2009 – Week 12



July 2, 2009, Thursday:
Today we moved on from the west side of Glacier. We went to breakfast in Eddie’s Restaurant in Apgar where Susie had pancakes, and I had buffalo hash and eggs. Great meals, and we hoped they carry us to dinner. We took a drive on the west side of the Park on the Camas Road and, being at a higher elevation, were able to see more of the mountains of Glacier Park, plus the mountains of Waterton Lakes National Park, its sister park in Canada. This area was totally burned in 2003 but is coming back. Shortly after the Camas Road exited Glacier NP and went into the National Forest, the road turned to gravel. We went on for a bit before we met a road grader and decided to turn around. We headed south and eventually went into Kalispell. I remembered a self-serve car wash with enough clearance for the RV so we headed there. We scrubbed and pressure washed for a while, and the owner felt sorry for us and added 10 minutes free and access to a high volume hose for rinsing. I think we were scrubbing and rinsing for at least 25 minutes and while it’s better, more work needs to be done when we get home. We headed back out of Kalispell and found a spot in a Rocky Mountain ‘Hi’ Park where only we could fit. They had good wifi and showers. We had dinner, and I posted another blog while Susie kept on drawing. We went to bed a bit after 11:00pm.

July 3, 2009 Friday:
I had an early shower and am glad to report that they were terrific; lots of hot water with high pressure. I felt pressure washed like the RV. Susie and I worked on the blogs, and the owners of the RV Park allowed us to stay until 12:30pm, well past the normal checkout time. Both of us posted week’s blog. I also called around to find new lamps for the bathroom light that failed during the night. Flashlights were really inadequate. Finally we found one source, but they would close early because of the holiday weekend. Off we went and also filled with gas before heading south to Condon MT where the Abolts live. Susie knew the Larrine and Russ Abolt when they lived in MD, and they were fox hunting. They now live in Condon MT, off MT83, in the valley between the Mission and Swan Ranges.
The Mission Mountain Wilderness is to the west and the Bob Marshall Wilderness to the east. The land they own was homesteaded in 1917, really not so long ago. We learned that the entire area encompassing the Rocky Mountains from Missoula MT north into Canada just south of Calgary is known as the Crown of the Continent. Russ Abolt is deeply involved in understanding and maintaining the nature of this section of the country. The Abolt’s son Chris and wife Kathy arrived from Baltimore after a long flight made longer by an airline flight plan change. Russ’s sister is also here from FL, having driven her RV. The Abolts have a yellow lab/husky, Abby, and she and Daisy got along well. There is a pond nearby, and it won’t be long before they are both wet. We had a wonderful dinner of bison burgers, asparagus and yam potato salad, all of which were exceptional. Everyone headed to bed around 9:30pm in preparation for tomorrow’s Fourth of July Parade and festivities.

July 4, 2009 Saturday:
Happy Fourth! Susie and I were sitting in the RV and all of a sudden Daisy jumped out and stared out the front window. We looked out intently expecting to see some wild animal, but while it was a great animal, it was Abby out for her morning walk. There was no group breakfast as everyone was working towards a 10:15am departure to the parade. The parade started promptly at 11:00am and took about 45 minutes. MT83 is the only one route through town (and through the Swan Valley) and was closed for the duration by the Sheriff. Participants included representatives of the military, the Shriners, cowboys and cowgirls, numerous spiffy Corvettes, the Fire Department, motorcycles, restored automobiles, the US Forest Service and that’s about all I can remember.

When we saw the Sheriff, we knew it was over, and the cars that had been stopped at the south end of town started coming through. While I am sure some were a bit annoyed, most had smiles. What they didn’t know was that there were other parades further north on the road and that they’d probably be stopped again. Next was the opening of the food concession and selling of huckleberry ice cream. We had Polish Sausage, but the ice cream was gone by the time we went for dessert. It seems amazing that it wasn’t until 2006 that we had ever heard of huckleberries. That was the year we were taken up into the mountains by Barbara and Dick Strevy in Idaho to pick them. Next were the horses. We watched for a while and then returned to the Abolts. The Abolts had arranged a dinner and more people and dogs arrived as the day went on. By dinnertime, there were 7 dogs and 11 people roaming around loose. Daisy had a great time. We were a bit concerned that she would wander off, but no problem. After dinner, we went up the hill to see the log house that was under construction by one of the dinner guests and his brother (not present). The view to the west was wonderful, and we all suspected that the morning view would be even better. The last event was watching the town fireworks from the porch at the log house. The fireworks started at dusk (10:00pm) and went for an hour. Back to the RV to sleep. A great Fourth of July!

July 5, 2009 Sunday:
Breakfast was scheduled for 9:00am, and while the food huckleberry pancakes and bacon were ready, not all the people were. After breakfast, we help put netting over the strawberry plants to help keep the chipmunks from stealing them. Here’s hoping it works. Next we took a walk in the meditation garden that Russ Abolt has constructed. He has quite a talent for taking pieces of wood and making sculptures from them. He and Abby go to the garden every morning where he sits in a chair and has tea while Abby wanders around. Today it was a bit different since Chris, Susie, Daisy and I were there. Daisy finally found the water, and she and Abby had a wonderful time swimming and running around and through all the trees. All the humans had a good laugh, but the dogs smelled a bit at the end of the hike. We left the Abolts at noon and headed north, stopping at ‘The Merc’ to purchase food for the next few days. We then drove around the south end of Glacier NP to the Two Medicine Campground and Lake in the southeast corner of the Park. The southern boundary of the Park is delineated by the Flathead River and Bear Creek. The BNSF Railroad follows these, as does US2. We saw snow sheds over the BNSF tracks. We first saw these in Canada in 2006. They were built to deflect sliding snow over the tracks during the wintertime. Looking directly uphill from the sheds, it is easy to discern the snow chutes down the mountains. We also saw 2 small waterfalls where the Middle Fork of the Flathead flows down from the Flathead Range and into the Flathead River. They were not large waterfalls, but did cascade gently over a series of rock shelves. The entrance to Two Medicine is very different from the west side. Here the mountains are much closer and have the same steep slopes. We are viewing them from the floor rather than from the tops as we did at Logan Pass. Susie took Daisy to the lake where she swam and swam, cleaning herself from the other swim. There was a young baby, Anna, with her parents watching Daisy, and every time Daisy leaped and splashed Anna laughed and laughed. The plan for tomorrow is to take a boat ride to the southwest corner of Two Medicine Lake and then a Ranger-led hike to the Twin Falls. However, the Park Host just came by and said there is an 80% chance of rain for tomorrow. Adjustments may need to be made.

July 6, 2009 Monday:
NOAA Weather forecast this morning was lousy for the entire day with 100% chance of rain, with strong cold winds. We found a better spot for the RV where we can look at the mountains and watch for wildlife. At noon it still hadn’t rained, and while that was no guarantee we decided to take some short hikes that would allow us to return quickly if the weather started to go bad. The first hike was up the Appostiki Creek to the Appistoki Falls. They weren’t too big, but it was nice. The best part was the hike where were went through several growths of Beargrass. They are in bloom right now and a treat to see. The second hike was to take us up into the mountains to Scenic Point. We never made Scenic Point but did manage to climb about 1,700 feet to elevation and a total distance of 5.75 miles.



We climbed past the limit of live trees and came across a section of dead Limber and White Bark Pine trees, all stripped of their bark and bleached out. We climbed above them and suddenly there were no living plants. We had another 600 vertical feet to go, but it started to rain and as we were coming down we experienced a shower of small hail. Hard rain followed, and while we had rainjackets, we didn’t bring pants so we were soaked from the waist down. There were numerous college age kids on the trail, and they were much faster than we, actually some were running down the rocky trail. One girl fell flat on her face, but was able to get up with a bit of assistance. A group of their friends, about a 1/2-mile and 6 switchbacks behind, applauded the fall. This area is sedimentary rock and reminded me of my late stepfather’s slate quarries in VT. There were all sorts of colors, including a purple and green mixture. The rain stopped and our pants dried as we continued down to the bikes. We loaded up and the rain began again, this time much harder but with less wind. We returned to the RV and had hot tea. There were numerous wet and bedraggled hikers trudging into the campground. The rains stopped, the sun came out and the winds grew stronger. I went to talk to 2 Canadians about the most scenic route through Ontario Canada. The trip around the north side of Lake Superior to Sault Ste. Marie is a winner, but they advised us to head south through the Michigan LP after that. They have saved us several very disappointing days. We had a steak diner cooked on George Foreman and mashed potatoes; great comfort food. At 8:00pm we attended the Ranger talk on the Mountain Goat. We did not realize that a full grown male weighs 300 pounds going into the winter and comes out having lost about 1/3 of his weight. The biggest predators of mountain goat kids (weighing 7 pounds at birth) are Golden Eagles. The biggest killers of full gown Mountain Goats are avalanches during the spring. The sky has cleared, and the wind direction changed. The rumor is that the high temperature for tomorrow is expected to be 65 degrees, but only a 20% change of rain.

July 7, 2009 Tuesday
When I woke at 7:30am, the thermometer indicated about 55 degrees, but when I stepped out it seemed warmer than that. Daisy and I took our walk and once again, people thought she was a wolf. I went to purchase tickets for the 1:00pm boat ride to the west end of Two Medicine Lake and the store to buy a dozen eggs. We had a hearty breakfast of bacon and eggs with a small piece of cinnamon roll as a chaser. Daisy had another walk and swim before we left for the boat trip. At the west end of Two Medicine Lake stands Sinopah Mountain with a top elevation of 7,995 feet. This lake was glacier-created and has a natural (not dam assisted) depth of 285 feet. There are also mountains on the north and south sides of the lake. The motorboat that transported us was constructed in 1928 of wood and has been kept in magnificent condition. There was a hike to Twin Falls after the boat trip, and we had thought it was to be led by a Park Ranger. However, an employee of the boat company was the guide. It didn’t take us long to figure out that it was going to be very slow so we hooked up with a group of 10 who not only wanted to go to Twin Falls, but also proceed further to Upper Two Medicine Lake. The glaciers here, like many other places, are receding, and the forecast is they will be all gone by 2020. On the way back to the RV the rain started, and by the time I was inside I was wet. Susie had made lunch and we took a rest waiting or the rain to stop. It did and we saddled up for a hike to Redrock Falls, a one-way distance of 1.9 miles. We were feeling good that we continued west to the upstream end of Bullhead Lake. It rained quite heavily but not for too long as we walked. We had the necessary gear, which is more than I can say for many other hikers. Bullhead Lake is about as far as you can go before the grade increases as you climb towards the Continental Divide. We were about to turn around because time was getting short, but a hiker told us about a moose just off the trail about 1/4-mile ahead. We had to see that so off we went. We smelled him before we saw him. Susie was only about 50 feet from him when she took the pictures. We then beat a hasty retreat and headed down to the Campground. We thought it was late, but we saw about a dozen other hikers headed the other way. We thought they were taking a bit of a chance because the animals will be on the move as evening falls. It rained again. We reached the Campground and made the decision to take showers, the first in four days, and then had dinner at the Swiftcurrent Hotel. The Swiftcurrent Hotel has rental cabins, and they were home to Meredith and the Duffeys when they were here. We returned to the RV feeling very clean and stuffed with food to write and draw for the blogs. Tomorrow when have a 9:00am boat to catch, so we were in bed a bit earlier than normal.

July 8, 2009 Wednesday:
It was about 45 degrees at 6:30am, and I stayed in bed until the temperature rose to 52 degrees at 7:00am. Daisy and I took our walk and afterwards, while she ate breakfast, I loaded the bikes and picked up around the campsite. We were able to leave Two Medicine Campground at 9:00am and head north to Many Glacier. Two Medicine has been wonderful three days, primarily because of the small size of the campground and wonderful scenery. We reached Many Glacier at 9;00am, and our stomach did flip-flops as we read the sign indicating the Campground was full. We pulled in anyway and found the Park Host who assured us there were numerous places available. We had a hard time finding them, but when we found one, we parked. It is a bit small, but centrally located. We had lunch and afterwards I rode my bike down to the Visitor Center to check on hikes and the status of grizzly bears, moose and other animals. There are bears here, but the Park has been successful in keeping them away from people by very strict enforcement of food and trash rules. I continued along to the hotel to purchase tickets for the boat ride across two lakes to allow us to get closer to Grinnell Glacier. The glaciers here, like many other places, are receding, and the forecast is they will be all gone by 2020. On the way back to the RV the rain started, and by the time I was inside I was wet. Susie had made lunch and we took a rest waiting or the rain to stop. It did and we saddled up for a hike to Redrock Falls, a one-way distance of 1.9 miles. We were feeling good that we continued west to the upstream end of Bullhead Lake. It rained quite heavily but not for too long as we walked. We had the necessary gear, which is more than I can say for many other hikers.

Bullhead Lake is about as far as you can go before the grade increases as you climb towards the Continental Divide. We were about to turn around because time was getting short, but a hiker told us about a moose just off the trail about 1/4-mile ahead. We had to see that so off we went. We smelled him before we saw him. Susie was only about 50 feet from him when she took the pictures. We then beat a hasty retreat and headed down to the Campground. We thought it was late, but we saw about a dozen other hikers headed the other way. We thought they were taking a bit of a chance because the animals will be on the move as evening falls. It rained again. We reached the Campground and made the decision to take showers, the first in four days, and then had dinner at the Swiftcurrent Hotel. The Swiftcurrent Hotel has rental cabins, and they were home to Meredith and the Duffeys when they were here. We returned to the RV feeling very clean and stuffed with food to write and draw for the blogs. Tomorrow when have a 9:00am boat to catch, so we were in bed a bit earlier than normal.