Saturday, June 29, 2024

Cut Bank and Two Medicine Park Entrances

While looking at the park newsletter they hand out at the entrance, I noticed there were two more entrances to the Park on this side that we had not explored.  They are south of us and we forgot about them.  So today we drove through them, neither of which are very long, several hiking trails but not many roads to drive.

Neither of us slept well last night so we took it easy this morning. About 4 o’clock, we finally left the RV and drove down to Cut Bank Campground and Two Medicine Campground.  We skipped Cut Bank and drove back to Two Medicine first.  The highway to Two Medicine, Highway 49, was going to be our route tomorrow but having driven it today in the jeep, Joe quickly changed his mind about that. It’s nothing but curves and dips and sharp corners.   It’s not for the motorhome -- Joe said we wouldn't have anything left in the cabinets if we took this cut-off, so we will go the longer route through Browning tomorrow.  But it took us by Two Medicine Lake, which is very pretty with the mountains as a backdrop.  This road reminds me of the Apache Trail back home except this one is paved and has green on each side of it.

Before we got to the turn off for Highway 49 we did see a deer. 

We drove 7 miles to the end of the Two Medicine campground. The road through here is very thickly forested and it’s hard to see anything, but a red fox popped out through the trees and ran along the side of the road for a few seconds and we got pictures. It even stopped and scratched.  This was a new sighting on this trip. It’s been a long time since we saw a red fox.

We drove back to the general store and walked down to the river's edge. It’s beautiful down here -- people out kayaking. I could’ve actually walked down and stuck my toe in the water here but Joe thought I’d probably fall in and I didn’t want to take my shoes and socks off so I didn’t even try it.   I'm afraid those days might be gone forever for me.  In the general store, Joe got his Diet Coke so he's good now.

We came out of Two Medicine Park and drove into East Glacier. It was a little bigger town than we expected, even had a golf course and a very pretty lodge.  Gas here was $3.65 so we will remember that tomorrow when we head this way.  They also had a very colorful tunnel over the railroad. 

Just after we left the town and got back into open country one of those "coyote/wolves" crossed the road in front of us, and then we saw a deer off to the left. Maybe that’s what he had been chasing.  I think these animals are too robust to be coyotes, but we never really get a good look.  This one was running full-blast as he ran in front of us.

As we approached the town of Browning, we saw this big fence. We couldn’t figure out what it was for, but it looked like the railroad track went between it so we just thought maybe it’s to protect the trains from the wind. We certainly know about the wind up here.  I googled it and here's what I found.

“These wind breaks were installed to keep the top container on stack trains from blowing off the train. Mostly westbound moves when the containers are empty. Not a snow fence and not an old snow shed."

The change in the terrain is monumental. We go from rolling hills and grasslands to statuesque, snow-covered  mountains with just a few miles of brush separating the two.

On our way back to St. Mary we drove back to the Cut Bank campground.  This 5-mile road is pretty rough. It’s a gravel road with lots of potholes. We sure wouldn’t want to be bringing a camper back here, but there is a 21 foot limit so no big rigs will be on this road. This gravel road takes us from the grassland prairie through some brush to the mountains of Glacier National Park. 5 miles on this road was plenty far enough.

We saw a critter on the road a little ways ahead. Joe thought it was a moose, but it turned out to be a cow and a calf right on the edge of the road.  Several other cows were in the road, especially on our trip out.

We took a short little road down to Cut Bank Creek.  Thankfully Joe didn’t feel like he needed to ford this one it since it looked pretty deep, and the other side was a little steep.  But it looks like it has been forded, probably by  4-wheelers.  Bugs were plentiful down here. 

We finally got to the campground at the end of this awful road. Only SUVs,  pick-ups and Class  B campers and tents were camping here. They were probably 20 sites,  most of them occupied. There were a couple open cammpsites.  This is a very primitive campground, but to each his own, I guess.  And it was a long 5 miles in and now we have to go back out the same way.

And to add insult to injury, there’s a road grader parked back here at the end of this road just before the campground.  It must be a retired one because it doesn’t look like it’s been used in a while, and this road could certainly benefit from its use 

Joe said he hoped we saw some thing on this road to make it worthwhile but unfortunately the only thing we saw was a prairie dog who hopped up on a rock to say hi to Theo and Prairie Rose.  We bounced our way out of there and drove back to the camper.  We got in just before eight, worn out from our four hours of driving. Another day in the books.

Tomorrow we leave the east side of Glacier National Park and take up residence on the West side for a week.  We will see what that has to offer.  Still looking for a moose.

Thursday, June 27, 2024 and Friday, June 28, 2004

Down Day - Thursday

I woke up to rain this morning, as predicted.  And it continued off and on throughout the day.  Plus wind.  And fog.  We had our first real "down" day.  Joe never even got dressed or went outside.  I ran to the Jeep once, but otherwise we stayed inside all day.  The temperature made it to 54 but cooled off to 47 by the time we went to bed.  I don't think we have ever had a day while we were traveling that we stayed inside and did nothing all day.  I did cook a pot of ham and beans, but that was about it.  Oh, and we got reservations for our next stop, and Joe made an appointment in Bozeman in 3 weeks to get our rear a/c looked at.   I'm afraid tomorrow will be much the same, weather-wise.

Back through the Parks - Friday.

The temperature range is 41 to 53 today. It was raining lightly when I got up and the temperature was 42. The wind howled during the night, but it wasn’t windy this morning. But it is gray and dreary, much like yesterday. 

And it looks like the mountains got a little more snow last night.

After our day off yesterday, we decided to make a run up to Many Glaciers after breakfast to see if there were any bears playing out in the rain. It’s only 8 miles up to that turn-off. We didn't see anything on the way in, and we couldn't find anything in the binoculars from the deck.  It was cold and rainy out there, and nobody was out on the deck, focusing their binoculars so we gave up and went inside. There were 2 pianos in the lobby and occasionally someone, usually a kid, would play a few notes or just plunk around on it.  

We went downstairs and got coffee and hot chocolate, and then sat down in the lobby. We would have sat on the hearth of the fireplace, but we weren’t sure we could get up, so here we are.

We never thought we would be these people.  We are usually too busy to sit down for long in a place like this.  But we have definitely slowed down.  A steady stream of traffic flowed through the lobby. Most of them looked like hikers, although there’s probably a good amount that are staying here in the lodge. Here’s another couple, just enjoying the ambience, looking at their phones like us. 

We probably sat there for half an hour, and then we headed back out of the park. Still drizzling rain. We never did see anything in the park, so we headed back out to the highway and took the side road to Duck Lake, which was only 4 miles. We turned down the south side of the lake, but it was such a rough road that we didn’t go very far before turning around.  The lake itself is a pretty good size.  We came back and went down the west side of the lake for a little ways. The road was better, but there didn’t seem to be that much to see so we turned around and gave up on it. There was supposed to be RV Park and cabins, but unless they were further around the lake, we never did see them. There were residences along this side.  They could be summer cabins or year-round. We don’t know.  

We thought today was gonna be a bust for wildlife, but about 3 miles from the camper. I spotted an eagle in a tree. Our first eagle of the trip -- pretty exciting. This was another turn-around twice so Joe could see it.

We got back to the RV about 1:30. It had warmed up to 51° and the sun was momentarily out, but some dark clouds are lurking. We had to be back at the camper today for a TeleMed conference with our primary doctor.  Following that, Joe decided he wanted to go out to dinner. He hadn’t had his fountain Diet Coke all day so I’m sure that was the motivation. We went to four places before we settled on one. The first really only had hamburgers, the second one was at the lodge in St. Mary’s and it was really pricey. The third one was a Mexican place that was a walk-up and sit outside, so we went back to Two Sisters where we had eaten couple days ago after our trip into Canada and had our $60 meal.  Then we decided to take a drive back into the main Glacier Park out of St. Mary to see if we could stir up anything at 7 o’clock p.m.  We thought that might be a good time.  It had rained a little bit back at the camper, but now it’s the nicest that it’s been all day -- 56° and sunny, and pretty St. Mary Lake is laying like glass.  I thought since we had already made this drive, I wouldn't be taking many pictures.  Wrong!

On our drive, we had a sheep jam instead of a buffalo jam for Big Horn Sheep.  4 rams were blocking the road, and then  they walked right alongside the edge beside us.

Shortly after that, we came upon a pull-out with 3 mountain goats. We got to see them up close and personal 

Shortly after that, a varmint ran across the road in front of us.  We thought it  might have been a marmot, but we’re not sure.  I  googled it later and sure enough, a marmot it was.  I didn't get a picture but I found one on-line.  We had seen marmots in Alaska but those were all brown.

All the waterfalls seem to have found  a fresh supply of water, and are pouring off every crack in the mountains.  Even the Weeping Wall was weeping a lot more today.

Joe decided he needed to find a restroom and then we would turn around, so we continued on to the bottom of the mountain.  When we found the restroom, we were right alongside the river that I liked so well, and I said I thought my favorite spot was just a little ways ahead, so we drove on up to it. That turned out to be 3 miles (Joe pointed out, 6 miles round trip).  And we took a few pictures.  The people on the rock are not us. We did turn around there and head back. It’s now 8:35.

But the nicest thing happened here.  While Joe was taking the picture of me with the river behind my back, this black SUV pulled in and stopped, and a lady got out of the passenger door and asked if we wanted her to take the picture of both of us.  We said sure, and she did.   She said she just thought we deserved to have a picture of the two of us together.  And then she got back in the SUV and they left, so the only reason they stopped was because she saw Joe taking a picture and offered to take a picture of both of us. That was really nice.

When we decided to make this drive, we agreed that we wouldn’t drive the whole Sun Road. Maybe we would turn around at Logan‘s Pass, which is 17 miles in.  Well, as it happened, we saw the big horn sheep about a mile from Logan‘s Pass, so Logan‘s Pass just came and went, and we just drove right on by.  Which was a good thing, because within a mile or so we came upon the Mountain Goats.  That was our first sighting of them.

So we just kept going and going and when we turned around, we were probably about 18 miles from the west entrance.

But it was a beautiful drive with the sun giving different light and shadow to the mountains, especially with the snow on them, and to the numerous waterfalls, which were absolutely gushing.  And you can see how narrow and windy this road is.  No room for error.  The second photo is Bird Woman Falls.  I don't think I got a picture of it on Monday.

And then, walking along the rock wall (you can see a similar wall in the picture above) was a Male Dusty Grouse!!!  It was beautiful.

Then we had another piece of excitement.  Coming back up the mountain from the west side, a motorcycle pulled out of a pull-out. His tires were wet and when he got to the corner, he lost control and got spun around and headed back toward us.  Just a few feet later, he dumped the bike practically beside us, so Joe pulled up and blocked the road in case traffic came around the corner.  Fortunately, none did, and the rider was able to get back up on his bike.  Joe said he would rather a vehicle hit us than hit the motorcyclist.  So we all got lucky.  Joe had his phone on video and was videoing the road when this happened, so I snapshotted them the best I could.

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Then we saw a deer sticking his head over the wooden guard rail right beside the road. I could’ve almost touched his nose.

One of the mountain goats was still in that pull-out when we came back through.  He must have bullied the others away. 

Logan‘s Pass was 14 1/2 miles back from where we turned around, elevation 6,636. It’s now 9:10 and we have 18 more miles to go. There was a surprising amount of traffic on this drive tonight. I guess a lot of other people had the same idea as we did.

We looked hard in the burned-out area because from past experience, we know the animals like that.  We finally spotted a deer amongst the dead trees. This was our second deer sighting tonight.

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We had to back up for Joe to see this one, but fortunately traffic has thinned out and we didn’t have anybody behind us.

The lake was beautiful and as we returned from our drive, the reflection of the snow and the clouds and the mountains made it a breathtaking site. It’s still laying as calm as glass, and after our last two days of strong winds, that’s pretty amazing.  This would make a nice puzzle picture.  If I held my camera just a smidgen to the left, Goose Island would be in the picture.

We exited the park at 9:50 from our 66-mile jaunt after supper, but it was a very successful trip.  We saw four big horn rams, three mountain sheep, two deer, a marmot and a male grouse.  In addition to the eagle.  Five minutes later, we were back at the camper and it was just not quite dark.

And here's another waterfall picture, just because.

Tomorrow is our last day here, before we move to the West side of the Park.  We will be staying the next week in White Fish and traveling roads over there.  This is beautiful country, and this park is absolutely gorgeous.  I think we came at a good time with the cool weather, snow, rain (could do without the wind).  Earlier today I mentioned to Joe that I was disappointed in the amount of wildlife we had seen, but tonight made up for that.  

 Wednesday, June 26, 2024

Across the Border.

We didn't have much of a plan for today. Thought we might drive east from Babb to Duck Lake. But when we headed up the highway, we saw a sign to the Chief Mountain Border Crossing and Waterton Lakes National Park so we took that road. Which led us to the border crossing at Chief Mountain and into Waterton Lakes National Park in Alberta, Canada. This mountain is 9,080 feet and stands ahead of the other mountains on the eastern edge of the Rockies and looks over the plains.  Lying half in Glacier, half in the Blackfeet Reservation to the east, and just under 5 miles from the border that passes through the Peace Park, the mountain transcends boundaries.  We could see this mountain from many places in the park, and it seemed to always have a ray of sunshine on it.  It towers about the land and is very impressive.

 It was a good thing we had our passport cards in our wallets because we had not planned to cross the border today.  We had been debating about whether to drive to this Park in the Jeep or move the RV up here, so now we get to check it out first.  We were here 14 years ago but who can remember???

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We passed the sign to the entrance to Glacier National Park. Then we came to the border crossing. There was a pylon blocking the exit so Joe wasn’t sure we could come back out, but then when we pulled up to the entrance, the border patrol agent just moved a pylon in front of us as he went into his shack so we figured that must be how we get out.  We found out that this entrance is only open for three months, they close in September.  But right now they are open from 7 AM to 10 PM.  So, just like that, we’re back in Canada. They only asked about firearms, tobacco, and alcohol and we didn’t have any of those so we were good to go. We were afraid they might take our cherries and apple in our cooler, but they didn’t even ask.  We will see what happens when we cross back into the US.

As we came through the entrance to Watertown, we saw two elk up on the ridge.  There were distant but through the binoculars we could tell they were elk.  Too far away for a picture.  But we had a pretty river to drive beside (Cameron, I assume).

We saw a group of trail riders just heading out.  Unfortunately, those days are gone forever for us.

As you enter town, you cross a bridge with Cameron Falls crashing down the cliff.

We drove into the little village, looking for the campground we had stayed at before.  We found the campground but drove completely around it twice, trying to figure out how to get in to see if we can we make a reservation here.  We finally found the opening and stopped at the booth.  She could not make reservations but could check on availability.   And there was nothing for Sunday night, so we decided to see what we could today, then move on down the road on Sunday.

Prince of Whales Lodge sits at the top a hill next to the Waterton Lake.  The Lodge is beautiful but not as luxurious as one might expect.  We went into the lobby, checked out the gift shop and restaurants, then left.  They do serve tea in the afternoon for about $60/person.  There were beautiful hanging baskets on the outside of the front entrance.

This is the view from the parking lot.

Deer wander freely in town, we saw three -- two lying down in yards, one walking in front of a little restaurant.  This is one thing I remembered from our other trip here.  We even had to watch our step in the campground to keep from stepping on deer droppings then.

I bought a sub sandwich in the little Village while Joe fueled the Jeep, and then we took a drive to the end of the Cameron Lake Road which we think was about 9 miles. This is a pretty drive, still have snow-capped mountains to look at.

We had our little picnic at the lake, fighting the bugs, but it was a very nice view. We never seem to be smart enough to put on bug spray or take umbrellas or any of those basics that most people know to do.  Just as we finished and got up from the picnic table, it started sprinkling so our timing was good on that.  Kids were playing in the water down by the dock, and the guy in front of us decided to stand in the water.  Not sure what that was all about.  There’s more waterfalls on these roads and you can see the water streaming down the mountain as the snow melts. The town site is actually a little village with stores and shops, a gas station, ice cream places, lots of Airbnb’s and camping motels, residences -- cute little town with deer in the yards.  Joe gave the Waterton Village an A+ because they had fountain Diet Coke.

Next, we drove back Red Rock Canyon Road.  It actually was a prettier drive than Cameron Falls because we were down in the canyon the whole way, following beside another river or creek, mountains on both sides.  We stopped at an overlook and actually walked down to the deck.  There were lots of wildflowers blooming along here, and a sign at the overlook identifying them and describing how they are used by which animals.

We got to the turn-around and found the red rocks.  There was a bridge over the Blakiston River, so we got out and watched the kids playing in the water.  Andrew and Catalina would love it here.  It sprinkled on us a little, but still no animals except the two elk at the entrance and the three deer in town.

When we came through the exit of the park, we pulled over to a viewing area to see if we could still see our elk.  As it turned out, there were nine of them now.  They were quite a distance away, but it was fun to get to see them. 

When we exited the park, we took the road to Pincher Creek.  Just a couple of miles up the road was a buffalo paddock so we drove that loop.   We counted 19 buffalo, including three babies. The buffalo were right inside the fence at the beginning of the loop, but we drove the entire bumpy dirt road around to make sure there weren’t more. We finally turned around and headed back out through Chief Mountain and home at 5 o’clock.

We crossed back into the US at 5:23. No problem getting through border patrol.  Joe ate the cherries on the way just in case, but they didn't take anything.  The first picture is the Canadian Border Crossing, and the second one is the U.S.

 It was getting to be a long day, so we stopped on the way back at Sisters Cafe for dinner.  Eating out is extremely expensive up here -- short season, I guess.  It was 7:00 by the time we got to the RV.  We put in 144 miles today.

Now that we have eliminated Waterton from our next travel plan, we need to find a place to stay starting Sunday.  The July 4 holiday snuck up on us, so that will have to figure in to the mix.  Tomorrow's assignment.