Our Adventure Out West this Summer Part Two of Three

 

On Sunday morning, July 30th, after nearly a week away from home, we drove a few miles up the road from our cabin in Coram, Montana and entered Glacier National Park. Often considered the “Crown Jewel” of the National Park system, Glacier has grown so popular in recent years that reservations are required to use its famed “Going to the Sun Road.”

Thanks to the wisdom of our eventual cabin-mate, however–Dirk Bohnhoff–we had reserved the coveted digital ticket back in April. (900 vehicle tickets went on sale at 8:00 A.M. on April 1st for this trek. All 900 of them sold out within ten minutes! The price is negligible–just a couple dollars–but their importance is not.)

We were novices, of course, so we didn’t really know what to do. Dirk had offered us a few suggestions, however, so we spent most of the morning exploring the north-east shore of Lake McDonald. The kids skipped stones and posed for pictures. We rented a kayak for an hour, and then enjoyed a short boat ride up and down the lake. After disembarking we stopped by a few waterfalls within walking distance of the road; the kids put on their water shoes and waded around. We ate a picnic, then prepared for our first real challenge: a five mile hike up to Avalanche Lake.

            At first we strolled along a boardwalk through a forest of old-growth trees reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest. Once we walked a half mile into the woods, however, the actual hiking began.

            One of the more unnerving aspects of walking around the woods in this part of the state was all the bear signs. Hikers are constantly reminded, “Hey, there are bears here.” Under most circumstances, these signs would be tantamount to “Do not enter,” but here they were more of, “Try not to get mauled.”

            The best anti-mauling strategy is to walk in groups and make noise. Bears are not fond of humans, and so if they do hear you they will almost always walk the other way and pretend you’re the person in Wal-Mart they want to avoid. You will rarely see bears. We didn’t, but that didn’t stop us from practicing the other anti-mauling strategy, which is to carry around bear spray. We never went more than a few minutes without meeting fellow hikers on their way back down the mountain, and they, like us, were armed with a can of super-mace clipped somewhere within reach.

 Once we reached the top after a good hour of walking, the kids tiptoed into the frigid lake. We watched and took pictures, enjoying our front row seat to a postcard. Icy little brooks laced down the side of the mountains like wedding ribbons. Dozens of chipmunks scampered around the edges of the shore, scavenging for crumbs left by exhausted hikers. After a half-hour, we convinced the kids to get their dry clothes back on so we could return to our truck before dark. Fortunately, the hike back down the mountain moved quicker than going up. Daylight had begun to fade, especially on the forest floor, and by the time we made it back to the truck it was twilight.

            When we made it “home” we discovered that our cabin mates, the Bohnhoffs, had arrived in our absence. They had ventured out to explore on their own, though, so we made a quick supper and settled in for the evening. Once they returned we swapped stories and made plans for the next day.

            On Monday, July 31st, the nine of us in two vehicles ventured east to Two Medicine Lake. Since this lake is nestled on the south-east side of the park, we drove along the southern edge of Glacier to reach it. Although we didn't have a reservation for this particular road, we were allowed entrance into the park because of a boat tour we had scheduled for later that morning. We went on a very short walk, and then embarked on our second boat ride in as many days, this one taking us to the other side of the lake.

            Some of the folks stayed on the boat; others began exploring in various directions. We chose a one-hour hike to Twin Falls with the hope of making it back to the dock for the 11:15 return trip. This didn’t pan out; we missed the boat by a good twenty-minutes. However, the pebbly beach was ideal for swimming and the dock provided the perfect spot for the kids to jump into the cold water. Eventually, around 1:00 in the afternoon, we saw the ferry puttering our way, and enough explorers got out for us to find a return seat. Once back on the more populated side we devoured our picnic lunches, and then left Two Medicine.

To get back to the cabin, instead of retracing our path around the southern edge of the park, we decided to drive through Glacier from the east via the “Going to the Sun” Road. Because it was after 3:00 by the time we entered at the St. Mary entrance (after a pit stop for ice cream and sandwiches, of course) we didn’t need a reservation. The highway hugged the north shore of Saint Mary Lake for close to ten miles before climbing up to Logan Pass, the highest spot on the road. We took another break for a short hike around the visitor center, saw some wildlife - mountain goats and bighorn sheep - and then decided it was time to call it a day.

After an intense half-hour of creeping down from Logan Pass to the valley, the jagged edges of the mountain often just inches from our rear-view mirror, we sighed and enjoyed the relatively wide highway that led us to the west entrance of the park. The evening back at the cabin was relaxed. We all enjoyed a spaghetti supper followed by a Texas Hold’ Em tutorial from Laurie.

            The next day, Tuesday August 2nd, Dirk and I left the cabin early to try and find the correct place to dump our garbage. We failed, but then stopped by the little village of Apgar near the west entrance of the park to grab some coffee and watch in disbelief as a set of young people leapt into frigid Lake McDonald and immediately started screeching. We returned to the cabin for pancakes and eggs, and then we all geared up for the big event of the day: white water rafting!

            We had all rafted together last summer in Tennessee, but that had been more of a relaxing float trip. This adventure was longer and more intense in spots, with a few class three rapids that required focus. We eventually came to a spot in the river that was calm enough for the kids and the dumber adult - me - to hop off the raft and soak. The water was too cold for soaking, though, and once I stopped sputtering I quickly latched back onto the raft and allowed JaLana and Laurie to unceremoniously plop me back onto the boat.

            We returned to the cabin for lunch, then went back into Glacier, this time from the west side, and headed once more up to Logan’s Pass. Once we left the valley floor the road quickly narrowed. Special care had been made when designing this part of the trek to blend the highway with the natural landscape as much as possible. Thus, there is only one scratchy-looking switchback. The rest of the ascent (or descent, depending on which way you’re driving) hugs the mountain on one side and offers a vertigo-inducing drop on the other. 

             Some curves swayed casually, with the bends offering drivers a few moments to gather their wits before passing within inches of oncoming traffic. Other curves jerked back and forth, like awkward dancers at a junior high sock hop.

            We were on such a curve when a truck cut in.

(To be concluded…)

           

           

 

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