Second of Three Busy Weekends - Glacier National Park

 

Sunrise over Paradise Valley is how the day greeted me this past Sunday morning.  There are some breathtaking things to see, if you're willing to get up early . . . or stay up late.  For me, late evenings are a challenge mostly because I don't particularly like driving after dark in areas with a concentration of wildlife.  It can simply be too dangerous . . . especially with the speed limits of 70-80 MPH here in Montana.

A couple of weeks ago, I was lucky to catch a room at Glacier National Park's Snyder Hall at Lake McDonald thanks to an apparent cancellation.   Rooms in the park can run upwards of $300/night, so landing a small room with shared bathroom access (four rooms with a bathroom & shower on each of two floors) are a very affordable $125 +/- so very worthwhile.

This is especially true since Glacier is continuing with their advance reservations to enter the park.  With a confirmed reservation (camping or lodging or a tour) you can enter the park and the Going to the Sun (GTTS) Road area without booking the advance park entrance reservation.  But if you're planning to do this, you need to be comfortable with rather sparse accommodations.

My room had a set of twin bunk beds and an in-room sink . . . and electricity.  No TV . . . no air conditioning . . . no mini-fridge.  For me staying INSIDE the park and having access to the GTTS Road for both days (check-in and check-out) was worth the $100.  And the location is also pretty spectacular.

This is the front of Snyder Hall, which faces a small creek.  It was nice listening to the water rushing downstream right outside the window.  The mosquitoes . . . not so great!

Since I had just been up here about five weeks ago, I opted to reverse my drive, going to Glacier via Kalispell . . . and going home out the St Mary's area, and the more eastern route through Helena.

I enjoyed this very much, including the chain-of-lakes region between Seeley Lake and Swan Lake (and valley).  Seeing the families camping and enjoying life on the lake, made me a little envious.  I would love to have grown up with lakeside camping and water activities, but our family was more about camping in the mountains . . . which was nice too.

While the main attraction of Glacier National Park is their namesake glaciers and the fabulous views on the GTTS Road (which is only open roughly 10-15 weeks in the summer), many like me also enjoy the opportunity to see wildlife.  Admittedly it's not as prevalent or accessible to view roadside, it is still pretty special when you're able to see a bear or mountain goats, or maybe even an eagle!  I did see all three, although not more than once.

 

Many people who vacation or even work/volunteer in Glacier NP do so for the wonderful hiking and vista views throughout the park.  I do what I can and for this trip, catching the sunrise over the mountain tops, glaciers and into the valleys, was amazing.

Because of a later than normal snowfall this year, the GTTS Road opened later than usual.  That also created some pretty spectacular waterfalls, many of which are visible safely from turnouts on the road. Listen and enjoy the sounds of this one . . . plus the wind! 

And as much as I do enjoy our US National Parks, sometimes the drive to and from are as much "the purpose" as the destination. I try to never forget this, which is why driving 1,000 miles for a two-day weekend, really isn't a big thing to me.  That's roughly 10-15 hours of opportunities to experience life as others do every day, and yet if not for the road trip, I might not ever know about the world out there.

One such experience was watching the movement of a very large flock of sheep across the Montana morning range.  They were moving FAST too . . . as if they were being chased or something . . . so I turned around and went back to find a safe place to watch.  What I saw was not only a rancher on his horse high above the moving sheep, but four or five beautiful dogs.  Normally I expect to see border collies or Australian heelers or something similar.  But these were large white dogs . . . maybe Great Pyrenees?

Here's a short video I got of sheep moving across the range. 

I think I enjoyed seeing herding livestock the old fashioned way, better than this . . . how they were moving cattle from one field to another, right along the highway.  Don't get me wrong, I'm sure there is more efficiency using men on ATV/4-wheelers . . . and more control given they were moving them in a very open area near the road.  I just enjoy watching working dogs do their jobs.  And seeing a rancher on a horse, is a throwback to an increasingly bygone era.

Clutching (shifting gears) . . .

Do you believe in having a spiritual connection with those who have died?  I do for sure . . . and when I arrived in Glacier National Park, I lost my SiriusXM radio connection due to the dense forest and high mountains all around.  I always travel with a box of CDs selected for each road trip I take.  While I did pull over to fetch something to listen to, I didn't really stop to look through the box to pick something on purpose.

I have loved the Eddie & The Cruisers and its soundtrack since the very first time I stumbled upon the movie on cable TV probably 35 years ago.  I felt like the music and perhaps even the story line was very Springsteen-esque.  John Cafferty & the Beaver Brown Band has the Jersey Shore sound down . . . just as good at other bands of the region like Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes.

Anyway, I digress.  I didn't know that my recently deceased brother-in-law Rex also loved the movie and soundtrack.  Rex was with me, literally, on this trip as I brought a small urn of his ashes to spread in the park.

So when I just reached into the box of 25 or 30 CDs, I felt Rex was channeling my choice . . . probably tired of the 60's Gold I had been listening to for most of the trip.   So yes, it was Eddie & the Cruisers for the next hour or so . . . in honor of Rex. 

I think he enjoyed being scattered in the wind up on Logan Pass.  It was a breezy warm afternoon, which I thoroughly enjoyed sharing with my dear friend. 

And while I couldn't get over into Canada the next morning, he rode on the breeze across the international border at the Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park.

All in all I had a wonderful weekend.  Next weekend will bring another adventure at another US National Park!