Day 25: Glacier National Park (Montana)

We set off for Glacier National Park this morning, first leaving our camper at a new campground closer to the park entrance.

I didn't really know what to expect at this park since I knew little about it compared to my expectations in advance of Yellowstone, for example. Our plan was to drive the "Going to the Sun" road, a famous and supposedly spectacular drive across the park.

Our first impressions after entering were subdued - the mountains didn't seem very tall or impressive, and the first visitor center we stopped at was old and tiny. Finally, things got interesting as the road began to parallel a roaring river with crystal blue water. 

Unfortunately, all the turnouts were under construction and blocked off with orange cones. Another disappointment was the signage - in other parks, it seemed like there was a sign at every overlook telling you what you were looking at. Here you were trying to line up patterns on the park map with twists in the road to figure out what you were looking at.

Finally the construction zone ended and we pulled over near the river to explore. Sharon brought the portable stove and cooked buffalo turkey macaroni & cheese right on the river. Like yesterday, the river was amazingly clear with a perfectly swimmable temperature.

After eating and relaxing we continued, and soon any remaining disappointments from earlier were laid to rest as we began ascending the "Going to the Sun" road up a series of dramatic mountain-side switchbacks. They took us through a valley full of huge mountains, most with lots of snow left on them. Waterfalls cascaded down the mountains every direction you looked.

The view really was amazing, and I'd rank it a close second behind Yellowstone's Lower Grand Canyon Falls.

As we continued climbing, suddenly the snow wasn't so far above us any more:

That piece hanging off to the left? There's
nothing supporting it from the ground.

Rounding out the drive were some clear blue lakes...

Now this is what I call a lake...

...and a bear who was kicking rocks onto the road trying to climb up the mountain:

We decided not to go back the same way we came and instead drove South around the park back to our campsite where the hosts were cooking BBQ ribs that I couldn't resist.

Although we only caught a glimpse of the park's namesake (glaciers) since most of them are further North, we're satisfied enough with what we saw to resume our travel West tomorrow - back to Idaho, and maybe even Washington.

By the way, needless to say, when we (or most people) say we've "been to" these National Parks what we're really saying is we've set foot there and seen a small fraction. Looking at maps of all these parks, it's incredible how much we don't get to see, either because we're short on time or because you need to hike deep into the wilderness to see it all.

Random Fact of the Day: The highest point on the Going to the Sun drive, known as Logan's Pass, is home to another visitor center (that we didn't stop at) but most interestingly the "Continental Divide." This is a line running vertical down the middle of the U.S. East of which all waters flow to the Atlantic/Gulf and West of which all waters flow to the Pacific.

Day 24: Hungry Horse and the Flathead River (Montana)

With got a late start and decided to save Glacier National Park for tomorrow and instead explore the area just outside the park. We started the day by taking a look at some of the stores along the main highway outside the campground.

First, a Western antiques store that was about 95% junk - but it's the 5% that counts, if you can find it. We found some souvenirs and other items, including a Pan Am 747 tie pin. The owner was formerly from Pennsylvania but moved out to Montana on a whim 40 years ago because he got tired of choking on all the government and regulations in Pennsylvania. That seems to be many peoples' story of how they found themselves out here.

Next, a shop all about "Huckleberries," a big local crop, that Sharon wanted to explore. They actually had a pretty cool gift shop as well as a lunch counter where we picked up sandwiches to go. 

Sharon tried, and approved of, Huckleberry Cheesecake fudge.

We headed to the Hungry Horse dam, a few miles up a road. 

 Not as impressive as some of the other dams we've seen, but the view was nice.

The  river the road followed was amazing - clear, fresh, deep, and with some nice rapids. 

So, after lunch we pulled up some maps and devised a plan to go rafting with our inflatible boat. 

We drove downriver and deposited one of our bikes. Then we drove upriver, almost all the way back up to the dam and climbed down a steep embankment with our boat. After inflating it, we hit the river hoping we hadn't missed a waterfall or other surprise in our research. 

Waterfall right where we put in if you look dead center.
And check out how clear the water is.

The rafting trip turned out great - there were some great rapids that we survived. 

The river's current alternated between fast and slow, and the water was amazingly clear. Despite being very deep, the rocks and fish at the bottom were very visible from the surface. 

5 miles are so later, we reached the point where we'd staged the bike. I rode the bike back to the car upriver, picked up the truck, and then met back with Sharon. Everything worked out great. 

Where we left the bike and ended our raft trip.

It was one of the best things we've done on this trip, especially because we had the river nearly entirely to ourselves and we didn't pay an outfitter a fortune to do it for us.

After rafting, we checked out a couple more shops but basically called it a day. We're staying in the same campground another night.

Dessert: Huckleberry pie

Tomorrow, Glacier National Park - for real.

Random Fact of the Day: We met a pair of Swedish grandparents from Gothenburg who were taking their grandkids, who live in Idaho, on a trip up to Glacier National Park. I'll bet we've met half the Swedes in Idaho now!

Day 23: North to the Glaciers (Montana)

Today was a driving day. We started out in Salmon, Idaho and soon arrived in a different kind of mountainous area - we followed a series of switchback through a very green (but flatter) valley that was unlike the more barren landscapes of the previous two days.

As the road reached its peak on the mountain, we entered Montana.

Once again, the states surprise you with their relatively distinct characteristics. The boundaries aren't as arbitrary as you might think. Going from Idaho to Montana the landscape is quite suddenly greener and (at least this part) feels a little more touristy - probably because it's a popular route up to Glacier National Park, where we're headed.

As we continued driving we started following a new river, the Flathead River. This too is a gorgeous river, wide, clear, not too cold, with dramatic canyons other interesting features all along it. I was tempted to pull over and take a swim nearly around every turn. My favorite scene is poorly captured by this photo, but a train was running along the ridge above the river:

We hadn't been paying attention to the maps for a while when suddenly we reached the crest of a hill and a huge lake appeared before of us. Almost looked like the ocean - this turned out to be Flathead Lake, the largest natural fresh water lake West of the Mississippi River in the U.S.

Finally we arrived in Hungry Horse, Montana, where we were able to secure a campsite right along the river for the night.

This will probably be our base as we explore Glacier National Park tomorrow - it's only about 20 miles away.

Random Fact of the Day: During some of the more desolate stretches of our drive today not a single AM or FM radio station was in range.

Day 22: Craters of the Moon (Idaho)

As you read previously, our campsite was right at Craters of the Moon National Monument. Black volcanic rock and gravel where all around us, making it a pretty neat place to camp.

We packed everything up and began driving the Craters Loop, which is the main road that takes you through the most visited area of the park. The whole monument is actually huge in size (bigger than Grand Tetons National Park). For some background, this area was a huge volcanic area not very long ago. The lava flows dried up leaving lots of interesting features. Each of the five stops we made had something different to offer:

1. North Lava Flow Trail

This is a short hike through a field of lava that froze in place. Gives you a sense for most of the park looks like.

2. Inferno Cone

We climbed up a steep half-mile to get to the top of this cinder cone. Except for a small patch at the top, nothing grows on this hill - nothing. It's all black "lava' gravel. It also gave us some impressive views of the surrounding areas. You can really see why the call it Craters of the Moon in some of these pictures:

3. Splatter Cone and Snow Cone

These are two volcanic craters with paths that take you right to the pit.

The first, Splatter, was formed from lava splattering in circles around the opening.

The second, Snow, still has snow visible at the bottom. This is only about 12 feet down from where we are standing in 95 degree temperatures.

4. Indian Lava Tube

When the lava flows dried up, the lava on the surface dried first, often creating "tubes" or caves underneath. The most impressive easily accessible such tube is Indian Lava Tube. You can explore this one freely without a flashlight, as collapsed lava has created several "skylights" letting in light. The tube is about 800 feet long.

Taken from the entrance.

The exit - a tighter squeeze.

5. Dark Lava Tubes

These lava tubes are different in that they have tiny openings and are completely dark inside. We brought flashlights but it was still hard to see. We entered two different caves of this type:

Boy Scout Cave was very large but very hard to move around in. Boulders, rock, ice, and water everywhere. Sometimes you had to crawl to move around.

Beauty Cave was different - still pitch dark but with a mostly flat floor that was easy to walk around on.

Craters of the Moon is a very impressive place. Given its size and the uniqueness of its features it could almost be a national park, although I hope they keep it as is because I'm sure the obscurity of "only" being a national monument keeps the visitor count down.

Next we drove North for several hours trying to get closer to our next big destination, Glacier National Park in Montana. The scenery along the way was very impressive. We followed the Salmon River as it carved its way through rocky canyons.

One of the great things about the West is how easily accessible and plentiful nature is here. There are pullouts everywhere, and if you like hiking, climbing rocks, swimming in rivers, or fishing it's paradise. We stopped by the river for a nap at this spot:

By the way, when you're traveling through the U.S. make sure you don't ignore the brown "Historical Marker" ahead signs. Though you usually don't know what they are referring to until you stop or pull off the road, some of them can be very interesting. We pulled over for one today that led us over a bridge over the river and down a dirt road to the rock home of "Dugout Dick," a hermit who lived by this river until he died in 2010. He carved his home out of the side of the mountain, and you can peer through the windows of it since it's still standing.

A couple more hours of driving brought us to Salmon, Idaho where we set up at a nice campsite right along the river.

Random Fact of the Day: Today we saw two new animals: a rattlesnake and a llama. At some point we'll post a list with all the different types we've encountered.

Random Fact of the Day 2: We passed through Arco again as we were leaving Craters of the Moon and we noticed large numbers had been written all over the mountainside there. We found a sign that explained that since 1920, each graduating high school class has climbed the mountain to paint their class' graduation year. Now you know.