Great Falls, Montana--August 30-September 3, 2008

The drive to Great Falls was interesting. The scenery changed as soon as we passed East Glacier. We were driving through the plains of Montana and they were plain! The road was relatively straight, but very hilly. As we drove through one town we saw a corral full of camels and in the one next to them were reindeer! There were cars behind us and no place to pull off, so no picture!

We arrived at Malmstrom AFB and checked in for the rest of the Labor Day weekend. We planned to leave on Tuesday. We explored the small air base--found the commissary, exchange, gas station, and outdoor recreation center. Most of the buildings on the base have been newly remodeled or rebuilt. It seemed very modern. The commissary and exchange were some of the smallest we have seen, but they carried the necessities.

Great Falls was an interesting town. It is where Lewis and Clark had to portage around the waterfalls (5) on the Missouri River. It took them almost a month to get all their boats and supplies around the falls.

We visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive Center on Monday even though it was pouring rain. This buffalo was in the entrance to the center.

Once inside the center, you walk the route of Lewis and Clark from their start near St. Louis to Ft. Clatsop, and back again. Along the way are artifacts, journal selections, and hands-on activities to give you an idea of the harshness and difficulty of their trip.

This is the Lewis and Clark Quilt. Everything on it represents a portion of their trip.

After leaving the center, we found the local Super Wal-Mart and looked around for a while. It was still raining and chilly.

Yes, it seemed the weather followed us from Glacier. It rained from Sunday morning through early Tuesday morning. We decided to stay until Wednesday morning as we didn't want to drive in the rain!

Bob found some geocaches along the river trail in Great Falls, so Tuesday was caching day. The first cache was located at the Veterans Memorial. Then, we drove to one of the parking areas and walked a portion of the trail. The trail in Great Falls follows both sides of the Missouri River from one end of town to the other. This tunnel took the trail under the highway and closer to the river.
At one point, there are several railroad cars surrounded by a deck. I wonder if they are used as sales points during the summer. There was a cache behind this car.
There were several picnic areas along the trail and we saw some locals arrive to eat their lunches before returning to work.Tuesday was a really nice day and we enjoyed exploring Great Falls while we hunted caches.

Wednesday it was time to get back on the road. Destination: Yellowstone National Park. I hoped we would leave the rain behind us!

End of Our Stay at Glacier--August 28-August 30, 2008

Thursday we planned to hike to Avalanche Lake. We knew we didn't want to take the shuttle from Apgar because catching a shuttle back to Apgar proved difficult the day we rode it. We drove to Trail of the Cedars trailhead and began our trek. We had hoped for a clear day, but the weather didn't cooperate.

We made our way halfway around Trail of the Cedars to reach the trailhead for Avalanche Lake. It was near Avalanche Gorge.

We took a few minutes for photos at the gorge before starting our climb to Avalanche Lake.As we neared the lake, we could see the mountains starting to enclose the area. Unfortunately, we couldn't see the peaks because of the clouds.
Once to the lake, we saw that the lake was enclosed on three sides by mountains. On the far end of the lake were five waterfalls! We couldn't get all five in the same picture.We took a moment to take our picture, but I have to tell you once we left the trees, the wind was howling!
We started to walk around the lake by the shoreline (which was all rocks).
As we neared the end of the lake we could see the detail of the base of the falls. It was a sight worth seeing.All the waterfalls eventually pour their water in to Avalanche Lake.We decided to take the foot trail back. It turns out the trail was very muddy and we would've been better off walking back on the rocks! We knew we were at the trail when we saw this sign! It looked like the trail continued beyond the lake, but it was just an animal path beyond the sign.The best thing about the return hike was that it was mostly downhill!

We returned to the car and headed back to our campsite. We needed to make a plan for Friday, our last day at Glacier NP.

Friday morning dawned clear and somewhat warmer. We were going to try Hidden Lake trail behind Logan Pass Visitor Center. There was a strong possibility that we would have to go to plan B if the winds were still howling at Logan as they had the day before (25-30mph with gusts to 50).

We drove the car to Avalanche Campground to catch the shuttle to Logan Pass. Shuttles to and from Logan Pass seemed to be more reliable!

As we rode up to Logan Pass we talked with two other couples on the shuttle--a retired army couple who just started full-timing and a couple from Denver who want to full-time when they retire. When we arrived at Logan Pass and got off the shuttle, the wind was blowing pretty strong--not a howl, but not to be trusted. We immediately looked for a bus going to St. Mary. Much to our surprise, there was one waiting for us!

Near St. Mary is a ranger station from 1913. A trail loops around from the station to Beaver Pond and back to the station. We decided to walk that trail. From the trailhead we had a good view of St. Mary's Lake.

Along the trail we saw several deer. We hadn't seen much wildlife at Glacier so this was surprising!The walk was not a very long one (about 2.5 miles). We had a picnic lunch with us so we ate looking out at the lake.After we ate we returned to the St. Mary Visitor Center to catch a shuttle back to Logan Pass and then change for one going to Avalanche. We didn't have any trouble with the shuttles and enjoyed the ride back to the car.

Once back at the car, we drove to the entrance to get a photo of the Glacier NP sign. There was too much traffic when we first arrived, but on Friday, no one was near and we got our photo.

We enjoyed our stay at Glacier--we wished the weather had been nicer, but maybe next time.

Saturday we packed up and were on the road again. Destination: Great Falls, Montana and Malmstrom AFB.

HIking, Rain, and Cold Nights--August 25-27, 2008

Monday was a cold morning, but the weather soon warmed. We chose two short hikes for our adventure. The first hike was John's Lake Loop Trail. It would take us past John's Lake, across Going to the Sun Road, past 2 waterfalls and back to the car. The trail started in a dense old growth forest.

We could see John's Lake, but there was no way to get close to it (too muddy) and the trees prevented a good picture.

Right after we crossed the road, we saw Sacred Dancing Cascade.
We crossed the bridge to continue to McDonald Falls.
Once we crossed the bridge, we were hiking on a multi-use trail. Horses were the other users so we had to watch our step! We stopped to explore McDonald Creek as we made our way toward the falls.
McDonald Falls were larger than Sacred Dancing Cascade! We enjoyed the tranquility of the area. Everyone else was stopping at the overlooks to see the falls. We were the only ones hiking.
Once we returned to the car, we headed to Trail of the Cedars. It was a nice boardwalk (wheelchair accessible) that wandered through the cedar forest for a .6 mile loop.

There were many benches for people to stop and take in the scenery and the sounds. As we neared the halfway point we crossed over Avalanche Gorge. The trailhead leading to Avalanche Lake was just beyond the gorge. We hope to hike that later in the week.
We returned to camp for lunch and some relaxation. The two hikes were about 3.5 miles. Early in the evening we hiked to the transportation center (1/4 mile) and then to Apgar for an ice cream treat. This would be the last nice day for a cool treat. The temperature again reached the low 80s, but that would be the last day that would happen until the weekend!

Rain and cooler weather was predicted for Tuesday and Wednesday. The weatherman was right! The temps at night dipped into the lower 40s and the heat came on before bedtime. We piled the blankets on and slept pretty good. Tuesday morning we turned on the generator as we didn't get enough solar to make up what we had used. With the generator on, we plugged in the electric heater and got toasty!

Tuesday was a good day to explore other places and keep warm. Whitefish was about 20 miles from Glacier so we took a drive. Whitefish had a nice downtown with interesting stores. We walked around, then sampled the offerings at Great Northern Brewing Company. The first sample was free! I tried Huckleberry while Bob sampled Buckin' Bronc. Bob ordered a pint of his sample and I sampled another--Highlander Ale. All was good then we heeded the bartender's advice and ate lunch at Downtown Pizzeria. We hadn't had pizza in a long time and the one we had was great.

It was still raining when we returned to the rv so we 'chilled' until later in the evening when the skies cleared. We walked along the path to Apgar and walked around the campground loops. Once the weekend crowd left, there were plenty of sites. About half of the sites taken are occupied by tenters--brrrrrrr!

Wednesday was cooler and just as rainy as Tuesday. Bob picked out some geocaches that were labeled 'park and grab' and off we went toward Columbia Falls. The rain continued and there was a definite chill in the air.

When we returned to the park early in the afternoon, a sign posted at the ranger station said the road to Logan Pass was closed. We inquired as to the reason and it was because the road had to be plowed! It snowed at the upper elevations Tuesday night! The ranger said as soon as the road was clear it would reopen.

We returned to the rv for a late lunch and bundled up to keep warm. We have been in a lot of cold this trip, but this is the dampest. I think it feels colder than when we were at Grand Teton National Park.

Thursday the weather is supposed to warm again. We'll let you know!

Our Journey into Glacier NP--August 22-24, 2008

We left the Silver $ Casino and headed toward Glacier NP. We took the scenic route--of course. We stopped at Polson, MT to view Flathead Lake.

We continued on our way after stopping at a Wal-Mart and not purchasing a thing--what a wonder! We were looking for bear spray, but they didn't stock that item.

We stopped again at a K-Mart in Kalispell and found the bear spray. We wanted to have it for the days we hiked in Glacier National Park. We also filled our propane tank as we didn't know if the weather would turn cool.

As we approached Columbia Falls, we decided that we were going to stay in Glacier for about a week and that we might need bread, milk and fruit before the end of that time. So, we stopped again--as had other campers since this is the last major grocery store before the park!

Once on the road we hoped there would be space available in Apgar Campground just inside the park from West Glacier. We were lucky enough to find a spot and set up camp. We weren't sure how our solar panels would work since we in an area of trees. We tried to find a spot with some sun. As it turned out, we didn't get much solar. All the campgrounds in Glacier NP are primitive--no hookups of any kind. We took the kayaks off the car since we knew we would be traveling Going to the Sun Road.

Even though we arrived late in the afternoon, we decided to go for a drive. We went to McDonald Lodge.

The lights in the lobby were interesting.
Each panel had a different painting.
After leaving McDonald Lodge we drove back to our campsite and walked to the village of Apgar. It was pretty much a tourist area though it had one of the many visitor centers in the park.

The weather was warm, even the first night didn't get too cool. We were able to enjoy our morning coffee outside for a change.

Since it was Joyce's birthday she wanted to go hiking. The plan was to drive Going to the Sun Road to Logan Pass and hike to Hidden Lake. As usual, plans are no good. We had heard many stories (white knuckle) about driving Going to the Sun Road. We can tell you it was not the number one White Knuckle trip for us. The top 7 White Knuckle Roads for us were:

7. Going to the Sun Road

6. Montana 49 outside Two Medicine, Glacier NP

5. The road through Douglas Pass, Colorado

4. The road in Colorado National Monument

3. Rodeo NM to Chiricahua National Monument

2. Utah 12 (Hogs Back Ridge)

and the Number One White Knuckle Road

1. Kentucky 1427

Going to the Sun Road is narrow, but at least it has a concrete wall that the other roads didn't have between us and the drop-off! Right now construction crews are repairing the 75 year old road so it is dirt and gravel for part of the way. It was also one lane near the Loop just south of Logan Pass! Here we were stuck in the lane of traffic waiting for the green light to travel the one lane portion of the road.

This was the one lane section. All along the road, the views were breathtaking. This is the Weeping Wall where water flows out of the rocks. It flows so much in the spring that the entire road gets wet. It wasn't much on the day we drove past.The three arches that support the road were said to have been the most difficult part of the original construction in 1932. Workers were lowered by rope to place charges to blast the rock to form the arches.
Many waterfalls could be seen from the road.
Once we got to Logan Pass Visitor Center we were disappointed that there were not enough parking spaces. More than 20 cars were cruising the parking lot looking for an empty spot. We finally parked in a reserved spot so we could go in for a few minutes and get some brochures. We knew we couldn't park there to go on a 3 hour hike!

This is the trailhead for Hidden Lake. We would have to do it another day.
When we returned to the car, we had a warning from the park service saying we had to move the car. We did and as we left, there were 5 other cars in line to try to get our spot!

We continued to drive Going to the Sun Road. We decided to hike to St. Mary's Falls only there were no parking places at the trailhead--bummer. We drove just a little farther and found a parking place at Sundrift Gorge. From looking at the map we saw that the trail to Baring Falls from this parking area met the trail to St. Mary's Falls at about the one mile point, so off we went.


Baring Falls was a short hike downhill from the parking area. To get to the falls, you walked over a tree trunk bridge.
The falls were nice, but we had more falls to visit on this trail.


As we hiked to meet the trailhead for St. Mary's Falls, we had a great view of St. Mary's Lake. Little Chief came from St. Mary Lodge with hikers going to the falls.

The trail followed the lake...


until it neared the creek which is on the right in this picture.

Once again there was a bridge across the stream.
Several hikers coming down the trail said that a little over 1/2 mile was another falls which was even better. So we continued on beyond St. Mary's Falls.
Along the way we saw many thimbleberry bushes. Some of the berries were ripe. Yes, they are edible and very sweet. We have seen thimbleberry bushes most of the summer, but this is the first time any of them were ripe.
Along the trail we passed two other small waterfalls.We finally arrived at Virginia Falls and it was worth the walk. We were able to get near the base of the falls. We spent a bit of time exploring the area around the falls before heading back to the car. Unfortunately, as we passed Baring Falls on the return trip, we missed our turn leading to the parking area. We found ourselves saying that the sights didn't look familiar. We checked the GPS and saw that we missed the turn by about 1/2 a mile, so we turned back and found the trail. If we had continued on to the next area, we could have caught a shuttle back to the car. We walked a total of 6 miles!


We finished our drive to the east end of Going to the Sun Road. We drove out of the park and followed the road that led around the park back to West Glacier. That is when we drove on Montana 49. It was a white knuckle ride because there was no guard rail and the road had some vicious breaks from falling rocks, snow and ice!


We finally made it to US 2. We stopped at Izaak Walton Inn in Essex, Montana for dinner. It was a cozy inn that is on the National Historic Register. Amtrak passenger trains still stop at the inn. We overheard the waitress tell a family who inquired about tv that there are no tvs anywhere at the inn and no telephones in any of the rooms. If necessary, one could use the phone at the front desk to make a collect call. After dinner I used my cell phone to return Bobby's call, but I couldn't get a signal in the parking lot.

Finally, after a long, exciting day we arrived at the rv. The signal on my phone was good so I returned Bobby's call and got to hear Christopher and DeAnna sing happy birthday!

We put plenty of blankets on the bed as the temperature was supposed to drop into the upper 40s. While we were hiking, the temperature rose to a warm 83 degrees!

Monday was supposed to be another good day. We hoped to hike some more trails, but not another 6 miles like Sunday!

The Heat Wave Subsides--August 18-22, 2008

After arriving at Fairchild AFB near Spokane in the midst of a heat wave, we were glad to see it only lasted the first day! Then the weather quickly cooled due to rain and wind. We stayed at Fairchild until Friday, August 22. We geocached in the afternoons when the weather cleared. A couple of mornings we bowled for $1 a game at the base bowling center. Fairchild was a nice base for walking so we walked to the bowling alley, BX, and commissary when weather allowed. Our first day at Fairchild we ran the air conditioners--only the third place since we started last November! (We also ran them at Valley of the Rogue and McChord.)

We left Fairchild on Friday morning headed east toward Glacier National Park. We knew it was too far to go in one day, but as usual, we had no plan. Along the way we stopped in Idaho at the Old Mission. The mission is the oldest building in Idaho--completed in 1853.
The interior also has that old feeling. The paint has been refreshed, but everything else is old.
Behind the altar you can see the straw in the walls that was the original insulation!
The visitor center is housed in a house that was completed in 1864. It was used by priests and visitors to the mission. A new center is under construction closer to the interstate.
From Old Mission we continued on our way to Kellogg, Idaho and the Crystal Mining Company. There is an old gold mine and museum/store located there. We almost stopped there for the night as they had a free campground that was nice, but it was only lunchtime so we moved on.

We stopped at Silver $ Casino Restaurant Gift Shop in Haugan, Montana. They also had free camping, some with electric hookups. Once we crossed into Montana, we were back in Mountain Time. Saturday morning we headed to Glacier.