Gorgeous Glacier

After our quick move to the new camp yesterday, Dar and I headed into the Park for an afternoon of exploring. We were here 30 years ago with our then 4 yr. old daughter and thought it'd be fun to see how our memories held up over the years. During that first visit, we tent camped along Lake McDonald, stayed at Lake McDonald Lodge one night, and then another night at Many Glacier Lodge way over on the east side of the Park.

We're trying to take advantage of the good weather predicted for Thursday and Friday because things should deteriorate after that. The future looks wetter with a chance of rain every day through next Thursday. So while I'm behind on Journal posts, and Dar's behind on our photo albums, we're going to pack as much exploring as we can before Saturday.

We entered the Park through West Glacier, the commercialized gate community at the junction of US-2 and Going to the Sun Highway. First stop was Apgar Village at the foot of Lake McDonald. With the bright blue sky and clear air, the snow-dusted mountains at the other end of the lake seemed so close. Between the two of us we must have taken 50 photos.

Further along Going to the Sun Highway (the central road through the Park) we found the campground where we camped 30 years ago. We both had similar recollections of the approximate location of our campsite but the trees seemed so much larger. Of course, that's what trees do... get larger with time. My memory is that this campground was called Lake McDonald Campground, but it turns out it's called Sprague Creek. I'm thinking the name changed over the years but haven't been able to confirm this yet.

And just up the road from the campground was Lake McDonald Lodge, where we wandered the grounds, re-explored the lodge itself, enjoyed a beer and snack in the lounge, and took a bunch more photos. My memories held up pretty well as it was just as I remembered it. 30 years ago I stood in the lobby fireplace and did so again yesterday.

A little out of the ordinary, we witnessed a helicopter ambulance come in to take care of someone who'd become ill. Caught some good shots for the album too.

Time evaporated quicker than we'd thought so it was time to head back to camp. On our slow drive back down Going to the Sun Highway we stopped at most pullouts and enjoyed the views. With only a few people around we often felt like we had the place to ourselves.

Still using the same tour buses we saw 30 years ago.

Pinch me... am I dreaming?
T

Good to Have Wheels

Slamming car doors... loud laughter and talking... two drunken fools verbally and physically sparing with each other... a crying child... a woman's voice trying to quiet things down... broken glass... and more... cursing... and yelling... and one loud side of a few phone calls. It was midnight and this is what awakened me from my deep sleep. Alert... warning... "sound the alarm"... DefCon 5!... red alert... WAKE UP... prepare for battle.

Our first night after setting up camp at this un-named RV campground near Glacier provided a few tense moments for our intrepid explorers. The "perps" were a young couple, (he was celebrating his 20th birthday -- just a baby), their 2 yr. old child (do the math... babies having babies!), and a couple relatives (brother? brother-in-law? and spouse? girlfriend?) who were there to apparently help this 20 yr. old celebrate this monumental occasion. They, the couple and their kid, were living in a very small RV trailer amid piles of accumulated trash and debris just a short distance from our campsite -- supposedly there helping out the campground owner cut and split 10 cords of wood for the wood shed --  at least that was the story. The rest of the campground looked nice, normal, and as you'd expect. In retrospect, we were initially uncomfortable with the messy situation, but, due to the busy holiday weekend (campsites near Glacier are hard to find), decided it probably wouldn't become an issue and wouldn't have to deal with anything anyway.

Here I was, after midnight, listening to this ruckus. How do I deal with this? In almost 3 and a half years of living fulltime and camping in hundreds of places, this is the first time we were confronted by anything like this. In their drunken condition (and showing signs of being mean drunks, displaying that young male competitive bravado -- each trying to outdo the other in feats of daring-do, at least in their addled minds.

I reckoned any attempt to ask them to quiet down would probably fail and the situation might well deteriorate from there. What other options do I have?  I could call the campground office and prompt a confrontation with the owner. I could call 911 and get the cops involved. Hmmm. The options were many. But I wasn't liking the possible outcomes from these options... especially the last few.

Neither I nor Dar, who's also awake at this point, are feeling personally threatened. It's just a bunch of drunks making noise. So let's wait it out and see how the situation progresses. We had options to exercise if things deteriorated... things to do if it got worse. As we listened to the slurred speech and the nonsense spewing from the mouths of these "kids" having their little party in the middle of the night, we'd already determined that this would not only be our first night at this campground... but our last as well. We'll find a new camp tomorrow... after a little discussion with the owner.

And that's exactly what we did. Eventually the situation eased... probably as participants passed out. I fell back asleep by 2am... Dar by 3am. This morning we both headed to the office, had our discussion, and received a reasonable refund for our trouble. By 11am, despite the busy weekend, we had another place lined up... a very nice RV Park in Columbia Falls... just a dozen miles down the road.

Our new camp in Columbia Falls, MT.

Concern for personal safety keeps some people from pursuing this nomadic lifestyle. But after three and a half years on the road we can honestly say that this is the first situation where we've been uncomfortable. The key point is that when you do feel uncomfortable, get yourself out of the situation as quickly as you can. Listen to your instincts. Don't do things that will make matters worse. Maintain a comrfort-zone around you at all times.

And you'll sleep soundly... even in a Walmart parking lot.
T

Across the Great Divide

This afternoon we crossed the Great Divide at Marias Pass (5,213 ft.) on US-2 at the southern edge of Glacier National Park, and we're now on the Pacific Ocean side of the continent, where we'll be for a few months. Both Dar and I have missed the mountains... the dry air, changeable and unpredictable weather, coolness bordering on cold-ness, the vistas, stark white fresh snow framed by angry dark clouds and the brightest blue sky you can imagine... this is some of what we experienced today. And we relished every moment of it.

Tonight, we're at a small RV Park just outside the west entrance to Glacier NP. The campgrounds in Glacier don't have hookups at all, and since the temps are predicted to get down near freezing the next night or two, we opted for a place with "plug-eens" (power) for our little electric heater. That's one thing we like about this lifestyle... having options.

I'd have included a picture of our campsite here... but Verizon is being cantankerous... and not cooperating with me. So photos will have to wait until tomorrow.

Ready for the sack...
T