Glacier National Park (Day 3)

Lake Josephine overlooking Grinnell Glacier

The first day is easy, you just have to drive the Going-to-the-Sun Road, but deciding what to do the next day is harder...there are 288 trails.  Using Trip Advisor, we decided to go to Grinnell Lake.  You can take a boat most of the way,  but the boat was full, with a wait list by the time we got there, so we walked which added about 5 miles, but they turned out to be the very best part of the hike...alpine wild flowers everywhere.

Suspension bridge on Grinnell Lake Trail

We certainly were not alone, but it wasn't crowded either.  There seems to be a rumor going around that Grizzly Bears are afraid of little bells, lots of people walking around with bells on their belt, and holsters of bear spray.  We saw a few signs of bear activity...a couple of dig spots, and we met a ranger who was checking out some bear rumors.  When we got back, I read Deb the story of the last bear attack in Glacier Park, which took place in 2005, on yup...the same trail we were on.  Deb didn't sleep all that well last night.

Glacier National Park (Day 2)

The plan - out by 7:30, catch the morning sun going west, hang in West Glacier Psark and catch the evening sun back.

Wild Goose Island in Saint Mary Lake

The reality - out by 8:30ish, with a picnic lunchish, with the dog comfortablish in the back seat of the VW Beetle.  Within five minutes we see a timber wolf hanging by the side of the road...this is going to be an awesome day.  Half an hour later with several just incredible viewpoints (there is just no reason to take pictures, cause you will never understand the majesty of these mountains from anything digital) we arrive at Logan Pass.  There are several trails, but they are all covered with snow.  I tried walking on one and fell right on my....rhymes with Logan Pass.  The road is narrow with outcrops of rocks all the way...so much better in a compact car than an RV, even if they were allowed.     Fifty miles later, we are in Apgar, the western edge of the park.  I get a latté and Deb gets a Huckleberry Shake, both are delicious.  We stop by the lake for a super quick lunch.  Deb has offered to drive back, she says she will take it slow, but Mario Andretti watch out,  she takes the Going-to-the -Sun like a NASCAR driver.

Beargrass - unique alpine flower, blooms every 5 - 10 years

Back at the campsite by 2:00, we rest and prepare for day 3.

Glacier National Park (St Mary Campground) - St Mary, MT

Our rental car

We left Black Sandy pretty early in the morning, at least for us, filled up on fuel, filled up on water, filled up on lattès, and filled up on Internet.  Ready for three days of dry camping (we've done two days, but never three).

Sunrise!

The Going-to-the-Sun has a length limit of 21' (we are 24'), width of 8' including mirrors(we are 8'6") and a height limit of 10'(we are 10'6") so we rented a car in East Glacier Park which turns out to a town 30 miles south of East Glacier Park, where our campsite is as opposed to West Glacier Park.  All's well, however, because we rent a blue VW Beetle, which Deb has an instant appeal for.  Nestled snugly into the Rocky Mountains we are planning our next two days.

Black Sandy State Park - Helena, MT

Leaving Big Horn Canyon, we had a choice...back the way we came (safe), or down the mountain  on a 10% slope for 13 miles - you know my vote...it was a very scenic drive.  We left early, when the shadows were long.  It was a long 375 mile day, with lots of interstate driving.  This is our last day heading west, now it's a slow northern trek to Jasper.

Heusen Lake, MT

Our GPS found a shortcut to the campground, down a dirt road, over a rickety bridge, and thru someone's backyard...but we found Black Sandy Park, which is not black or sandy, but is next to White Sandy Park.  Our site (and all the other sites) was two yards from the lake and two feet from the site next to us...fortunately, it was Sunday night, so we had lots of room.  We had no internet, but Deb found an entire season of the Soprano's we hadn't watched.

Big Horn Canyon (Prune Creek Campground) - Dayton, WY

The last time we were in Wyoming, we were going to stay in Big Horn Canyon.  The pictures didn't look very inviting so we stayed at a KOA in Greybull. This time we went for it!  We left the barren Wyoming landscape on I-90, climbed 4000' up a mountain till we were at 8000', we went from barren to forest.  Thirty miles later we were at the small campground, all dry camping.

Prune Creek, WY

Our site, #6 was right on a meandering bubbling trout stream.  I mean this was cover of Field and Stream material. The temperature dropped from 90 on I-90 to 60. After walking along the stream for awhile, we put our chairs on the stream bank enjoying every last ray of sunshine.  I was planning to get up early to do some fly fishing but changed my mind when the temperature was 31.

There are even lodges with restaurants and a dump station down the road. This may be as close to heaven as I may get.

Indian Paintbrush

Custer State Park - Custer, SD

Badlands National Park, SD

After a brief stop at the Minuteman Missile National Site where it appears that we are disappointed that we didn't get to use any of our 65,000 armed missiles before they were obsoleted, we moved quickly to a redo of the Badlands loop.  We knew the perfect spot for lunch, unfortunately, we had just crossed into Mountain Time so it was a little early, so maybe it was brunch!

Crazy Horse Monument, SD

In the afternoon we stopped to stretch our legs at the Crazy Horse Monument, the flip side of the Mount Rushmore coin.  It's a statue of Crazy Horse on a horse carved into a mountain.  They have been working on it since 1939 and they have the face done...(so it has taken slightly longer than the 14 years to carve Mt. Rushmore).  I asked if they had a senior rate, they said that no, they don't charge more for seniors! They were dog friendly, and Drex tried to console all the people who left pets at home by letting them pet him.

Future plans

Custer State Park has got to be the most beautiful state park we have ever stayed in.  We got here fairly early and drove the 16 mile Wildlife Loop.  We saw hundreds of Buffalo, which are really Bison, dozens of Antelope which really are Pronghorns.... So it's really "Oh give me a home where the Bison roam, and the Mule Deer and the Pronghorns play."

When we got to our site in Blue Bell Campground (01E), the wind howled as a front went through,  ten minutes later it was calm and ten degrees cooler.  Had dinner (it's Friday night - date night) at the Blue Bell Lodge...Buffalo for me, Cow for Deb.  Washed it down with a bottle of Moose Drool Ale.

Kennebec KOA - Kennebec, SD

There is a billboard for the campground on I-90 that says, "Where's Kennebec?"  Not sure it's the best slogan for a town, but it might beat Mathews' "Be Here."

Got here early, did laundry, brought out the Barby for some Corn on the Cob and Pork Chops, watched Battle Bots on cable...

And that's what ya do in Kennebec, SD.