Glacier

20090910—Glacier

I intended to explore the park from the “Going to the Sun” road, but the Rangers stopped me a few miles in and checked the length of the RV by lining me up with some lines painted on the road. I flunked the test—exceeding the length limit by almost a foot (technically by 8 inches). I knew that Bob and Yvonne had taken this vehicle over the road and it would be OK, but I think the park is extra careful with limits right now, because there was (per report—I did not see it) a lot of construction going on above that point. At first I was disappointed, then soon realized that there were a lot of other ways to see the park. And I remembered taking that route through the park many years ago in the VW Bug with Jill and Stephan.

I headed to the Many Glacier access and looked around there. The campground had a lot of open sites, so I could have stayed, but drove back a few miles, pulling off to watch a Black Bear browsing the chokecherrys on a slope above the road. A few miles later I took one of the short hikes—to Apikuni Falls. This was very nice. It felt good to be outside and stretch, it smelled wonderful and the falls were a great lunch place. I took some pictures, then headed back out of the park, heading South, through St. Marys again and re-entered the park at the Two Medicine entrance. This was also very nice, with open campsites right up against the mouth of a stream feeding Two Medicine Lake, with the steep rocky side of 9500' Rising Wolf Mountain on the other side.

I had some chats with a neighbor who had been there a few days. He recommended a hike for tomorrow, that I think I will do. Later we watched a Grizzly Bear on the slope of the mountain above us. The spotting scope provided some great looks. There were also Goats much higher up, the scope being essential to seeing any detail at all.

The campsite was very clean and, especially considering that it was now at the end of an intense season of use, had an untrampled quality to it. Other campers seemed very respectful of the grounds. The rigs averaged smaller than those at Many Glacier, and there were a lot of tent campers, using the place as a staging area for back country destinations.