Glacier National Park Day 3
Glacier National Park
Day 3 - 09/09/06 - September 9, 2006 Whitefish, MT and Glacier National Park
The sun comes up late in this corner of Montana. We were up and ready to go at eight o'clock. We packed the car and then went into the dining room for breakfast. Gennie battled with the waffle maker and from the looks of the waffle, I would say the waffle one!
It was only 52° as we left our hotel for Glacier National Park. This is a gorgeous area, with several huge athletic complexes, soccer fields and well tended lawns and beautiful flower gardens. The towns on the route to West Glacier are just waking up this Saturday morning; there are only a few people out.
We have noticed a large number of casinos and advertisements for gambling here in Montana. Although they say there is no "live gambling", every restaurant, bar, and convenience store has slot machines and poker and other game machines. The main road into West Glacier is lined with mom and pop resorts, raft and helicopter tour businesses, as well as little roadside stands selling cherries and huckleberries. We passed a very exclusive resort community and stopped to take a photograph of a gigantic American eagle sculpted from scrap iron.
Today, our ARCHOS 402 MP3 player was set to play instrumental music. I have it hooked up so the little player feeds right into the radio CD player input. I also have it set up with 5V to keep it playing all the time we are on the road.
At 9:30 we stopped at the entrance of the park to put the top down on the car and take a few photos. Two Chinese ladies took our picture by the main entrance sign. Our first stop in the park was at the Visitors Center where we bought a few postcards and talked to the Rangers about the fires in the park and the surrounding areas. Fires seem to be the main topic of conversation and on everyone's minds.
We walked down to Lake McDonald and met our two Chinese friends and returned their favor by taking their picture on the dock by the lake. We got back on the Road to the Sun Highway those winds from west to east through the park.
We took our time driving today, stopping at every overlook, turnout, and exhibit area. Because of the haze from the forest fires the sky is very gray so the huge mountains are barely visible. We stopped for a picnic lunch at a pullout overlooking the Weeping Wall, a rock face along the roadway that is usually a cascade of gushing water. This Fall, it is dry, along with many of the usually flowing waterfalls.
We were on our way again at 12:15. Even though the sun is high in the sky, the haze from the two fires now burning in the park, along with those in Western Washington, and surrounding area make the usual Montana blue skies totally gray. We stopped at the Jackson Glacier overlook but it was difficult to see the mountain peaks and the glacier in the distance at all through the smoky air. Photographing them is another matter entirely, almost impossible!
We arrived at St. Mary, on the eastern side of Glacier and a very small village, at 1:45 looked at that little town and then turned right around and reentered the park at 1:50. The guidebooks say that traveling from west to east and then from east to west brings a whole new perspective to Glacier National Park.
Our trip back through the park was enjoyable as it gave a different view of the landscape and mountain ranges. We did not see a single animal either time through the park. Of course, we were hoping to see a Grizzly bear or a wolf but in this heat and dry season they are wise not to be posing for tourists' pictures. There is some construction along the road but because it was Saturday we were very lucky and had few delays. We saw many motorcycles which seem to be a spectacular way to see the park. With our top down we had excellent vantages and had a wonderful time even though we could have wished for clearer skies.
We drove back to Whitefish and went the Holiday Inn where we stayed the night. They also have a high-speed Internet and all the comforts of home. While I went to wash the car, Gennie organized the journal and began the remembrances of our day.
We went to dinner at the Dos Amigos Mexican restaurant and it was OK. Salsa was very tomato sauce like and the food was pretty bland. We stopped at the Safeway to buy some food for our midday snack and then returned to our room to finalize the journal and call it a day.
| Miles Traveled | Gallons | Avg. Price | MPG |
| 159.4 | 6.10 | $3.049 Prem | 26.13 |
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