Jim and Carolyn flew in for a week-long visit and we filled it with exercise, adventure and travel. The first couple of days were cool and rainy, but after a chilly hike to pick huckleberries, we hightailed it back to build a fire, play bridge, and end the day with pulled pork, the usual accoutrements and a splendid finish of huckleberry cobbler with toasted pecans and whipped cream. Good enough to lick the plate:
That made it all worth it!
Tuesday morning we headed up to Glacier National Park. It was crowded, per summer vacation allows, but we had a lovely hike in the afternoon,
which was incredible hot! I hadn’t expected to go out that afternoon and was wearing heavy cotton clothing, so I stripped shoes, socks and pants near the end for a cooling walk in the creek:
before heading back to the motel for a bit of bridge on the lawn:
a casual dinner, then an early bedtime. Tuesday morning we were up early to drive Going-To-The-Sun road and then stopping at Avalanche lake for a nice hike. Started by the roaring creek:
and continued through beautiful woods to the lake, stopping for 15 minutes to peer through binoculars at a mother grizzly bear and her two cubs across the way. Many picnickers and photo ops at the lake:
and then we headed back. Jim and Carolyn were up ahead, and then some people hiking toward us said “there’s a bear coming, you’d better get out of the way.” I couldn’t see over the rise in the trail, so when I asked “where”, they said “right here”. Lance and I stepped off the trail and into the woods. I became a bit nervous and asked him to take the bear spray out of his backpack. However, the mom and two cubs (the same ones we saw across the river) scurry across the path, through the woods and up into the mountains. Carolyn and Jim had a similar experience, but when told “there are bears” and they asked “where”, the fellow hiker pointed and the little family was only 30 yards away from them! Carolyn managed to get a photo as they hurried away (check between the trees just to the right of center and you can see the mom, and a cub a bit further to the right):
what a great adventure! my first (3) grizzlies! We got off a lot easier than Leonardo di Caprio, that’s for sure.
We headed to Glacier Lake Lodge for a late lunch, then a few hours of bridge at a lobby table. Fun! Then to Eddie’s cafe for a snack, and the Apgar campground to listen to the 8 pm ranger talk on Aquatic Life in the Park. Perfect for the outdoor nerd that I am.
After a good night’s sleep and a mediocre breakfast, Carolyn, Jim and I flew with Glacier helitours for a ride over and around the whole park (even saw and crossed the border into Canada). Takeoff:
The first 15 minutes was so spectacular it was like a religious experience – so spiritual to see the raw, beautiful earth still in its natural form. The 150 glaciers that measured the park’s peak in 1850 (at the end of the little ice age) has now dwindled to only 20 or so, and they are predicted to be gone by 2030. Then I guess they’ll have to change the name to Glacier Memorial Park. Back to our ride…pictures can’t do it justice, but some ideas:
Jim and Carolyn enjoy the ride:
gorgeous lakes:
but nothing that can convey the thrill of flying close enough to a granite wall to look for bears and bighorn sheep.
After that, we started the drive back to Missoula and back to suwarrow. Next day we took a lazy float on the Clark Fork river, with sunny, hot weather, a small beach for some bracing dips in the water, and quiet time to watch the bald eagles fly. Last day was totally relaxing with a walk on the suwarrow trail and LOTS of bridge.