Glacier National Park (6)

This was it, our last day in Montana. :-(

The group was slower about getting up that day. We had stuff planned, but were pretty open as far as times we had to be anywhere.









After everyone was fed, we loaded up the vehicles and left for the day. Jared had mentioned wanting to go to Whitefish Mountain Resort to do some mountain biking. There were quite a few other things to do in the area, so we were all game to go along!!!






Ashley decided to take a stab at some mountain biking as well. :-)

The rest of us took a ski lift down to the main lodge for lunch.


Mmmmmm....muffuletta.

From there, three of us bought tickets to do a 3 hour zip line tour down the mountain.


In the orientation room waiting for the trip to start.


On our way to the first zip.


The first line was very short. It was more there for practice on the different forms, and stopping.


After the first zip, we headed up the mountain to start the good stuff!!!!


The outfit had water stops along the way - for being as cold and wet as we'd been all week...it was darned hot up there that day!! :-)


I can't remember which zip this was....but you can't see the end in this picture. :-)


If you look close, you can see the "guides" giving directions to the "zippers" on what form they should be in.


I've got a camera hanging on one side of me, and a video camera on the other. Such a geek!!!


I put this pic up for a specific reason. Do you remember how not days before this, I was hiking in the mountains....and not days before that I was completely unable to walk at all, because of a knee injury??

Well, look close at this picture. This is how you had to stop at the end of the ziplines. Impact directly to the knees. (some of the lines, they say we were going 45-50 mph)

I loved every second of the rides....right up until impact at the end. :-)


This is what my left leg looked like the next morning. My lower leg and ankle are puffed up like marshmallows....and half again bigger than the normal leg. My socks were actually cutting off circulation to my feet, that's how swollen my leg was. As much fun as I was having on this trip, that's about as much pain as I was in during 99% of it.

But it was worth it!!!!!

We returned to the campsite later that evening, after stopping at some public showers on our way. The evening was nice. Dinner and relaxing mostly.


I watched a couple pick up their tent, put it on top of their car, get into their car, and drive away. You can see them on the road in this picture. :-)


For the last time.....Goodnight Montana!!!!!!

We got up early the next am, packed up our gear, and headed home. Saturday night we arrived at a campsite in the Black Hills...but it was dark when we got there, and dark when we left for the last leg of our trip home.

Mot picked me up at a gas station just before the turn off from I29, to I80. The Des Moines group still had another 2 hours before they were to arrive home.

I went home to shower, then the two of us went to the Worm to meet up with the boys.

After the third or fourth drink....and second or third shot, I remember nothing.

Literally!

I wanted to still be in the mountains, but boy was it good to be home!!!!
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** If you want to see all the pictures I took on the trip, they are posted on my Webshots page.

(and, until I can finally find the time to do it, if anyone on the trip wants a copy of any of them, just let me know....I can either email, or set up an account on a site you can download from)
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Glacier National Park (5)

So, after our night of dorm room sleeping (and Blackfoot Indian bar adventures), I got up early and snuck out of the room so as not to wake the whole group.

I found the coffee lady downstairs, bought a mocha, and walked around the grounds of the lodge.

What a beautiful place!!!


(you have to tilt your head a little to the left on this one...picture is a might bit crooked) :-)







When I returned, most of the people in our group were in various stages of "up." Some had already packed, some were packing, and some were still laying in bed trying to catch those last few z's before finally rising. :-)

We loaded up the vehicles and headed back to Luna's (Mmmmm....Luuunnnaaaaaa's) for breakfast.


Brady made a new friend outside before leaving! Awwwww!!!!




Mmmmmmmm......LLLLLuuunnnnnnnnaaaaaaa's!

After breakfast, we headed towards the Going to the Sun road. It takes park visitors from the east side of the park, over to the west.

We hadn't been driving for more than 10 minutes, when we started making our first (of many) stops along the way.










Parts of the road were under construction, so there were short waits. But, no one seemed to mind.....it gave everyone an opportunity to stretch their legs, and take more pictures.






When we were nearly to the other side, we all stopped for a lunch break along the way.










And a little polar bear plunging, for those with suits and guts! :-)




There are Red Buses everywhere, full of tourists.

Once we arrived on the west side of the park, we found a campground, found a couple of sites next to each other, and set up for the night.


Cell phone towers in Glacier. :-)


I want to jump into this picture, sit back down on my chair, and breathe in that fresh air. I love (and miss) the mountains!!!!!

After dinner, the group sat down to play some cards, then everyone split up to do their own things.



It was a great day!!!

Glacier National Park (4)

No beautiful sunrise picture today. It rained...scratch that...POURED on us all night long.



Half of the group started on the trail before the rest of us. From what I understand, they took on quite a bit of water that night, and wanted to get a head start back to civilization.

Those of us that were left, ate breakfast in the rain, packed up, and headed down the trail.








Sorry about the blurry shot. The trail looked just like this the whole way back. Puddle, after puddle.

Actually, the trail was more of a flowing stream or river most of the time.

We splashed and sloshed our way for 4 miles.








Eventually, the sun came out, the fog and mist cleared....and we got a view of what we'd been hiking through for the last couple of hours.




And boy, when the sun came out, it got warm quick. We stopped in the middle of a mountain meadow to strip out of our soaking wet rain gear (to expose the soaking wet layers under them). :-)

The information we were given about the park shuttle service on the east side of the park was...well....less than helpful actually.

We arrived at the Cut Bank trail head thinking there would be a shuttle stop....signs...something.

No luck there.

We stopped a passing vehicle, and it's occupants told us that the rest of our group had been through not long before....and had headed to the ranger station up the road.


So....off we went.

The ranger station was abandoned...but the rest of our group was there waiting for us when we arrived.

One member had found a ride back to our vehicles...she would bring one back...pick up more people, and go get the other.

After she left, the rest of the group successfully obtained a ride for the rest of us from a local who was in the area checking on his cattle.

A ride where, you might ask?

Well....the shuttle stop was "just up the road."

5 more miles up the road.

(sigh)

We all loaded into the back of his truck...and off we went.





The shuttle was rumored to pick up people where the road met the highway. So, we all unloaded from the truck, and waited.



We ate bacon, we spread our gear out in the sun....



...and some of us took a nap. :-)

Just as Ashley arrived with her vehicle, ready to pick up others, the shuttle also made an appearance.

He was less than helpful.

Nej "So, is there a schedule for the shuttle service on this side of the park?"

Driver "Yep"

(crickets)

Nej "So....is it like every half hour, every hour.....?"

Driver "Nope"

(crickets)

Nej "Will there be another shuttle today?"

(you see, just before going to bed the night before, a group from.....oh heck, where were they from....Norway, Finland, something like that.....anyway, they arrived to take the last camp spot. That morning, due to the rain, they had decided to also hike out to the trail head and grab the shuttle. They were going to be about an hour behind us, and I was curious if they'd be able to catch a ride)

Driver "no, this is my last trip going north....I have one more going south and that's it"

Nej "are there any other drivers also making this route"

Driver (sigh) "so, do you guys need a ride, because I can only take 6 (or was it 8?)...I can't take all of you" (he said all of this with a disgusted look on his face, like he'd never seen hikers coming from the park, needing showers, before)

Nej "no, we're good....thanks"

Once all of the vehicles had arrived to pick us all up, the group voted to head back to East Glacier and stay at the lodge.

We were able to score a 4 bed dorm-like room for a very, very cheap price....and we jumped on the opportunity.

For the first few hours, we all took turns in the TINY bathroom, while others starting hanging all the wet gear from sprinkler system piping...bed posts.....radiators.....anywhere we could find really.


The rest of the evening, we kept the door open (man was it muggy in that room!)....guests of the lodge would come upstairs and take pictures of the strange room. :-)

After showers were taken, and gear was hung....everyone started looking for food. The plan was for everyone to meet up at the one cafe in town, Luna's.

To pass the time, some of us headed down to the lounge in the lodge....for some drinks and appetizers.



If you are EVER in East Glacier, go to Luna's cafe. The food was great.....and the desserts.....yumm! We were told it was the best Huckleberry pie in the area.....and I think everyone that had it agreed.




Huckleberry ice cream.

Everything in this town is made from huckleberries. Syrup, jam, lip balm, bath soap, soda, honey, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc.......


This sign was in the lodge.

It was the "and more" that caught our attention. :-)


I know I posted this as a wordless Wednesday picture...but I had to post it again. First off, why not make a sign that says "All rooms ----->".

And.....Room 355 (our room) was actually the other direction. I mean, the sign was right beside it....pointing in the opposite direction!!!!! :-)

After dinner, most headed to bed....while some of us went against the advice of the people in the lodge lounge. They said that the one bar in town was great....except Wednesday nights.

We're not exactly sure why they tried to keep us from going. It was a normal place...music, pool, people hanging out and talking.

After we left there, we headed back to the lodge to bed.

Good night Montana!