Day 2:Flathead to Glacier Natl Pk to Havre, MT. 9.05.09
Miles and miles of Montana began with early morning campsite gear and tent packUp. All food had been carefully stowed in the car's trunk or burned in the campfire to avoid attracting any grizzly bears. Metal trunks 5' wide x 24' front to back and 3' deep were provided as FOOD LOCKERS. Serious big bear country. A big breeze came up on the lake from the northeast for most of the night so between lapping waves and rustling leaves I didn't sleep much. Morning has never been an energetic time for me, but I was eager to get going to Glacier Natl Park. Stopped in Kalispell for coffee. Asked for a breakfast recommendation and ended up at Julie's Cafe. Super friendly waitress ended up being Julie herself. She let us know she'd be back in a minute to tell us what to order. Feisty! Everything had cabbage in it. I got the veggie omelet with the PURPLE SAUCE. Not the best alluring description, but it was a damn good breakfast. Frank Sinatra theme in all the posters lining the walls, but no music!! Julie explained it was too loud for her older clientele! Too bad. Cool photo by William Gottlieb from 1947 session of him recording with Alex Stordahl (I could just make out his lead sheet for "Laura"). Julie was originally from Wisconsin, had run a bar in another part of MT, and now had found Jesus (especially in the cafe's restroom), her cafe, and Sinatra....not sure in what order. She was great. I gave her a signed copy of "Mood Indigo"--the first recording by the swing vocal trio group I'm in these days called (ironically I wish) The Sisters of Swing http://www.thesistersofswing.com . She was delighted. Haven't heard back from her yet.....
Gassed up and headed due north to Glacier Natl Park and the Road to the Sun that winds its way across the park from the entrance at Angar and West Glacier through the switchback overlooking Mt. Jackson to St. Mary's Lake at the eastern entrance. Nothing but being there could have prepared me for the grandeur, the magnificence of the Rockies, the glaciers, the trees, the wildlife...the sheer audacity of carving a road through this temple for so many to see. We stopped at the McDonald River to shoot and met a curious little ermine in its summer coat of pale brown above, white below and with a black tuft at the end of his tail that stays black through the winter when the rest of its coat turns white to blend in with the snow. He/she darted in and out of the rocks/boulders between Barb and me for about 10 minutes to say hello (or "get out of my little hideaway!").
Lots and lots of beautiful short horned grasshoppers! Hard to photograph since they are cautious about having a camera lens anywhere near their large compound eyes!
Shelf fungi de-watering or collecting water?
Our pal the ermine at the edge of McDonald River
Duly noted grizzly pawprint in concrete next to my big size 11 Keens. Respect the bears and give them room! Yikes.
The switchback overlooking Mt. jackson in the distance (with Jackson Glacier) has to be seen to be believed. If you look carefully in this photo you'll see a line of cars about 1/3 up from the bottom. The original engineer had devised a plan that included 13 switchbacks. That plan got the 'thumbs-down' for all the ecological and environmental havoc it would have created. Perhaps Ken Burns will mention the winning engineer's name since he went on to design roads in many other Natl Parks (his 12 hour series on the Natl Parks debuts in late September on PBS).
One of Barb's photos:
And another one of Barb's photos:
Barb's photo of the rapidly retreating Jackson Glacier
A photographer from India offered to take a photo of us:
Valley vista photo by Barbara Pleason Mueller.
Sooooooooooooooo sad to leave the park after only a slow drive with many stops, but felt blessed to be there at all.
Drove on through exiting the park at the spectacular St. Mary Lake where Barb and Marty had kayaked one full mooned night several years ago. Magnificent place.
Next we picked up Route 2 in First Nation country...Blackfeet Reservation land. Lots of horses, hills, wildness.
Miles and Miles of Montana
Drove on and on and on to Havre to bed down for the night at a local AmericInn we found with the help of Barb's GPS. Love it muted! Unfortunately it did not tell us about the underground "mall" left behind from the Chinese railroad workers who had built a saloon, brothel, and 3 opium dens all underground. Bummer! Would have loved seeing that.
Next stop: Theodore Roosevelt National Park, North Unit.
Miles driven : 327.