Glacier and Points South

Monday morning, Lois and I left the RV park outside of Glacier NP by 8:00 a.m., which is early for us. We had light rain most of the night and drove to the park under threatening skies. We went first to the campground inside the park at Apgar Village and found a vacant campsite. We then caught a shuttle bus to the park's new transit center where we waited about an hour for another shuttle bus to take us to Logan Pass, the high point on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The scenery was really outstanding, but by the time we reached the pass, rain had set in, and the clouds were so low that many of the peaks surrounding the pass were obscured. We went inside the visitors center and found out that we had to wait outside for another shuttle bus to take us to St. Mary's, which is on the other side of the park. While waiting outside, the wind picked up to about 20 mph, and the rain changed to blowing sleet. We beat a hasty retreat to a shelter by the visitors center and went outside again only when we saw the bus coming.

The shuttle to St. Mary's was a bigger bus, and the weather on that side of the park had not yet deteriorated, so we could see more of the sights than we saw climbing up to Logan Pass. Still, we didn't get off the shuttle at any of the stops, because another wouldn't be along for 30 minutes and we didn't know how long the weather would hold up. So, I resorted to taking photos through a dirty window from a moving van. Still, I got a few decent pictures. Digital cameras with image stabilization are amazing and well worth the money.

Because it was so windy and cold, we spent only about 30 minutes in St. Mary's before we caught the van back up to Logans Pass. Logans Pass was still "socked in", so we got off one shuttle and right on another for the ride back down to Apgar. We got to the transit center about 3:30 and walked to the village, where we did a little shopping and browsing. Apgar is on Lake McDonald, which is bordered by some of the most dramatic mountains in North America. So while Lois finished shopping, I went down to the lake to take some pictures. The clouds were still around, but the rain had stopped, and I think I got some pretty nice shots.

Because of all our shuttle riding, we had missed lunch. This meant we were looking forward to an early dinner. So we walked back to our motor home in the campground, and cooked some burgers on the grill. After dinner, I walked back down to the lake to see if I could get some good sunset shots, but the clouds were still so heavy that sunset was essentially a non-event. This morning I tried again for sunrise, but with the same results.

All-in-all, our visit to Glacier was less than we had hoped for. Despite the weather, we could see enough, though, to tell that it's a fabulous place that we would like to visit again. Next time, we'll plan for more mobility and hope for clearer weather. It's hard to be too disappointed with the rain, however, because it helped a lot with the numerous forest fires which have been plaguing the area.

We left Glacier this morning around 8:00 a.m. and started driving South toward Missoula, MT. We skirted the east shore of Flathead Lake, a gorgeous lake ringed by mountains, which is billed as the largest fresh water, natural lake east of the Mississippi River. After Missoula, we continued South through Polson (where we shopped at the "Three Dog Down" factory outlet, and continued South into Idaho driving in the lovely Bitteroot Valley most of the way and the equally lovely Salmon River Valley the rest of the way. Tonight, we're camped on the banks of the Salmon in a commercial park in the quaint little town of Salmon, Idaho. Tomorrow, we'll veer Southeast and then turn east into Wyoming for a visit with our friends Lee and Ann Izard at Grand Teton NP. Ann worked with me at Grand Canyon, and she and Lee moved to Grand Teton a couple of years after I left. We're looking forward to seeing these good folks and revisiting what is truly one of the earth's special places.

More later.