For years Trina has been telling me how she wants to go camping and hiking in Glacier National Park. So, with a wedding in northern Idaho as the impetus for getting us out of town in July, Trina and I planned a week of vacation that included a few days in the Glacier Park. On Tuesday we embarked on the 3-hour drive to Montana's version of the Tri-Cities (Kalispell, Whitefish, and Columbia Falls). We stopped for food, a few supplies (coffee press), and a full tank of gas in Columbia Falls.
It was early afternoon when we swung through the mayhem of Apgar, where the visitor's center and icecream shop are located, and quickly chose to "save that for later", and moved on for finding a camp site. Not so fast. Everything was full, except for the one that was 25 gravely miles North. Since Molly was
voicing her desire to get of the containment of the car seat, and we were frustrated by not being able to camp and the sheer numbers of people, we backed out of the Park toward Columbia Falls. We swung into a KOA, complete w/ teepees, but it was full too.
Drat. It looked like a hotel for the night. Blah.
I called Chuck Roady, a long time friend from Bonners, now living in Columbia Falls. We got directions, which after eight years of living in the city seemed overly simple - turn at the road - no left or right, just turn. After a fine Mexican dinner in town, we retreated back to their log home in the woods and played in the yard with Molly and the dog. Incredibly, the Roady's have huckleberries growing beside their driveway. We picked some berries for breakfast the next day. We gave a couple of berries to Molly and she loved them - no supprise given how she devours blue berries. Trina set her down and she quickly started picking her own berries and eating.
The next morning we debated our options for the trip over huckleberry pancakes. Retreat back to Idaho or try the Park again for some Combat Camping. Since we had made it that far we gave the Park another try and sought out the Two Medicine Lake area in the south east corner of the Park at Chuck's recommendation.
We arrived at the Two Medicine area at around 11:00, early enough to get one of the last two camp spots available, and to watch and smell chip-sealing of the campground roads. This "first day" in the park we weren't too abitious after being steadily on-the-go for our whole vacation to date. We kept it mellow - set up the tent, ate lunch, and wandered around the campground area and played with Molly on one of the gravely beaches on the lake. We also signed up for a ranger lead hike to Upper Two Medicine Lake for the next day that included a boat ride on the Sinapah to the upper end of Two Medicine Lake (where we were camped).
The next day we caught the boat at 10:30 and the three of us quietly enjoyed the 20-minute ride to the end of the lake. The boat pilot served as an interpreter and provided some background on the surroundings (the water is cold, and it is
deep too).
With Molly on my back we strolled up the trail to our first stop at Twin Falls. Similar to many kids on car rides, Molly also experiences hiking narcolepsy when in the backpack. At least she got her naps in - one othe way up to the lake and one on the return hike.
The glacially carved scenery was grand and hard to capture with a camera. At 5,000 feet in elevation and surrounded by 9,000 foot peaks it is a stunning place. The mellow pace of the hike allowed us plenty of time to stop and enjoy were we were.
I really felt relaxed and at home in the wide-open country. I would have loved to have hiked off-trail for an hour and just sat in one of the mountain-side meadows and just watched and listened dusk.
After a short lunch of PB&J sandwiches and some gold fish crackers at Upper Two Medicine Lake we set off back down the trail to catch the boat again at 2:30 for our ride back to camp.
After returning to the campground we took Molly back to the lake to play in the water, which also gave us an opportunity to wash of the layer of food, juice, grime and other accumulations from the last couple of days of travel and camping.
At camp we settled in again and just like at home, Molly wanted to read her books. Walter the Farting Dog remains her favorite at the time, and no other will do.
