Day 6: What Have We Gotten Ourselves Into

By hamblog | October 13, 2018 |

Here are the notes I am taking while Molly and I are on a road trip through Idaho (briefly), Wyoming, and Montana, October 2018.

Part 1 is here | Part 2 is here | Part 3 is here | Part 4 is here | Part 5 is here

OCTOBER 11, 2018

GREAT FALLS — GLACIER NATIONAL PARK

This was primarily a driving day. And what driving it was.

Had our luck run out?

Already we knew that most of Glacier had closed down (and Yellowstone closed right after we left) so we were wondering what was waiting for us.

But of course, since we’re US and FULL OF MAGIC, the sun came out and everything was a sparkly wintery winky wonder.

Dogs and horses, attracted to the warm pavement, we think, were uncomfortably close to us as we drove. Can’t you see we’re city folk, you critters?

Espresso teepee (sadly closed for the season) in Browning, MT

We stopped at a store on the Blackfeet Reservation and I got a treasure.

Raw honey. Good for coughs, said the lady behind the counter. Thank goodness, because these insane sinuses have enlisted my lungs in the aching, wheezing madness.

And then we got closer to Glacier and the weather was clear and bright and it was pure autumnal splendor.

As usual, shit photos don’t convey any sort of the truly dramatic vistas that met us at every turn. The extreme verticality of the peaks to which the trees, both golden and green, didn’t seem real. By the way, the yellow pine-looking trees are actually larches, which do change colors with the seasons. It was unreal.

We headed to the West Entrance of Glacier and on to Apgar Visitor’s Center, where two very bored rangers were hanging around, since the Park was pretty much closed. I pointed out to Molly a Jenga game for sale, which was a special National Parks edition. One of the rangers said “You should check out the special National Parks Monopoly game sometime.” I asked which parks were Boardwalk and Park Place. “Yosemite and Yellowstone,” he replied. “And we think that’s bogus!” We agree! Glacier RULES!

We took a short hike on the Oxbow Trail and later, checked out McDonald Lake.