Glacier National Park, Day 4

Today's Photo - Dead Horse Dam, Dead Horse, MT















Today was a fairly quiet one. I drove back to the mustard seed field because I wanted a better photo than the one I took last time. On the way back I stopped to see the Dead Horse Dam, a short drive off US 2 in (of course) Dead Horse, MT. I also had the thought that it would be interesting to take a helicopter ride to where they are plowing to photograph them.  I stopped at one of the helicopter charters outside the park - $455.00 for a 1/2 hour, the time it would take.  Nice idea, but just a little more than I'm willing to spend.  A little different from Viet Nam - when I was doing operations & training for the 101st I'd just make a call & one would meet me at the landing pad. I guess I'll stick with the Glacier's flickr page.

After that it was off to Polebridge to pick up a couple of sticky buns & cinnamon rolls. Yes, it is a little crazy to drive 48 miles round trip just for a couple of rolls, but:

They are really that good!
I'm on vacation!
I'm retired - I can do what ever I want!


After that it was back to the campground and Skype my daughter Karin on her birthday. We "talked" for awhile - they are leaving for a 2 year stint to Botswana on Thursday. I'll miss them, but last time they were in Africa we managed to Skype back & forth almost weekly; I'm hoping it will be the same this time.


Tomorrow I will be heading into Canada. My Verizon data plan (through Millenicom) does not cover Canada, and the cost of connecting through my AT&T plan would cost me hundreds of dollars per week, I will have to make my updates at either campground WiFi connections, or other open connections until I get back to the US. So, if you don't hear from me it isn't because I don't care!

Till Whenever!

Glacier National Park, Day 3

Today's Photo - Wild Goose Island, Lake Sherburne, Glacier National Park, MT














Sitting in the shade isn't doing my solar recharging system much good. Up till now, I've been able to do just about anything (other than run the AC) & the solar system would recharge the batteries to 100% by the end of the next day. Here at Apgar that isn't happening. After a full day, mostly away & with nothing on, I'm only back to 85%. The computer is the biggest hit - it draws 8-9 amps on the 12 volt system. So, I'm sitting in the RAV4 editing & posting today's journal.

I got up a little after 6:00AM to try for a morning photo of Lake McDonald. The lake was flat, giving a great reflection of the clouds & mountains, however the position of the sun was bad. Oh, well, I'll keep trying!

Anyway, today I drove to East Glacier. Unfortunately, it wasn't on the Going to the Sun road since it hasn't opened yet. I did drive as far as possible on both sides, but that is only about 14 miles on the East side of the park. I did take a photo of the road from US 2 (at least I'm pretty sure it is the road - all you can see is the cut in the mountainside). I also stopped at 2 Sisters near Babb, MT for lunch & a new "T" shirt. I did have lunch, but they haven't changed the shirt design since my last stop in 1998 so I didn't buy a new one. The place has a new coat of paint, but looks pretty much the same as it did the last time.


As usual, if you want more photos, check today's post at Lakeshore Images.

After lunch I drove into the Many Glacier part of the park, and after that took US 89 & US 2 back to West Glacier & the campground.

One difference I've noticed between this trip & the ones we took 10 years ago - there is much more haze in the skies. Not sure why - the forest fires have been to the east of where I've been shooting so I don't think they are to blame...

I'll probably add a day & stay here tomorrow - It's Karin's birthday & I hope to be able to connect to her on Skype. The campground has a good Verizon signal (my data connection) but a poor AT&T (my phone).

Till Tomorrow!

Glacier National Park, Day 2

Today's Photo - A Mustard Seed Field on Montana Route 35














Woke up to rain again this morning - my towel was out on the line "Getting Dry" (not) and my chair had a puddle of water in the seat. Since I wasn't going to be able to spend the day sitting around in the sun reading, I decided to drive as far up the "Going to the Sun" road as possible. "As possible" was to the Avalanche Creek stop. I did get some photos of McDonald Creek running faster than I've ever seen it. It rained off & on along the 16 miles of the road.

After that I drove into Kalispell to get a new 25' hose for the trailer water system. The one that came with it kinks far to easily. On the way back I drove by a beautiful mustard seed field & had to stop for a photo.


Since the rain stopped, I spent the rest of the afternoon reading or putting up this webpage. It's going to be pork chops, green beans & salt potatoes for dinner.

Till Tomorrow!

Glacier National Park, MT

Today's Photo - The Polebridge Mercantile, MT

I did get to Apgar by 10:00AM & drove through Loop A, the one closest to Lake McDonald & the one I wanted to stay in. It was full, but just like the first time I was at Zion National Park, someone moved to a better site (for them) and offered me their old site. I guess I'm just lucky! Anyhow, I'm in site A53 for the next 3 days. It's a pull through site that is plenty large enough for the trailer & RAV4; the only reason the last people gave it up is it isn't all that level & they had a class B van - they had to level their van every time they came back from a drive. Since the trailer only gets set up once, it is no problem for me. 

After setting up camp & took a walk to Lake McDonald. I stopped at the boat dock where I took one of my favorite photos (it is the one I use for my "business card" (in quotes because I don't really have a business, but they are handy when someone asks for the website link or under rare circumstances, wants to buy a photo). It is the photo over the link to State & National Parks on my homepage. The old dock has been replaced with a larger & less attractive one, so I went looking for a good location to duplicate the image. The best I found is in back of the lake front motel.

After that I went to Polebridge. I've been told by more than one Glacier visitor that you are not "official" until you make the drive to Polebridge & buy a Cinnamon Roll at the Polebridge Mercantile. It is a 24 mile drive, a portion on good road, another portion a good gravel road, and the final section a heavily potholed "barely paved" road. Although I've seen many complaints about the road, 've driven far worse on this trip!

The Polebridge Mercantile is a busy place that sells limited groceries & camping supplies and had a very good bakery. I had a hot roast beef sandwich (pretty good) a cinnamon roll (excellent) and a sticky bun that I will try tonight. Most of the trees on the way out to Polebridge are dead. Not sure if it is fire or insect damage, but while it does let you see Lake McDonald on the first part of the drive, the dead trees don't look all that attractive in photographs. Of course, a mixed blessing - if the trees were alive you wouldn't be able to see the lake at all.

After that it is back to the campground and time to kick back for the afternoon.

Till later or tomorrow - 

Site 46, Flathead Lake KOA, Polson, MT















Well I got my hour back that I lost overnight. I'm in Polson, MT & back on Mountain Time. This is an unusual KOA - a large part of it is a resort of permanently owned paved, level sites. The ones for travelers like me (I'm in Site 46) are gravel & very out-of-level. Even though the site is a pull through with plenty of room, I had to unhook the trailer just to get it close to level. The view makes up for it - snow covered mountains across the valley below the campground.

By the way, I have to give up on my theory that the western states save all their good beef for themselves & send the tough meat to us in the east. My New York cut steak was just about the toughest piece of meat I've ever tried to eat. It was from a place called Pauls, & if it is a chain, I won't be stopping at any more of them!

The drive to Polson was along ID 13 & US 12 and a bit of US 93. There is a very long uphill drive coming out of White Bird which ends at White Bird Hill Summit. A great view of Hells Canyon on the way. US 12 is called the Lewis & Clark Highway since it follows the path they took along the Lochasa River. I managed to photograph some rafters on the Lochasa, but only in a fairly calm part of the river. The problem was I was going upstream, so by the time I saw them & found a place to stop, they were gone.


I'm not doing well with my choices of meat - I stopped at a local Safeway here in Polson looking for skinless chicken thighs, but had to settle for a package of marinated chicken breasts. I cooked one - it was so salty it was barely edible. So bad that I threw away the second breast in the package. Oh well, I'll just have to eat some of the stuff in the freezer. I did find my favorite packaged rice & since I just finished the last package I bought 5 to cover the rest of the trip!

The plan is to head to Apgar campground in Glacier for the holiday weekend. It is only 75 miles from here so I hope to get there in time to find a site. So far this season the campground has never filled; lets hope for the same tomorrow!

Till then -