Profile
Blog
Photos
Videos
It was a long drive from my hotel in West Yellowstone to Glacier National Park. It's the entire height of the state and about 400 miles. I made good time and got to my starting point of Kalispell, Montana. That is a town a short way from the western edge of the park. My plan was to stay overnight then drive through the park west to east on one day, stopping as I wanted, and then stay on the eastern side of the park, hopefully in one of the hostels.
The reason for this plan is that through the park is the Going To The Sun road, which is a winding mountain road crossing the mountains, with fantastic views. It is about fifty miles long and takes a couple of hours to do. So I didn't want to have to drive it one way, then turn around and drive it back again.
The guide book was right, it is one of the most scenic drives in the country (at least those parts I have seen, which is obviously a very small percentage). The road is incredibly winding, once it gets up to a higher elevation, and very narrow and there is only a couple of feet of stone serving as a barrier on the outside stopping people accidentally dropping thousands of feet.
Despite the precarious nature of the drive I did my best to take in all the views. I could see down to green tree-filled valleys and up to snow-patched mountains. It was gorgeous. My guide book told me to keep looking in my mirrors so that I didn't miss any views. My off-side mirror showed me some nicely framed views and, since the sticker said "objects may be closer than they appear" I reckoned those mountains were tailgating me because they loomed large in my view.
At the top of the road, roughly halfway, is Logan Pass. I was lucky to get a parking space because it's very popular, but I sailed right into one and dropped anchor. The nice weather from first thing in the morning had changed at this altitude so, before I set off on my walk, I changed my shorts for trousers and packed a sweater as well as raincoat in my day bag. I'm glad I did because it was quite chilly and windy and part of the 1.5 mile walk to the Hidden Lake overlook crossed fairly large snowpacks. It was an extremely popular hike, one that is good for families with kids. The view at the end was very impressive and the walk back was fun - partly because it was all downhill and partly because I went zooming past all the people walking precariously through the rocks and snow as I bounded along like a mountain goat. And I know what I'm talking about because I saw some mountain goats on the trail.
My second hike was to see three waterfalls, which were very nice, and this was less popular with people. For the first half mile after I passed the 'beware of grizzly bears' sign, which included the advice not to walk alone, I started getting paranoid as I looked around constantly for bears. But once there were more people I stopped worrying and hoped that they got attacked instead of me. I didn't see any bears but I did see a young deer. I left the east end of the park and made for East Glacier. Even that highway outside the park got quite winding and precarious. Thankfully my years of driving narrow winding roads in the UK have prepared me for these roads that would still qualify as good roads for us.
I've been getting cocky this week with regards to accommodation - I turned up in both East Glacier and Kalispell the previous day with no accommodation reservations. In East Glacier I went to the hostel and asked if they had room for me and they did. And the best part was that it's next door to a restaurant that does good breakfasts and dinners.
On my second day in the park I went for a nice long hike with Joe, a guy from New York City that I'd met on my first evening. We got a late start, hitting the start of the trail at 12:40pm. It was 6.7 miles long, climbing 2450 feet to Dawson's Pass. And, boy, was it steep! And at the top, boy, was it windy! Yes, it was, to both. But the view over the pass to the other side was spectacular. We were looking down into a massive, deep valley. All these places were carved by glaciers over time, hence the name of the park.
We didn't hang around long at the top in the cold wind before starting back down. The mosquitoes had come out en masse and were making a meal out of me, with a side order of Joe. We both applied some bug repellent and that seemed to help a lot, but later on I discovered about a dozen places they'd managed to penetrate the defense and get me. We got back to the car at 9:05pm, which is about a minute or two from sunset. That was not good because neither of us had a flashlight and bear activity increases at dusk. We had underestimated the strenuousness of the climb and the elevation gain. If I do another hike like that I will definitely set off much earlier and take my flashlight, just in case.
The worst part was that we got back after the restaurant next to the hostel had shut. So we were forced to go down the road and enjoy some excellent Mexican food. There we met a very friendly Canadian couple celebrating their 27th wedding anniversary and we all ate together. It was a good three-way cultural exchange, and they definitely don't like having the queen as head of state!
The surprise highlight of my stop here was saved for the end. The hostel and restaurant are owned by the same people so I found that at breakfast I was served by the same girl who had checked me in when I arrived at the hostel. She was not very good at checking me in - leaving out several key things while showing me around - but she was a pretty good waitress. On my second breakfast she commented on my peeling nose and asked if I had caught the sun the previous day. I said it was actually from Wednesday, my birthday, when I'd forgotten sunscreen and turned bright red in just two hours. (Proving to me how great my sunscreen is when I use it.)
She wished me a happy birthday and is the only person to do so in person, which she thought was sad but it's just because no-one out here knew it was my birthday and I didn't feel like dropping it into all my conversations just to get a pity birthday wish. When she brought my check over she said that the meal was on her as a birthday present. It was such a kind and generous act and I hoped I had tipped her well the previous day!
I returned my car to Billings after seven days having put 1700 miles on it. When I rent a car I make the most of it!
My next stop is going to be the most seat-of-the-pants. I'm getting an overnight bus to Rapid City, South Dakota, to visit Mt. Rushmore and stuff. It just so happens that my three days there coincide with the week-long Sturgis motorbike rally, the biggest bike rally in the country and all accommodation is booked up for the whole region. I've managed to get my hire car booked so my plan is to drive away from Rapid City until I see a motel with a 'Vacancy' sign. The few remaining beds in Rapid City are going for around $250 per night and that's way too much for me. I can stay a hundred miles away for much less and, even with the extra cost for fuel, not pay as much.
As far as my trip goes, after I've done South Dakota it's just the three west coast states and Alaska and Hawaii to go. The end is within sight and it's still two months away so I can start coasting now.
- comments