My First Winter in Montana -- OMG!!!

It is November 24 -- the day before Thanksgiving. It is -3 (that's negative) degrees outside. AND IT'S ONLY NOVEMBER!!!! That is about 30-35 degrees below normal for this time of year.

(View of Kathy Lake from my side deck -- it's definitely FROZEN)

Still there is no 24 hour "storm watch" broadcast on all of the local stations, grocery stores still have milk and bread, and the schools are open. Quite a change from Georgia. If we had snow and these temperatures in Georgia, the local stations wouldn't go off the air, and there would be film of all those "northern" transplants who think they can drive on ice, so we get "bumper cars" on the hills (actually I always think these are funny). The grocery stories (and Home Depot) would be closed because they would have nothing else to sell, and every school would be closed for a week.

I grew up in Ohio, lived in Michigan, and have lived through winter. But I must say, I was unprepared for this weather so early. I don't have a winter scarf or any snow boots. I called the propane company begging for help as I was sure I would run out of propane (I have 3 gas fireplaces that heat this house), and someone would find my frozen body in my house (but maybe not for a while as I don't know any neighbors). The nice man on the phone assured me they had the same readings as I had seen on my tank, and that I wouldn't run out. But I said.....it's suppose to get to 18 BELOW!!

The second call was to a man who had sent me a flyer for snowplowing. He was great and by about 1:00, he had plowed out my driveway. About a week ago, I spent 4 1/2 hours in a tire store waiting to pay $800 for a set of new, studded tires. But they don't work very well when you have about 5 inches of snow on the ground, and your driveway has a grade that would cause a trucker to downshift in a hurry.

I did buy a snow blower from the previous owner, but I haven't even read the manual, so I don't know how it works. And at -3 degrees, I'm not about to try to start it now. When we get back into the 30's, then I'll be come "snow blower proficient", and I can clean my own driveway.

Since the drive was plowed, I had to see if I could get out. I back my truck into the garage so I can get a running start up the driveway. I make it about 3/4's of the way, but then the grade gets steeper, and even the studded tires were spinning. And on top of that I have to turn uphill on a snow covered road. Enough gas and spinning tires, and I eventually reached the top. I've got to try turning downhill and take the longer, alternate route out of my development.

(Winter in Montana)

Since I was out of the house, I went to the grocery store (needed to make sure I didn't run out of Diet Coke with Lime). One of the clerks said he ordered the snow -- he moved to Montana in 2009, and apparently last winter they had mild temperatures and almost no snow. He was excited. I'd be willing to say he didn't bring the snow -- I DID!! Just by moving here.

Winter can be beautiful -- I'll give it that. The snow had fallen very thick on the trees, but when a breeze came up, there was a "whiteout". The snow would blow off the trees, and you couldn't see anything. I really like the snow better when it is on top of the mountains.

The good news is that I don't really want to go out when it is below zero, and I painted the ceiling in my bedroom. Today.....the walls.

I'm just hoping that we get back to the 30's SOON, and this snow melts and stays gone for a while. I'd like to get some outside Christmas decorating accomplished and not freeze to death. Very wishful thinking on my part!!!

(The View from my Family Room)

Ghost Stories from the Conrad Mansion

The Conrad Mansion was the home of Charles E. Conrad, who is considered to be the founder of Kalispell (Salish Indian name meaning "prairie above the lake"). Charles and his wife, Alicia (nicknamed "Lettie), moved with their two children into the Flathead Valley in 1891. This grand home (13,000 sq. ft) was designed and built by Spokane, WA architect Kirtland Cutter in 1895, and sat on Conrad's 72 acre estate.

Charles and Alicia established a solid reputation for hospitality and generosity in the community. We were told that Alicia's favorite holidays were Halloween and Christmas.

I'm going to add this piece of history here, as I found this quite interesting. Charles had been married once before Lettie. He was married to "Sings-in-the-Middle", the daughter of a Blackfoot leader of the North Peigan. Mr. Conrad's first son, Charles E. Conrad, Jr. born in 1876, was from this union. Sings-in-the-Middle returned to her father’s tribe in Canada, where she died prior to 1881, when her son would have been only 5. Charles Jr. remained with his father, but died just 3 years after his father at the age of 29.

The Conrad's had 3 children -- Charles (mentioned above), Kate (born at Fort Benton in 1885), and their youngest, Alicia Conrad Campbell (born in Kalispell in 1892). Alicia lived in the Conrad's home until 1964. In 1974, she donated the home to the city of Kalispell to be maintained in perpetuity as a historic site in memory of her parents. It is said she loved this home.

Charles Conrad lived in his beautiful home for only seven years. He died in 1902 in his bedroom of the home at age 52 from complications of diabetes and tuberculosis. His wife Lettie died in the same bed in 1923.

I mention this last item because the family has been see in the home many times by the director, the guides, and the visitors. I took the opportunity to buy a ticket for the "Haunted Ghost Tour" of the Conrad Mansion. I didn't realize that the mansion was considered haunted, but the stories of encounters are quite amazing.

The mansion has had the Montana Paranormal Society (called M.A.P.S) come to investigate the paranormal activity of the mansion. We saw several recordings, one of which you could see a ghostly face come through the door. Because you can see a mustache, this is believed to be Charles Conrad.





(The beautiful large stone fence surrounds the mansion)


Apparently many people have experienced rooms turning cold, felt the brushing of shoulders as they went up and down the stairs, heard footsteps on the floors and stairways, felt someone's hand being put on their shoulder, a head laid on their shoulder, etc. And many of the people who work in the mansion have seen apparitions of Charles, his wife Alicia (Lettie), and the young daughter, Alicia. Both Charles and his wife died in the mansion, but it is unusual for the daughter to be haunting the mansion, as she did not die in the house.


(Alicia Conrad, 22, on her June 10, 1914 wedding day to Wally McCutcheon. This union ended in divorce in 1924. She later married George Campbell of Great Falls, MT - picture taken from the Conrad Mansion web site)


So let's start......we went through the kitchen into the servant's anti-room, from which the servants could enter the various rooms in the house. We were told the story that happened to the "former" director of the mansion. She was alone, doing some chores in the anti-room and had pulled out the sweeper. Several years ago, a stray cat named Sweety Pie "adopted" the mansion. Apparently Sweety Pie got past the director and ran up the stairs to the upper floors. The director decided she would finish her chores and then go upstairs to find the cat. All of a sudden, the cat came running down the stairs and into what they call the "Grandmother" hallway. The director looked up, and saw the ghost of Alicia running after the cat into this hallway. Alicia loved cats, and while she lived as a child in the mansion, she had about 13 cats. The story was the director quickly gathered up the sweeper, left the house, and didn't return for 2 days. I don't know if it was at this time the director became a "former" director -- but it would make sense!!

As we went up the stairs to the 2nd floor and the bedrooms, we saw what they call the "Antique" bedroom, which was used for guests. It is the largest of the guest bedrooms, and Teddy Roosevelt used to stay in this room when he visited the Conrads. There have been "vapors" spotted in this room.

There are several other guest rooms on the 2nd floor, and the best ghost story of the evening was told by an elderly gentleman who spent many hours alone in the home painting the inside of the house. It gave me "chills" listing to the tale directly from the person who experienced it.

Once when he was painting in the main entrance way, he saw a rocking chair "rocking" with no one in it. As it turns out, during Christmas (Lettie's favorite holiday), the family always had a two story Christmas tree in the entrance, and back in the late 1800's, they used 100s of real bees wax candles on the trees, and a China-man would sit in that rocking chair watching that the candles didn't catch anything on fire.

But that was just the opening story. It was towards the end of the day, around 4:30, and he was looking forward to finishing work for the day and going home. He was alone in the house, in the guest bedroom painting, and he heard footsteps coming down the hallway, and sounds of crinkling paper. He looked up from his painting to see the apparition of a lady dressed in Victoria dress, with her hair piled on her head in the style of that time. She was walking down the hallway, swinging her arm, and she stopped at the door, and looked into the room. Needless to say, the painter had dropped his jaw at this sight. The lady was Mrs. Conrad. He felt she was there inspecting his paint job. She turned and continued to walk down the hallway, and down the stairs which led to the kitchen.

He said he was shaken, and tiptoed to the doorway in time to watch Mrs. Conrad go down the stairs. Normally this gentleman was very fastidious, always leaving his brushes cleaned....but on this day he said he dropped his brush in the paint bucket and left. He was suppose to go out of the house through the kitchen and lock up that door. But instead, he headed in the opposite direction, down the main stairway, taking 3 steps with each stride. He went out the front door and did not look back!!!

There is a beautiful billiards room on the 2nd floor, and the wall next to it is a full mirror. Several visitors have told the staff that they have seen a man smoking a cigar in the reflection of the billiards room in this mirror, but when they looked directly into the room, there was no man.

On the other end of the 2nd floor are the bedroom suites for the family. They all have a bath (I would think this unusual in 1895), and they all have connecting doors. The first room is that of the daughter Alicia. There are pictures of Alicia in the room, and they say several young girls who visited the house have seen a young girl (looking like Alicia) rocking in her rocking chair, reading a book.

The next room is that of Charles and Alicia (Lettie) Conrad. As I mentioned earlier, both of them died in their bed in that room. Lettie died in 1923, and she was in the bedroom resting, when her health took a turn for the worse. Her breathing was labored, and friends and family were summoned as it appeared she might not make it. Her brother, Harry, was with her when her breathing became better and she sat up in bed. She looked towards the east window, held her arms out as though to greet someone, and said, "Oh Charlie......you came for me". Then she laid back and died. Harry was not a religious man, but he apparently saw the ghost of Charles Conrad coming back for his bride.

The next room belonged to the daughter, Kate, and is called the Rose Room. The staff has reported on several occasions hearing noise in this room, and when they entered the room to check, they found the candle sticks that had been sitting on the fireplace mantle thrown across the room. Before Christmas, they hold a Christmas Bazaar in the home (which I attended), and this was held several weeks ago. During this bazaar, they would find vendor pictures moved to different places and turned face down on the floor -- 2 days in a row.

(I tried to get a picture of the 18 foot Christmas Tree which is put up during the Bazaar -- could only get a portion)

Another example of items being moved comes from one of the carriage houses across the street. It has been enlarged and is now a retail outlet. The Assistant Director said she wanted to visit the house and see the original part of the building. When she visited, the people who ran the store told her that every evening they would lock up the store, and the next morning, a stack of hats was always thrown across the room. They also told stories of seeing ghosts walking up the stairs to the door, and then finding no one there.

The next stop was to the attic, which has many stories. There is a children's play room in the attic, and at one point, workmen were repairing the roof, and there was a hole in the roof where they could look down into this playroom. They saw the ghost of Alicia waving at them.

Another guide reported that several times when she was in the attic guiding visitors, she would feel a tickling on her ear -- kind of like a bug was on her ear. She would just try to wave it away. This happened on 4 or 5 tours. On the last time, she was leading the group out, walking backwards through the open attic. She bumped into something, which felt like a person. It physically stopped her progress, and she turned around to apologize -- but there was no one there. And the tour group witnessed her "bump" into what looked like open air.

Another guide in the mansion, had actually known Alicia and her second husband, George, when he was a boy. He had come to the attic to make sure the emergency exit door was locked, and saw the ghosts of Alicia and George. They spoke to him and said they were so happy the home was being used. Now that is spooky!!



So......believe it or not, these stories gave me chills up my spine, even as I was driving away. I almost felt disappointed that I had not felt a ghostly hand on my shoulder -- ALMOST.

(Gazebo on the property)


I didn't get a chance to really see the house, as we toured in minimal light (really, it was dark). But I could see some of the beautiful woodwork and stained glass in the house. The Christmas tours start after Thanksgiving, and I can't wait to go back to really see the house and hear the stories of the family.

Fall in Montana

It is fall in Montana, temperatures are in the 20's at night, and there is frost on the grass in the morning. I was looking for all of the "color" that I used to see in Georgia, but guess what -- Montana is full of pines, spruce, furs, etc. Trees that don't have leaves, and therefore, no color.

I did take a drive into Glacier National Park, with the thought that I would take a little hike. Glacier is pretty much closed down -- no lodges, gift shops, restaurants are open. But you can drive into the park -- about 15 miles to Avalanche Creek. There the "Road to the Sun" is closed. And it does allow you go to by Lake McDonald Lodge.

As I said, the lodge was closed, but there were some beautiful aspen trees (and some other types) that had turned a bright yellow. I think for full color, I should have been a week earlier, but I enjoyed walking around the lodge having it all to myself. And here are some of my favorite pictures.





(Some color around the spiral walkway to the lake)













(View of the back of Lake McDonald Lodge)






























(Not too many boats left on the lake)












(Several rental cabins at Lake McDonald Lodge)









I also stopped at Apgar Village (also closed) where you have the beautiful view of Lake McDonald and the beautiful mountain peaks of Glacier Park. From this spot you can see (from left to right): the Garden Wall, Mt. Cannon, Mt. Brown, Little Matterhorn, Edwards Mt., and Gunsight Mt. (and no, I didn't know this -- there was a sign by the lake pointing to the mountains).





And of course, regardless of whether the park is open or closed, there is always road construction.















There are other fall activities in the area, including the Oktoberfest in Whitefish, MT. It's the first year the held the event, so I do think it will be larger in years to come. There is a large tent where you can buy beer (of course), and food -- mostly bratwursts and potato salad. There was a line, so I headed for the beer first, so I could be having a little refreshment while I waited for my bratwurst.

They had a polka band, and several afternoon activities. One was the "stein holding contest", one for the women and one for the men. It doesn't take long for their arms to give out -- even the winner for the men could only hold the mug for 4 minutes, 30 seconds.

And my favorite for the day was the dachshund races. Those little dogs are just so cute, and I didn't know there were so many in the area. After all, we do get snow, and those dogs have such short legs. Hopefully the organizers will figure out a better way to hold the races -- very small enclosed area which barely left enough room for the "holder" and the "catcher" to position themselves. And definitely not enough room for people to watch. I didn't get any pictures of the race because it was hard to see, but also because the race was over in about 5 seconds. But they were cute. Several decided to socialize mid-course, and made new friends. Some started out, and then ran back to the "holder". But fun was had by all.













(Several dogs "checking out the competition)

My Birthday Trip to Glacier

I decided I was NOT going to be painting the house on my birthday, and decided it was time to take another trip into Glacier Park. And I was lucky enough to talk my friends, Jack and Jane, into going with me. I wanted to go back to the place I think is the most beautiful in the park -- Many Glacier.

As with most things in Glacier National Park, they seem to be named for their surroundings, and Many Glacier was named for the large number of glaciers that could be seen from that area. Around 1850, there were about 150 glaciers in the park, and today there are just 25. They believe that in only 10 years, they will all be gone.

(Me standing in front of our boat on Josephine Lake with Mt. Gould behind me. )

George Bird Grinnell pushed for the idea of a national park, and is considered to be the "father" of Glacier National Park. In 1910, President Taft signed the bill passed by Congress to establish Glacier National Park. So you will find many points of interest named for George Grinnell -- Grinnell Glacier, Grinnell Lake, Grinnell Point (you get the idea). and even some of the indigenous mountain rocks have his name. The great thing is that all of these landmarks are in the Many Glacier area.

There is also the Many Glacier Lodge (the largest lodge in the park) which was built by the Great Northern Railroad which was providing service to Montana and the park. The Lodge was started around 1910, and was opened on July 4, 1914. It's a marvelous structure sitting on the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake.

While there are many things you can do in this area, today we are taking the boat tour of Swiftcurrent Lake and Josephine Lake and from there, the hike to Grinnell Lake and Glacier. You catch the first boat (built around 1960) from the lodge which goes to the end of Swiftcurrent Lake, then take less than a half mile walk to the Josephine Lake and the next wooden boat, built in the 1940's.

(View of Swiftcurrent Mountain from the "Chief Two Eyes")



These lakes were carved by the huge glaciers that carved out this entire area. Swiftcurrent is only about 20 feet deep, then Josephine is about 80 feet deep, and Grinnell is up to 200 feet deep in spots. The closer the lake was to the heart of the glaciers, the larger the depth.

(Part of the trail is now on a board walk -- the river that runs through this area actually changed course and was now running on the trail. So you are actually walking over the river.)

Grinnell Glacier is one of the most photographed glaciers in the park. In 1850 (which was known as the "little ice age"), this glacier was 710 acres and included the glacier known today as the "Salamander Glacier". By 1993, Grinnell was only 220 acres and the Salamander was separate at 57 acres. So folks.....if you have never seen a glacier, you need to get to the park -- quickly.

So enough history.....it was a great day even if a little rainy. We had a nice hike with about 25 other people and found some good company and great conversation. Upon reaching the lake, I just found a log and sat down to take in the whole scene. It is incredibly peaceful, and I really could have sat there for hours just enjoying the nature and the peacefulness of the surroundings.

(It wasn't a great day for picture taking, but here is a shot of Grinnell Glacier -- you can barely see it any more -- which is on Mt. Gould. The waterfalls are there year round. )


Of course, once you get to the lake, you must take the walk back. And there are only so many boats -- the last one leaving Josephine Lake at 5:15. Miss that one and it's called "taking the 4 mile hike back to Many Glacier Lodge" -- and we really didn't want to do that. Jack and Jane just missed the "extra" boat they sent for the large group, so we waited.

(This picture is called "waiting for the boat". I think Jack wanted to be the first to board. But look at the clarity and color of the lake -- beautiful.)

The whole trip on the boats and on the hike we were looking for wildlife, hoping to see a bear. This is the time of year they are trying to put on as much weight as possible for the hibernation.

We didn't seen any bears on our hike, but as we were leaving the park, there were a lot of cars pulled over and people with the largest telescopes and lenses I've seen. Naturally......they had spotted a grizzly bear and her cub. They were eating berries, and without a binoculars, you really couldn't get a good look. Even then, they would walk behind a bush and disappear until someone spotted them again. Too far away for me to get a picture, but it was exciting to see them.

Now Jane had a great idea -- "Why doesn't someone go in there and chase them out here?" I'm sure she was kidding, but it was very funny at the time. I told her this was probably not a good idea, especially since there was a park ranger standing just down from us. She thought he should be the one to do the chasing -- isn't he trained for this sort of thing?

So it was fun, and we finished the day with a fabulous meal at the Great Northern Railway Restaurant in the East Glacier Lodge. Huge piece of prime rib complete with blackberry pie for my birthday treat.

Montana Home Town Fun

Here it is.....the next installment of activities in Montana. It's been a while since I've posted to my blog. I wish I could say it's because I've been hiking through Glacier, exploring Montana, etc. The truth is that I've been painting the inside of my house, and that is rather boring. Productive use of my time, but boring.

Montana has so many activities in the summer -- every week there is a farmer's market in almost every town around the Flathead Valley. Polson holds their farmer's market on Friday morning and the Kalispell market (which is pretty good size) happens on Saturday morning, along with Bigfork. On Tuesday evenings is the Whitefish market -- I went yesterday and am always amazed to see how many people attend and the large number of booths with fresh produce, food, art, crafts -- and Whitefish usually has a band. On Thursday night in Kalispell, there is a market featuring a band for a free concert. Yesterday the Flathead Valley Community College had a free performance of "Julius Caesar". On Friday evenings, there is karaoke at the "Kickin' Chickin'" in Bigfork. So you see.....in the Flathead Valley you can literally have an activity almost every day of the week.

And Montana does love their festivals -- several weekends ago there were 3 different Huckleberry Festivals in the area -- a 3 day Huckleberry and Art Festival in Whitefish, a 1 day festival in Swan Lake, and a 2 day Huckleberry Festival in Trout Creek, MT. Of course every festival has its huckleberry ice cream, huckleberry desserts of every description (the turnovers were my favorite), huckleberry jams/jellies, huckleberry syrup, huckleberry candy/fudge -- the list goes on and on. And there is a famous restaurant called the "Huckleberry Patch" in Hungry Horse, MT. Their huckleberry pies have been rated #3 in the entire country. If you go to their web site, you can order Erna's famous made-from-scratch huckleberry pie for just $44.95 (includes shipping), along with everything else huckleberry.

For those who are not aware, huckleberries look a lot like blueberries, only smaller. And huckleberry bushes are only found at elevations of 3,000 ft. and higher. I also read that the huckleberry is state fruit of Idaho. They grow wild in mid-alpine regions usually on the lower slopes of mountains, and apparently cannot be cultivated and grown in a farm environment. So when you see a fruit stand with huckleberries, someone has gone up on the mountain and picked them. Just another note ..... grizzly bears also like huckleberries, so watch out if you are picking.

The term huckleberry is also used in slang. If you saw either version of "Wyatt Earp", you saw Doc Holiday (a Georgia native) say to Johnny Ringo "I'm your huckleberry", meaning "I'm your best gunman" or "I'm the best man for the job" as he takes Wyatt's place in a shootout, and puts a bullet through Johnny's forehead (my favorite part of the movie).

My friends Jane and Jack went with me to the festival in Trout Creek. We arrived just in time to experience the little home town parade. I love these little "windows" into the people and flavor of the small towns. But I do find several things in common with all parades:

• There are always fire engines blowing their horns and sirens which makes us all go deaf.

• There is always a bag pipe marching group -- and I'd love to know why. I don't even know anyone who plays a bagpipe, but apparently if you do, you'll have a career walking in every local parade. Do you think that pays well?

(This is the bag pipe group from the North West Montana Fair Parade)

• Every political candidate running for office will have a group or car or funny float in the parade, but you will rarely see the actual candidate.

• If a business owns a delivery truck or trailer, it will be in the parade. Lots of free advertising (but very boring for spectators).

• I've never seen a parade without a group of Shriners with their silly little cars. I just didn't know there were so many Shriners spread all over this country.

(This was the strangest Shriner vehicle I saw -- from the Trout Creek Huckleberry Festival)








(The more traditional "Shriner-mobile")

• And EVERY car, float, band, walking group, etc., will have candy that they only throw at KIDS. I might be an adult, but I'd love to have a piece of candy. It's like a second Halloween for the kids -- they even come with bags to hold all their candy.

As well as the Trout Creek Huckleberry Festival Parade, I also watched the North West Montana Fair parade in Kalispell. This was a very large, organized parade. I watched for an hour, and the parade was still going strong -- but I was not. Here are some shots from the parade.

(Thank goodness this guy had a big horse)













(This was one of my favorite floats -- advertising a plumber. As I mentioned every one gives out candy, and guess where they got the candy. From the toilets, of course)



















(Two Princesses for the NW MT Fair)









(With the horse entries, comes the "pooper scooper", and this wins the award for the best decorated wheel barrel)








(One of the more unusual ridden entries in the parade -- does anyone know the name of this hairy cow?)









So.....if there was a parade for the North West Montana Fair, obviously there was a fair. This reminded me of my childhood days when I was in several 4-H clubs and had projects with steers and my horse. During the day, the activities seem to be very focused on 4-H judging. I came across a livestock pavilion, where they were judging swine (or pigs). This appeared to be some type of organized chaos, as kids were running around in a circular arena with their pig, a stick, and a brush. All the kids were holding the brush in their hand and holding it behind their backs, so I guessed this was the appropriate "etiquette" for pig showing (who knew?).

(Organized Chaos -- note the brush in the hand held behind the back)


The stick was to steer the pig, but it appeared to me that rather than the kids steering the pig, the pig was going where it wanted with the kid following behind. There was a judge in the ring, and he would run around with the kid and pig asking questions. If you have been around pigs, you know they SMELL.....so I didn't stay to see the winner.


("I've got the right of way", "No, I've got the right of way")







One of my favorite things at a festival or fair is all the "junk food", and this fair had more junk food that I think I have seen at one of these. I had made up my mind NOT to eat the junk -- be good and go home and have a salad. But there were some names I had not hear before -- like "tater twisters". So I stopped to ask, and the next thing I know, I am ordering the tater twisters and a polish corn dog. Very nutritional!!

(YUMMMEEE!!)





This year's fair had attendance of over 75,000 people (vs. 48,000 in 2009). And according to the paper, this was because of the concerts, rodeos, and horse racing. The racing apparently stopped about 5 years ago, but was re-introduced this year.

Okay.....last weekend. I rode my horse on Saturday, and that was the day of the Polson Cookoff and Brewfest. I've mentioned my friends Jack and Jane Clapp, who own the Heart of Sky Ranch where Ludo lives. They are ex-attorneys, cattle ranchers and also volunteer firefighters for Polson. Jack is also a great cook, with BBQ Pork being a speciality. So the Polson Fire Department has a booth every year, and Jack is the "pit boss". I stopped over for lunch, and it was excellent.

From the Cookoff and Brewfest, I could hear high powered motors on the lake. It was a boat race on Flathead Lake. So I took a nice walk along the lake until I came upon many very aerodynamic boats. They were both loud and fast. Apparently, each boat was lowered into the water by a large crane, did their qualifying laps (3 boats at a time), and then hauled back out of the water.

I was standing on the pier, and an "official" in a purple shirt gave me some information on the race. It was the 3rd in a series, but had been put together last minute, and the racing boats were from Seattle (normally there would have been more boats). As I watched, the boats were doing time laps to qualify for the race. So while one of my pictures shows all 3 boats (and sorry, it's a bit out of focus -- they were going fast), they are not actually racing each other at that time. I asked this official if it was dangerous, and he told me one of his best friends has been killed on the lake with the boat flipping.















So yes.....it is dangerous.

It made for a fitting ending to a beautiful, sun filled day -- eating BBQ, sitting on the pier, and enjoying the beautiful lake.

A WALK IN THE CLOUDS

It's Wednesday and I'm going to Glacier National Park. The park attendance is "up", so I wanted a day with lower attendance so I could get to Logan Pass and actually find a parking spot. And it was a GOOD DAY, arriving at the park early to avoid traffic on the "Going to the Sun Road". There is on-going construction on the road to keep it in good repair -- and when you see the steep mountain cliffs, you are very happy those road crews are working.

The weather was sunny most of the way to Logan Pass (6,646 ft. and is the summit of the "Going to the Sun Road", and the highest elevation you can drive your car). While I was waiting in the construction, the clouds were rolling into the mountains. And when I arrived at Logan Pass, from the parking lot I could not see the visitor's center or the giant mountains beyond with all the cloud cover.

(A cloudy look at Mt. Clements)


But I had come to hike up to the Hidden Lake Overlook, and that's what I was going to do. I think I had seen a movie titled "A Walk in the Clouds" once.....and this title seemed very appropriate. When I started up the boardwalk, you could see almost nothing, but luck was with me, and very slowly, the clouds started to open and show small spots of the beautiful blue sky. And in many ways, the clouds made the walk that much more interesting as they would part, and a mountain would appear.

(Clouds clinging to the mountain)



I had been told (or maybe I read) that this was an easy hike with sidewalk all the way. I guess "easy" is a relative term, based upon your definition, your fitness at the time, and of course, the elevation. This is a 1.5 mile "walk" to the Hidden Lake Overlook with a 460 ft. elevation. So what that really means is that the boardwalk has MANY steps as you go up that 460 ft. elevation. It was really a "hike" not a walk, and I did have to stop a few times just to catch my breath, which does give you time to enjoy the fabulous vistas and mountains -- or pretend you are taking pictures (I have lots of this same shot). As you get about 2/3's of the way, the boardwalk stops, and you are on a trail. And in the first week of August, there were still several small snow fields to walk across as well. And you know, it isn't as easy as you would think to walk across this snow -- slippery!!

(The "boardwalk" -- from this view it looks like it goes nowhere!)













(A few of the fabulous vistas on the trip to Hidden Lake. The picture on the bottom shows the famous "Garden Wall" partially hidden by the clouds. The Garden Wall is a knife-like ridge known as an arete)














You also pass by hundreds of acres of meadows, which I have heard (and I've seen pictures of) are filled with












(Indian Paintbrush)

millions of wildflowers. Most of these flowers are more "artic" plants, like the Glacier Lilly and the Indian Paintbrush. They have a very short growing season, and it looked like their season was almost over. I would think the last 2 weeks in July was probably when the flowers were at their peak.

The real "treat" to this day is seeing Hidden Lake. It is one of the most visited places in the park, and sits nearly on the top of the continental divide. Hidden Lake is not a huge lake and is relatively protected from the high winds by its location deep down in a bowl. And it is a great fishing lake -- saw several people carrying their poles. Of course, that means you walk another 1.5 miles down a steeper trail to the lake.

So.....if you visit Logan Pass, you really should take the walk to Hidden Lake. I've been coming to Glacier Park for a number of years, but never with any friends who wanted to go to the Hidden Lake Overlook. And they never knew what they were missing. The views are just breathtaking and the mountains majestic. The lake is a beautiful blue green (as all the water is in Glacier), and is truly "hidden". And make sure you take binoculars -- so much you can't see with your naked eye.





And get ready to see wildlife. Mountain goats and big horn sheep frequent the area and have become use to the people. So much so that even the many people walking up the trail didn't seem to bother the momma goat with her little baby goat, standing right along the trail. It wasn't until someone could almost pet the goat that they moved further away (and please don't touch the wildlife -- they are called that because they are "wild" and have big horns that could hurt when puncturing your skin). There were some big horn sheep that were pretty far off the trail (hence, the binoculars) enjoying the area as well.



By now my legs are sore, my ankle is hurting, and it feels great to sit in the truck (and yes, there are people waiting for my parking spot, so my relaxing is cut short). But there is another hike I've always wanted to do, and I know this one is not as far or elevated. That is to see St. Mary's Falls. It is one of the few waterfalls you can see in Glacier without having to hike into the back country.

Turn right out of Logan Pass and continue on the "Going to the Sun Road" towards the east entrance at St. Mary's. There are signs for both the St. Mary's and Virginia Falls. The St. Mary's falls are .8 miles down (and yes I mean down, although that means you go up on the way back) a trail through the forest. You hear the falls long before you see them, and you'll cross a bridge over the river. I understand that St. Mary's Falls is actually a "double falls", but in August the water levels have receded enough that there was only 1 fall (the double is on the lower half of the falls) -- but still impressive. Lots of big rocks on the other side of the bridge to sit and enjoy the sound and coolness of the falls.

It is also very "colorful". The rocks in Montana and Glacier Park are a beautiful red, blue, and creme. It is the silt created as the glaciers move that gives all of the streams and lakes their beautiful blue color. And even if you order stone for your driveway, it comes as red, blue and creme stones -- rather amazing. As the river leaves St. Mary's Falls, it falls down another red shelf.

I wish I could say I made the additional .7 mile walk to Virginia Falls, as I've seen pictures and it is beautiful. I would have done this if I had not already hiked 3.8 miles (between both hikes), and my ankle was hurting a lot. It would have been another 1.4 miles added to the .8 from St. Mary's falls to get back to my truck, and I just couldn't subject myself to this -- at least not this day. Next time.