Glacier National Park--Part 2

Wednesday, July 11, and Thursday July 12, 2012 (Days 236,237)

Our campsite at Apgar campground

We wanted to see the other side of the park, so this morning we drove around the south end to West Glacier. We picked out a campsite at Apgar Campground, just inside the entrance. Eventually. We picked one site, then rode our bikes around all four loops before deciding on the best available one. We were surprised that there were open sites, but it was late morning after all. By evening, they were all full.


Two photos of the To the Sun Highway

Because it was afternoon, and because it was dang hot, we decided we wouldn’t take a hike today. We took the free shuttle bus up to Logan’s Pass instead. The shuttles were the same size as Howie, so Harris thought he should be able to drive Howie on the Going to the Sun Highway. The signs all said, anything over 21 feet was prohibited. Howie is 21.5 feet without the bike rack. Harris wanted to take the bike rack off and go for it. Judy didn’t. The ride in the shuttle bus was exciting enough for her without having to watch the steep drop-offs again.


Some Bighorn sheep playing in the snow

We walked around the pass area, reveling in the fact that we were in t shirts and shorts, enjoying 80 degree weather and yet walking in the snow. One gentleman we met told us it was just too hot. We got to talking and found out he was from the north of England, just like our son in law, Ewan. As Ewan says, you can find Geordie’s everywhere!


At the top

On the way to the top we saw a mountain goat by the side of the road. At the top of the pass we spied a family of big horn sheep enjoying a patch of snow. We also stopped and listened to a ground squirrel chattering at all the tourists. On the way down, there was a “goat jam” as our driver called it. There was a mother and baby goat, right on the road, apparently licking something on the asphalt (the driver said probably antifreeze).


The ground squirrel training the tourists

Back at camp, we enjoyed the evening in our screen house, which let some little breezes through and kept most of the bugs out. We got “home” in time to use our generator a bit to juice up the battery. Harris is concerned it is draining faster than it should.

Mountain goat licking antifreeze?

We played our usual card games (Harris won by a big margin tonight), and when it was dark enough we rode our bikes back over to the Apgar Transit station where a ranger was giving an astronomy talk. It was fun to hear him speak, but most of the time we really couldn’t see all the stars and figures he was pointing out. He did have a large telescope, and we got to “see” Saturn in it…sorta. Then we rode our bikes back to the campground….in the pitch dark, around midnight. We did have small flashlights with us, and they did the trick. It was a neat ride!


The cause of the "goat jam"

Thursday morning we thought we better get in a hike before we left. We talked about lots of different ones, but decided to go for one that was fairly close by. We walked the Rocky Point Lookout loop and nature trail, which has a brochure you can take along detailing the effects of a fire in 2003. It was a good walk, and we were glad we did it early! The temps reached 96 today…enough to make even Harris melt a bit.


One of many waterfalls

Because we were getting a bit concerned with the battery, we reluctantly left Glacier National Park and headed west. We checked out several RV parks along highway 2, and eventually found this one outside Moyie Springs, Idaho. It’s called Twin Rivers Canyon Resort, and seems to be a beautiful campground by small private lake and in between the Moyie and Kootenai Rivers. But! To get here, we had to go down, down, down a single lane dirt road with drop offs and no shoulders. Not Judy’s idea of fun. We’ll have to see how the climb back up is tomorrow.


Construction worker cooling off

(One interesting, although sad side note. We stopped at Costco’s in Kalispell and while we were waiting for our pizza the man behind us started talking to us. Turns out he used to live in Friday Harbor in the San Juan Islands. He said he now lives in Eureka, Mt, for 4 months of the year, and the rest of the time in Uruguay. Well, so we just had to ask why Uruguay???? Because, he says, he doesn’t like blacks or Muslims, and Uruguay doesn’t allow either in the country. He lives there with other like-minded Europeans. He sold his ranch in Friday Harbor 3 years ago. Get the connection? All this with a smile on his face. I guess we were too stunned to think of a good reply. Should have said something like, that’s too bad…or be sure you stick around long enough to cast your ballot in November for the incumbent!)


Our hike to learn about forest fires

Another hike summit reached

"The going to the RV Park road"