Saint Mary KOA, Saint Mary, MT

The St Mary River, Glacier National Park, MT

Wednesday, July 23, 2014, Saint Mary KOA, Saint Mary, MT - 288.0 miles, 13,474.7 For the Trip

Well, from the location of today's post you can tell I didn't get into Two Medicine Campground. I did make a couple of circles around all three loops, but no dice. What's more, the sites that I would have liked the most (on the lake) are booked for a few days. So, I headed to Saint Mary Campground, and found it filled as well. I did check with the ranger at the entry station, and they did have a 2 day site available starting tomorrow, so I booked it.

As to today, I tried a couple of the Saint Mary campgrounds, but they were also filled. Don't know what is going on - the last time I was here there were openings everywhere. It was a week earlier. In any case, my last try was the KOA. They had a few full hookup sites, so here I am at the most expensive campsite of the trip; $65.46 (and that includes my 10% KOA member discount!) Glad I'm only here one night.

After setting up the trailer I headed into Glacier National Park. They are still rebuilding the Going to the Sun Road. Most of the drive from the East to the Logan Pass Visitor Center is gravel, with construction causing short (10 minute) delays. The rebuilding has been going on for years, making me wonder if I'll ever going to drive the finished road. I have to admit is was in bad shape the first time I drove it, but it was all paved.

I stopped at the Logan Pass Visitor Center. Very different from 2011, when most of it was still covered with snow. I did see a small herd of Big Horn Sheep on the side of the mountain across from the Visitor Center. Too far away to get a good image with my 70 - 200mm zoom, but the 300mm was back in the trailer.

On the way back I took the "short" hike to St Mary Falls. While they list it as short, it was over a mile each way. I guess that is short compared to some of the other hikes in the park...

Photos at today's LakeshoreImages page.

Back at the campground, I made dinner (grilled chicken breast, and asparagus) then tackled the refrigerator. It was definitely time to defrost - took lots of chipping to get the ice off the coils. As I'm typing this, we are getting a thunderstorm, complete with hail. Glad I'm not in a tent!

Until tomorrow.