Two Great Days in Montana

FINALLY -- I'm starting to enjoy the Montana that drew me to move here. I've been doing the mundane (but necessary) tasks of finding a new bank, changing my driver's license, dealing with painters and contractors, etc. And it left me to wonder -- "Now, why did I move here? Am I having fun yet?" And that answer for a few weeks has been a big, fat "NO".

However, on Sunday I spent the day at Big Mountain Ski Resort in Whitefish, MT. It's summer time on the mountains, and in this area, summer time is the "off" season. You can rent full condo's at Big Mountain for about $115/night (sleeps 6). It makes me want to yell like the Staple's commercial guy -- "Now that's a cheap price".

And yet summer in the mountains is great. You can hike, mountain bike, raft, fish, etc. And Big Mountain is beautiful. The resort starting adding activities last year to help get summer business. Two of the biggest are the Alpine Slide (like a luge or bobsled course -- without the ice), and the Zip Line Tour (6 separate spans that carry you more than 300 feet off the ground and takes 3 hours). On Sunday, I had fun on the Alpine Slide, and went to the top of Big Mountain on the chair lifts (both pictures were taken by Mountain Life Photography at the resort).

At the summit (elevation 6,817 ft.), the views of the area and Glacier Park are just fantastic. There is also the "Summit House" which has gift shops, food, and a nature museum. And if you forget your jacket, the gift shop is a great place to buy one.

You can take your mountain bikes to the top of Big Mountain and bike down the large # of trails. You can also bike "up" the mountain -- pretty steep, and I wouldn't recommend it. Many active folks purchase a one way chair lift ticket (going up), and hike down the mountain. Down is good -- but it is a long way and fair steep.



Two younger tourists enjoying the view of Glacier.









One more thing -- the most unique and unusual "privacy fence" I have ever seen. Wonder where they got all those skis.












My next great day was on Tuesday. I did get a new driver's license and talked to a nice lady at the Social Security Office (yes, I am turning 62 this year). And once those tasks were done, it was off to Glacier National Park. My year long pass was actually good for 2 more days, so didn't even cost me anything to get in.

The "Going-to-the-Sun Road" is THE attraction in Glacier. There are lots of lakes, boat tours, hiking, fly fishing, horse back riding, etc., in Glacier, but most people come to drive the road to the sun. In 1918, the first National Park engineer, George Goodwin, planned a route for the "Going-to-the-Sun Road" similar to the current route, except it made a steep climb up Logan Creek, using 15 switchbacks before reaching the Continental Divide at Logan Pass.

Thomas Vint, a National Park Service Landscape Architect, opposed Goodwin's plan, and lobbied the National Park Service Director to approve an alternate route. Vint's suggestion required only 1 switchback, a more environmentally friendly option (nice they were thinking like that back in 1918). Luckily for all of us, Vint's route was approved. It allows visitors to see and experience far more of the park, and follows along the "Garden Wall" to Logan pass.

(I know.....lots of inconsequential, don't-need-to-know kind of information, but I love learning about the history of the park. So "bear" with me.)

One of my favorite sites along the road is a section called the "Weeping Wall". It's really a must see early in the season as the mountain snow is melting and waterfalls abound everywhere. Toward the end of July into August, there isn't much "weep" but more like a single tear drop. Going up the road, you are on the outside, so not much to worry about. But folks going the other direction need to make sure windows are closed, because your vehicle gets drenched. In this picture, I was lucky to catch 3 of the Red Tour Buses going pass the wall. They all have open air tops, so I hope the riders have umbrellas on their return trip.

The road is perched right on the side of extremely steep mountains and cliffs, and when you drive it, you sometimes doubt there is room for 2 vehicles to pass (trailers are NOT allowed). The sheer rock walls jut out into the roadway, and in a truck like mine, you have to make sure your mirror does not hit. It is an absolute marvel to me that anyone could build such a thing back in the 1930's. And because of the age of the road, the # of vehicles that pass on this road each year, plus little things like avalanches, 80 ft. of snow, etc., means that parts of the road are under construction every year. As I've always said about our National Parks -- DON'T be in a hurry. Just take your camera, enjoy the vistas, or read a book while you wait.

But you can also have a great time while waiting 20 minutes for the road to clear. First, meet the people around you. Everyone is out of their vehicles. Bring your binoculars and look for wildlife. We (people in car in front of me)saw several mountain goats climbing on the mountainside. And enjoy the vistas.






Meet the people around you -- see how many!!














Even the flag people take a break to say hello to a couple of 4 footed visitors (dogs are not allowed in the park, so they can't get out of the car)








The only barrier to keep you and your vehicle from falling off the road is a small block wall -- and on the other side, it drops straight down. As we got back on our drive across the road, standing on the wall was a large mountain goat, a juvenile goat, and a baby goat (unfortunately I didn't get a good picture with the baby). I was suppose to be driving, and I'm leaning out the window trying to get a picture. Finally I decided to stop before I drove off the cliff -- and I didn't care if the people behind me minded or not. And you can see -- I got a great picture.

So it was on to Logan Pass. Last year this did not open up until about July 4, so I never got this far. But you could tell the thaw had not yet come to this area of Glacier. If you come later in the summer, the view up to Mt. Clement is a huge meadow full of wildflowers. And you can walk about 1 1/2 miles (on a paved path) to Hidden Lake. I've never done that, but it is on my list of "to do's" for this year. Today that was not going to happen as everything was covered in wet snow, with warnings to walk at your own risk. So I decided to just take pictures. And surprisingly with all this snow, the temperature was still about 62 degrees.

(don't know if you can see the really small dots beyond the tree line -- those are PEOPLE who did decide to brave the wet snow)




So I'm back in my truck in the Logan Pass parking lot, and I was looking at the map of the park to see if there was anything I wanted to see beyond Logan Pass, or whether I would just drive back down the road the way I came. Out of the corner of my eye I caught some movement, and there was a large, male, Big Horn Sheep (who would have thought!!!!). I'm thinking to myself, "where's my camera!! where's my camera!!" I found it, but by the time I had it turned on, the sheep is walking away with about 20 people with cameras following him around the parking lot. All I managed to get was the back of his head -- but look at the size of those horns.

It is always my greatest joy to see wildlife, so I was thrilled to have seen the Mountain Goats and this Big Horn Sheep. I plan to get to the park a lot this year, so hopefully a Grizzly Bear is still in my future.

Needless-to-say, I am once again happy I moved. Now if I could just sell my Georgia home!!!