the trip home

I didn't go very far on Monday--just to Great Falls, MT, where I got the van serviced in preparation for the trip home, and to the CM Russell Museum. The museum was very interesting, seeing the art and environment it was created in during the late 1800's and early 1900's. It was very obvious in some of his paintings that he did not like the "horseless carriages" that were just getting their start. He even had his hearse pulled by a pair of horses after he died. Everyone knows of Remington as a western artist, but Russell was very good and well known in his day too.
Drove to Gillette, WY on Tuesday. Had a little trouble finding a room because the National High School Rodeo Championships are in town. (A bit of a culture shock there) Lots of young rodeo wanna-be stars swaggering around, still wearing their bib numbers on their backs, trying to impress the girls I guess.
Anyway, if the weather cooperates, I plan on seeing Devils Tower and Mt Rushmore, but right now, it's looking like it's going to be a crapshoot, cloudy with showers and thunderstorms in the forecast. I guess the only way I'll know is to get a move on and see what it's doing when I get there.

Grand Finale at Glacier!

Well folks, today was my last day at Glacier National Park. I have been here for eleven days and it's been great. Today I took a 12 mile hike with Tom and Betsy, the local couple who befriended me on my hike to Apgar Lookout, and invited me to accompany them today to Huckleberry Lookout. It includes a nearly 3,000 ft. elevation change, but also included some of the most magnificent scenery I have encountered yet here at the park. At the top is the ranger fire lookout, and from there the mountains are visible for a range of 360 degrees--spectacular!

At about the one mile mark, we were walking and talking when I happened to look down the slope about 10 yards and noticed black fur. Then it moved and I realized I was seeing a small black bear from behind. I got Tom and Betsy's attention and as we looked back up the trail we had just covered we saw the Mama bear we had already passed contentedly feeding, seemingly paying no attention to us. They were close enough that my instinct was to grab the Bear Spray not the camera. The expedient move seemed to be to move on, so we did, our hearts beating a little bit faster than they were before. The rest of the hike was relatively uneventful, save for the spectacular scenery until we got to the same area on our return. Of course, we were especially vigilant, which was a good thing since there was a large black bear (male, we think) about 20 yards upslope from us. This time Tom had spotted him and was ahead of Betsy and me, and he motioned to let us know the bear was up there. I got out my camera and got 3 shots off, all of which he was partially obscured by the brush, but I am posting the best one here.

What a way to end my trip!

They have waterfalls in Montana

Go figure, huh? Today I took it kind of easy, going to see 2 waterfalls, neither of which were major hikes, but the new thing is that I used the park shuttle system. It's a system of large and small buses that run specified routes (only the small buses go up to Logan Pass from the west), so there were several transfers for me to get where I needed to go, but it allowed me to see more of the scenery than I have been able to up until now. I even saw a trail I think I would like to try Sunday if my hike with the local couple doesn't work out. I'm still waiting to hear back from them if the Huckleberry Lookout hike is still a go.

While I was waiting for my bus transfer on the way back today, a wedding party showed up at Logan Pass. It seems thay were going to hike up to the Hidden Lake overlook to get married, then ski down afterwards. From what I hear, it's a fairly common occurrence here, but it sure struck me as bizarre to see the bride in her white gown pulling on ski boots and carrying her skis! Check out the picture!

Kintla Lake

When I first conceived of the idea of this trip and began researching, one of the places that I thought looked most beautiful, and that I needed to make a point of seeing was Kintla Lake. Today I managed to get there, although it took a long time, driving over washboard roads at 10-15 mph and sometimes having to crowd off the road to pass oncoming traffic. It was a very primitive roadway, but the lake and the area around was well worth the drive. I didn't hike too long, maybe only 2 or 2 1/2 miles, because I wanted to see Bowman Lake too, since I was in the area, and the 12 mile detour would take another hour for sure. Unfortunately, there was a huge tree down near Bowman and there was no way I could get to the lake without parking the van and hiking in. Then the van would have been in the way of the tree crew that was trying to clear the way for the people on the other side, so it was a no-go for me.

I did manage to find the answer to an age-old question: "Does a wild bear shit in the woods?" I have photographic evidence which I am posting here that yes, indeed, they do shit in the woods (or on the trail, or the road, or wherever they want to--I mean, who's gonna stop them?). Have a good day, folks!

2 Day Post

Since I was lazy yesterday and didn't post anything, I guess I'll update for both days. Yesterday, Wednesday, I took it pretty easy, not even leaving camp until noon. I went to a place called Trail of the Cedars, which is just a short nature walk through an old-growth forest of cedars, hemlocks, black cottonwoods, and western larch. The signs said that there hadn't been a fire there since the 1500's, and I can believe that--there were cedar trees that were 5-6 feet in diameter at the bases. Very interesting and informative walk...easy too! On the way back to my van, I spotted a small doe having a snack not far from the road. She was obliging enough to stay put while I took a couple of pics, and even changed lenses. By then she had gone over a little ridge, so I followed and snapped probably 20 more shots of her and even talked to her a bit--she is obviously accustomed to humans!
Today I did a more strenuous hike, going to Apgar Lookout. This was 3.7 miles one-way (7.4 total), and had an 1800 ft. elevation gain. I met a couple at the trailhead and later caught up with them on the trail, and they let me tag along with them, especially after I told them my tale about surprising the bear on Tuesday. They are locals, and pretty amazing people--she is "almost 68" and he is 72, and they are still out here hiking 2 or 3 times a week! Granted, they are not setting any speed records, but they aren't trying to, either. I'm going to post a shot that I took from the top of Apgar.
It's warmer today than it has been, probably in the mid 80's. Nice, except now all the damn flies are out and active. They're driving me nuts as I sit here trying to type this. Arrrgghh!!!

Another 12 mile hike

Tuesday I decided to hike along the west shore of Lake MacDonald, a long narrow lake. The area where the trail runs is through a forest that burned in 2003, and is now starting over toward growing the next generation of forest. There are still a lot of dead trees standing--probably more than have fallen--and the new growth is pretty much all low level as the new trees compete for sunshine to fuel their growth. Some of the trees look very bizarre. Since height is the name of the game for trees here, most of the branches and vegetation is near the top. This makes for a skeletal appearance to the forest, especially when the undergrowth is sparse. In some places, there are a bunch of fallen trees, all in different directions, giving the appearance of a gigantic game of Pick-up-Sticks. Others are still standing, but with the trees dead, there is nothing to hold the bark on and consequently there are slabs of bark lying around the base of the trees like skin from a molting snake. Still others are twisted and broken in such a strange fashion that it makes you wonder what forces would make it break that way.
I was contemplating all those things as I was on the last leg of my hike, strolling quietly along, when I heard a nearby crashing sound. Looking that way, about 25 yards away, I saw the wide furry brown butt of a bear that I had surprised making tracks to get away from me. I am certainly glad that it wasn't a Mama with cubs thinking I was some kind of a threat, and I am equally glad I left my picnic basket costume at home, too!
Needless to say, after giving that bear a few minutes to vacate the area, I continued on my way back to the van, making lots of noise in the process. I was talking to myself and the bear (who I nicknamed Gentle Ben--wishful thinking, maybe?), and singing (don't ask--it's not something you want to hear!), and doing anything to make noise so I didn't startle any more bears.
Consequently, today I think I am going to stay a little closer to civilization and rest up a bit. I was plenty tired before seeing the bear, and the adrenaline rush burned a lot of energy too. By the way, no pics of the Gentle Ben--he was out of sight in about 3 seconds flat, long before I had my first cohesive thought!

What a small world

It's been quite a day today. I have met a whole bunch of people from Michigan today in the course of my travels. First was a couple from Flint who were right behind me at a road construction site on the Going To the Sun road (the only road that goes across the park east-to-west). At the next road construction stop when everybody was once again out of their cars taking pictures and shooting the breeze, a woman from a few cars back walked up wanting to know where we were from--she was from Fenton.
This evening after getting settled in my new campsite, I had a craving for a cheeseburger, so I went to the Glacier Grille to take care of it. Sitting next to me at the bar were a couple of young guys who work out here seasonally running rafts on the river and doing guided fishing excursions. One guy is from the Traverse City area and I think the other said he was from the Grand Rapids area, and they were both very helpful and informative in pointing me toward some day hikes I might want to consider.
As we were talking, a couple from the Irish Hills area spotted my Porkupine Mountains hat and introduced themselves. Finally, as I was getting up to leave a guy at the adjacent table called me by name--he had overheard me introducing myself to the two guys at the bar, as well as seeing my van outside with a sticker from the dealer in Hillsdale where I bought it. There were a half dozen at that table all from the Coldwater area!
So I just have one question: how many people are still in Michigan?

I've moved

Okay folks, it's Monday the 12th and I've moved my campsite to a KOA in West Glacier. It's a pretty nice place--even has trees! I've never been a big fan of KOA because they are usually just carved out of some farmer's field, but this one was built in a woods.
I did a 12 mile hike to Medicine Grizzley Lake yesterday that taxed me a bit. I was huffin' and puffin' more than once on the hills and plenty tired by the time I made it back to my van at the trailhead. The lake itself probably wasn't worth the hike, but it was more about the journey than the destination. It was a nice little lake, surrounded on three sides by mountains that all had streams and waterfalls feeding the lake, which in turn fed a stream that I parallelled most of the way in. On the way out, I got rained on for about 3 miles, but guess what--I didn't melt!

Kickin' my butt!

The mountains that is! I hiked about 8 1/2 miles yesterday, of which 2 1/2 was fairly level and the rest was either uphill or back downhill. When you combine 1000 foot of climb with the altitudes it's definately a real workout. You feel really insignificant out there in the mountains--I know that my pics and video won't do them justice when I get back home. At the same time, I don't think I would want to live here, either, because I think it would be too easy to take these majestic mountains for granted, but they sure are nice to visit! I've resized some pics, hoping to have more success in posting them here. I saw mountain goats on Thursday and a bighorn sheep Friday, but so far no bears, moose, or elk.

First hike in Glacier

Planned on spending the day mostly driving around the park and acclimating myself--which I did--but when I got to the Logan Pass visitor center at the top of the Continental Divide I saw a hike listed to Hidden Lake overlook. It was only a 1 1/2 mile one way hike over mostly snow. The climb was about 450 feet, so I decided to tackle it. Only thing was, the starting point was over 6600 feet. I was huffing and puffing all the way up! Saw a few mountain goats who weren't camera shy at all, as well as a marmot along the way. Haven't seen any critters that can eat me yet, though!

Made it!

I rolled into St. Mary MT about 6:00 pm local time, got myself a campsite and had my basic camp set up by 7:30. I'm at the very back of the campground with some birch trees covering the drop-off my tent is backed up to. Within the first hour of being there, I spotted a fox trotting across the road about 30 yards away. He stopped like he saw some food and gave me the opportunity to grab the camera for a couple of shots (not very good shots because it was almost directly below the setting sun). I am posting one.

The total mileage was almost 2000 miles in getting here and the van did very well, getting me 16+ mpg. A long ride but I think it will be well worth it.

Montana!

After 2 days of steady driving, I entered Montana yesterday. The first day was rain from the time I crossed the Macinac Bridge until I parked for the night in western Wisconsin. Yesterday consisted of passing through Minnesota (very pretty state--rolling hills and lots of lakes) and North Dakota (very flat, but with a 75 mph speed limit). I did make a detour in ND though, to see what they called the "Enchanted Highway". A local artist has done some huge metal sculptures (30-50 feet tall--I'm posting a pic of the one visible from I-94) and they are stationed along a 30 mile stretch of desolate road to bring tourist dollars into their town. I thought it was a pretty novel idea, as they really attract a lot of attention.

I also stopped at Painted Canyon Visitor's Center at Theodore Roosevelt National Park and snapped a few pics.

I plan to get to Glacier today and get a base camp set up.