Today was the day the Stowaway headed home. Everything was fully pre-packed the night before to make sure it all fit into the two bags he brought. All up, showered, Camille was caffeined up and all done with breakfast by 9:15 am. A few mis-starts later we managed to get to the airport by 9:40, for a 10:35 am flight. Smooth sailing so far, smiles all around for the nervous passenger, who's fear of heights is exponentially magnified for flying. Smooth is good. We cut it a little close by arriving a few minutes less than the hour recommended for check-in. Turns out, we were really, REALLY early, like a month early. Smiles slid south, and after many big gulps, the wrinkles were ironed out and he was able to snag the last seat out of Bozeman on the later 3:30 pm flight. As it turned out, it was helpful to us because Mike finished up our laundry, (what a Renaissance man!), while we worked on the next part of our trip without him.
Stopped at Bozeman Camera, our third attempt to try and pick up a cord for charging Camille's camera and getting pictures off for this blog. Everyone is so friendly and helpful. Didn't get a chord, but was able to buy a used card reader and get pointed to a great BBQ for lunch, Bar 3. Best BBQ and fries we both have ever had. Read more on the Eats, Treats and Gastronomy page.
The drive north to Glacier was I 90 W > Hwy 12 E > Hwy 141 N > Hwy 200 N > Hwy 83 N > Hwy 35 > Hwy 206 into the West Glacier entrance. Wide open spaces between low-lying mountains on either side made for a beautiful drive between blues, purples, a spectrum of gold through green. Lots of horses, cows, and sheep. Sooooo much open space, mile after mile, very different than flying over it.
The forecast for Glacier was for mid 90s as the highs and upper 40s to mid 60s for the lows. Stiff winds though, 15-25 mph with gusts of 35. Staking down the tents was an imperative. A darn sight warmer at night then Yellowstone. Unlike Yellowstone, where signage was numerous, we got our first indication that we were nearing Glacier 139 miles away from it. Our second sign came 46 miles away from it. Must be saving on road signs because there are so few roads to turn onto anyway. Oh the comfort of signs! Unless I was looking for a different kind of sign.
The smell of pine greeted us as we enter Seeley Lake and past the logging mill, entering Lolo National Forest. We arrived at Glacier just before sunset. Loooong ride and we were so happy to finally be there. By the time we got there, the rangers had left and posted our campsite info on at the check in gate. Fish Creek Campgrounds is located along the shores of McDonald Lake. Situated in dense forest, it allows for privacy, even with smaller sites like ours. The difference between the National Parks campsites and the private ones like Horsethief in SD, is that the sites are really established, not evolving, so it's very beautiful to drive into it. The bathrooms are more rustic, with no showers available at Fish Creek.
The signs posted at each campsite, the bathrooms and check points about controlling bear activity are fairly stringent and intimidating. The rules are so closely followed that even the small animals that seem to scamper around other campgrounds looking for human handouts dine elsewhere. We skipped dinner anyway, after such a large lunch from Bar 3 BBQ.
It was definitely a windy night at the tops of the trees. Down at our level, it was the constant dropping of dislodged tree debris hitting the tents and rolling down, that made for a very noisy first night. Not to mention, the warm night time temperatures, the first of the summer.
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