Glacier National Park - Day 6

Friday, July 11

We awoke early this morning so we could take our time and enjoy the scenery on our way back to Spokane.  We were not the first ones up in Montana's Duck Lake Lodge however because when I went across the hallway to the bathroom around 6:00 a.m. there was another couple already downstairs, quietly loading their things into their car and were leaving.

We did the same, quietly loaded our things in the car and hit the road, first heading east on Duck Lake Road, then south on Montana Hwy. 464 toward Browning.  We stopped in Browning and purchased a breakfast sandwich and I got me a large coffee.

We then headed west on U.S. Hwy 2, back through East Glacier Park (where we stayed overnight a couple of days ago).  U.S. Hwy. 2 skirts along the south edge of Glacier National Park and we could still see the snow-capped mountains off to the north.

 We soon reached the Continental Divide at Marias Pass.

 The road followed the Middle Fork Flathead River valley.  The skies were a little overcast as we admired the beauty of the river and the surrounding mountains.

Before long we left the mountains behind and were traveling through lush farmland and brilliant yellow fields of rapeseed, which I think is used in making canola oil.

 Pretty farms with the distant mountains within view.

 We passed many of these bright yellow rapeseed fields!

We skirted along the western shoreline of Flathead Lake, Montana's largest natural lake.  Earlier in the week, in Browning, East Glacier Park and Babb, we were on the Black Feet Indian Reservation.  Today we are traveling through the Flathead Indian Reservation, which encompasses the lower half of Flathead Lake.

We have been traveling southward on U.S. Hwy. 93, however when reach the tiny town of Elmo, we turn onto Montana Hwy. 28 and go past Hot Springs, all the way to the small town of Plains, which sits on the banks of the Clark Fork River.  Along the way is ranch land on the rolling hills of western Montana.

At Plains we take Hwy. 200 a short distance to Paradise, then Hwy. 135, winding alongside the river all the way to I-90 at St. Regis, Montana.

 

Traveling west on I-90, we soon were back in Idaho!

 

We decide to stop at the historic mining town of Wallace, Idaho.  We found this sign, telling the amazing story of how devastating a fire can be.  Hard to imagine a fire way out west being so large that Montreal and London were affected by it.

 We passed on the mine tours....

 Wallace's quaint downtown area...

 The town was gearing up to host a Bluegrass Festival this weekend with around 5,000 folks expected to invade this small town for that event!

We saw a rocket ship!

 I tried a cup huckleberry ice cream while we were walking around Wallace.  Sort of taste like blueberries.

 Wallace's Stardust Motel has their own space capsule!

 ....and Tom got inside and sat down for a minute!

 After our little walkabout in Wallace we were ready for the last leg of our travels today, so we headed toward Spokane. 

Upon arriving in Spokane, we stopped by the Main Market, where Megan is the General Manager, and picked up her house key and went to their house and napped and read a book in the afternoon.  Feels good to be out of the car.  We have traveled enough for this week.

Tomorrow we plan to just hang out with Austen, Megan, and little Nelson.

Glacier National Park - (Day 5 cont.)

Thursday, July 10 (cont.)

The weather has been so nice for us this whole trip and today is another mild sunny day.

After checking in at Montana's Duck Lake Lodge, we headed back over to the Many Glacier Lodge for our Many Glacier Boat Tour.  The scenery continues to be awe inspiring!  This is an incredible view of the Many Glacier Lodge and the surrounding mountains!

 We arrived a few minutes early so we sat inside the Lodge gazing out at the incredible beauty surrounding Swiftcurrent Lake.  BooBoo is in awe of the view! 

 Here comes our boat, the Chief Two Guns....

 BooBoo just loves going for a boat ride!

As she is driving the Chief Two Guns, our boat captain/guide Ginny, who is very knowledgeable, talks to us about what we are seeing as we glide along on Swiftcurrent Lake.

 This is Ginny!  Tom asked her if she had graduated High School yet.  Ginny said that she has just recently graduated college!

When we got to the end of Swiftcurrent Lake we disembarked the Chief Two Guns and hiked up and over a small hill, walking approximately 1/4 mile to another dock which is situated on Lake Josephine.  There we boarded another boat, the Morning Eagle.  Our boat captain/guide for this Lake is Hannah, just as young and cute as Ginny!

 It is such a pretty day and the views are just incredible and the water is such a pretty shade of blue-green!

When we get to the end of Lake Josephine we are given the option of staying in the boat and riding right back, or we could disembark and wait for the boat to come back.  We opted to get off the boat and go for a little walk and catch the next boat back.  There was a crowd of people waiting there already to go back, but not very many were able to get on our boat since not very many of us got off. 

Some of the folks waiting there told us that they had seen a moose, about 20 minutes back up the trail.  So Tom and I headed up that trail since Tom has never seen a moose and really would like to see one. Right away, I started worrying that we may miss the next boat. There is a two mile long trail back to the Lodge, however I was not too keen on having to walk two miles back this late in the day.  We kept on walking into the woods, toward the possible moose sighting, and I was worrying about missing that boat.  Tom said that since there was so many folks still there at the dock waiting for a boat that we may not all get into one boat and some of us would have to wait for the boat to come back a second time, but I wasn't sure and I did not want to miss the "last" boat and have to walk that two miles thru these bear-infested woods at sundown back to the Lodge.  So, for me, we turned around and headed back down the trail toward the boat dock.  

When the boat got back, just as Tom had thought, not everyone was able to fit, so some of us would have to wait for the boat to come back a second time.  (about a half-hour turnaround)  Then I wished I had quit my worrying earlier and kept on walking toward that possible moose sighting for my Sweetie, Tom.  It really would not have been the end of the world if we would have had to walk back on the two mile long trail back to the Lodge.   

So while we were waiting for the second boat, we took a little walk on another trail along Lake Josephine.

 We walked across this nice boardwalk over a marshy area...

 ...to this pretty mountain stream...

 ...that had a cool footbridge across it....

On our way back to the boat dock I saw this....is it bear poop??

                    
        After all, we are in grizzly country.

                             
                    More beautiful wildflowers!

There comes the last boat of the day...with Hannah holding the bow line and Sarah driving the boat.  I was impressed with the knowledge and professionalism of these very capable and quite pretty young women. 

There were only a few of us left to board this final boat of the day.

 So Sarah let a couple of the young guests try their hand at driving our boat, making for two happy kids!

When we docked on Lake Josephine, we noticed this very red rock in the water on the shoreline!

We trekked back up and over the hill to the dock on Swiftcurrent Lake where Sarah in the Chief Two Guns boat was waiting for us to take us back to the dock at Many Glacier Lodge.

 It was a pretty little trail over the hill between the two boat rides...

This is another great view of the historic Many Glacier Lodge, taken from the boat, as we were on our way back.

When we arrived back at Montana's Duck Lake Lodge, the sun was going down.  There was no one playing checkers...

 ...the TV was on, but no one was watching....

 ...no one in the seating area....

 ...no one on the deck...  (the window on the far left is our room)

...looks like a few folks are setting up camp...

Tom and I decided to share an order of nachos in the café.  It hit the spot!  Delicious along with lots of ice water! 

Following dinner, Tom went outside and snapped photos of the awesome Montana sunset!

The end of day 5, another great day of vacation in Glacier National Park!

Tomorrow we will head back toward Spokane to visit with Megan and Austen and cute little Nelson.