Day 10 (Thursday 5/21) Glacier National Park

We awoke to a clearer, warmer (relatively) morning and had a walk around the campground followed by breakfast. We set off by 9am to the North, first attempting to venture into Canada to see Waterton National Park, which is the Canadian counterpart of Glacier. Our campground was only about 14 miles from the border. I did not have Max's rabies papers so that was a no-go, although technically we did visit Canada since we had to pass through the border checkpoint to turn around.  

That's OK, there was plenty to see in Glacier. We went up the "Many Glacier" entrance near Babb, MT, as far as it would go- maybe 12 miles. Let Max out to walk around at a couple of spots and there was PLENTY to sniff and track. Doggies are not allowed down the trails, though (for good reason) so we did not go very far. We did find some goats rummaging through a campsite so Max got to check them out. During part of the ride he perched his head on the window sill like he was really taking it all in (sights and smells). Back to the cabin for lunch and a quick break before heading back out.

West Glacier was a little disappointing. It was about a 2 hour ride over there (which did have a couple of high points) but the park itself wasn't nearly as awe-inspiring as yesterday. True, the Going to the Sun Road was open longer there (16 miles vs. 13) but it was all down along the river bank, you never got up to any elevation. It was also more crowded so we did not see any animals on the road itself. At the bottom, we saw a little bike trail through the woods so we took a walk for a mile or so. I saw 3 deer through the forest, maybe 50 yards away, which I eventually got Max to see. He stayed quiet and we followed along next to them, then came to a trail through the woods that we could go down towards where they would cross it. Of course, as soon as one of the deer came out onto the trail Max bayed and they took off (right). We saw them again on our way back to the Jeep but they were much farther away and wary of us by then.

On the way to West Glacier, though, we did stop off at an overlook that one of the rangers told me about yesterday. It is called Goat Lick overlook and it looks across the river valley to an area where the erosion uncovers mineral deposits that the mountain goats like to lick. However, there are usually more goats than spots with exposed minerals, and some are pretty high up on the face of the canyon wall. This makes for good entertainment watching the goats try to get their fill. Lots of pushing, nudging, jumping, rocks falling in the water, etc.



Oh, also part of the drive there was somewhat interesting since we took a shortcut. What do they say about shortcuts? If it was easy it would just be the way. This was a very winding, very narrow two-lane road across many rockslides, with many sections of roadway that had obviously fallen away at some point, and others looking like they were get ready to go. And no guardrails. Some of the more fearsome drops had a yellow sign with an arrow on it, but this was not a road where you would pay more attention to the view than the road. I enjoyed it but I think Max just wanted to sleep at that point.

It is a little different to be in a place where you can be driving down a road with horses running free next to you, with no fence or anything in between. We saw quite a few of them but this mother and colt stuck in my head since they were running alongside us for a ways.

Cooked some buffalo meat for dinner, then we went back up the East side of Going to the Sun road to see how it is on a clear day, and also to see if more animals would be out closer to sunset.  So glad we did.  It was quite pleasant seeing it in the soft light of sunset, and there were definitely more animals out.  We saw lots of goats, bighorn sheep, reindeer maybe?, and then... I somehow spotted a black bear in the woods, maybe 50 feet from the road.  I thought it might be just a shadow but backed up and there he was, rooting around for some food.  I watched him for a while then had to move as cars came up behind me (someone had stopped next to me going the other way).  I went up, let the other cars pass, turned around and went back, and saw him again but farther in the woods.  We went up to the top of the mountain but didn't really see anything else, then didn't see the bear upon our return down the mountain.  

Quite a day.  Oh, most of the glaciers you have to hike in to see, but I did make sure to get a picture of one big one across the valley. Jackson Glacier:

Day 9 (Wednesday 5/20) Three Forks MT to St Mary MT

I awoke around 3am to find a cold, shivering beagle next to me. I had put a towel over him to act as a blanket before going to sleep, but he shook it off. I put his jacket on this time, and tried to get him to come next to me in the sleeping bag (because I was plenty warm), but no such luck. We got up around 5:30 since it was light already and I thought moving around would warm us up. Max occupied himself with tracking and chasing the field mice around the tipi (through the canvas walls) while I stored our gear and prepared breakfast. It was pretty cool (mid-40's) and windy still so we both appreciated the heater in the Jeep.

We left the BearTooth Mountains and the Madison River and headed north towards Glacier National Park, which I was really looking forward to. I almost wrote it off as too far to go but am so glad we went.  I really think it will be one of the high points of the trip once it is all said and done.  We just took I-15 straight up through Helena and Great Falls to Cut Bank, then West into the Rockies. There were F-15's flying around doing exercises above Great Falls. While I do not approve of their purpose and use, from a purely mechanical view they are pretty phenomenal to watch. We also passed some pretty large Wind Farms, with more towers on the way up. The way the wind has been blowing the past few days I can't imagine that not being a great source of electricity. There are many permanent signs along that highway (US-2 I think) warning about high cross-winds so I don't think this is out of the ordinary, either.

As they do all up and down the continent, the Rockies sneak up on you out of nowhere West of Cut Bank. You're crossing rolling fields and small hills then all of a sudden you notice prominent, snow-capped peaks rising up ahead. A very ragged coyote crossed the road just in front of us at one point. I told Max he was lucky he didn't live out here year-round. We wound our way up to St Mary, passing through a small snow flurry but seeing much heavier ones up above us in the mountains. The campground did not have our small primitive cabin ready so they gave us "Cottage #1" which was pretty big, with a full bathroom, kitchen area, seperate bedroom, and front porch. This was no tipi. I think Max was relieved.

On a quick walk around the camp we found the remains of a deer just down the hill, with the hoof and leg a little farther uphill. We are immediately adjacent to Glacier NP so there are all kinds of serious wildlife around. They have seen bears on site fairly recently, but I suspect that was the work of either a mountain lion or cayotes.





We have all day tomorrow to explore Glacier, but since we were here and settled in by 1:30 we did take a quick trip up the "Going to the Sun Road" from the East Entrance, which was only about a mile from our campsite. It was only open for about 13 miles, but we saw quite a lot and made it up to pretty high elevations. The scenery in Glacier, like the Badlands, defies being captured on film. Majestic peaks tower overhead while we experienced a pretty heavy snowstorm for late May. Apparently in August or early September a few years ago they got a foot of snow. The temperature went from 44* at our campsite to 33* only a few miles up the road. We saw a herd of bighorn sheep grazing next to the road, and also got a fleeting glimpse of a much larger, much more impressive coyote darting across.  I went I went in the visitor center to get an idea of how much we can see with the whole day to explore tomorrow. The road is not open all the way through because there is still about 50 feet of snow covering it up top, so we'll have to drive around the long way to the West Entrance.

I was talking to the ranger in the visitor center about the wildlife in the park, and specifically mentioned wolves, and she mentioned that they did not have to reintroduce wolves to the park like they have had to elsewhere (Yellowstone). They came down from Canada and repopulated the park on their own. There were 5 packs of them last year but some are in jeopardy because they don't respect the boundaries of the park and venture out and eat cattle.

We took advantage of our deluxe accommodations by picking up some Mahi filets at the grocery store down in St Mary and cooking a proper dinner. We also overcompensated for last night by running the heat pretty heavily. Since I was warm enough, I let Max win tonight's "battle of the blue sleeping bag" and he slept on the foot of it all night. He really loves that thing.