Post #2 - Glacier National Park

If you haven't seen it, you can't believe it.  Glacier is Magnificent!

Of the 125 glaciers that existed in the park in 1950, only 25 remain today.  Projections are that the glaciers will be entirely gone by 2030.  That's only 17 years from now!

Waterfalls run wildly from the melting glaciers.  One wall had 12 waterfalls flowing down it.

The rivers are raging from the melt.

But they end in placid lakes.

We enjoyed this easy hike through an old forest area - green and lush. These are Cedar trees, some 3 to 5 ft in diameter.

The ice flow from the winter snows is so intense in the winter that it covers the roads.  The park service has to clear the roads before they can open Logan Pass in the spring.  June 21 is usually the first day it is open.  For reference, that is a motorcycle passing through what remains of the snow.

And animals!  Yes, we've seen  bear.

We saw another today - he ambled slowly out of a grassy area, strolled within a few feet of an unsuspecting couple, and then went into a picnic area parking lot.  The ranger (she was carrying TWO guns) immediately called in assistance to help bait or dart the guy.  Seems he's gotten too friendly.  She said that earlier he had crept up on a sleeping camper and pulled the guy's pillow out from under his head - the camper slept.  Then he swiped the campers cap - the camper slept.  When the bear went nose to nose?  The camper awoke! Time for relocation!

On a less threatening note - there are hoary marmots in the area. About 2 feet long, they look like a cross of wolverine and ground hog.  Home is among the rocks.

Of course, there are Mountain Goats.

Think these majestic creatures are on on top of the world?  Nope, cruising through a parking lot at Logan's Pass Visitor Center, admittedly 6,650 ft elevation, checking for food scraps.  They are shedding their winter coat; look a bit ragged.

Mother Nature has her ways, though.  There are, I promise you, 5 Mountain Goats in this picture of the side of a hill.  Can you find them?  Don't confuse the rocks for goats.

This mommy coyote was running along the road when we saw her. She ignored all of the cars on the road and totted with determination.  Back to the babies, maybe.

Last, this sweet bunny, tucked in the grasses a couple of feet off of a hiking trail.

Last for this blog, I want to thank the Park Service for changing many of the viewing turn-offs to make them handicapped accessible.  I got a real education in accessibility last year when I had my cast and knee scooter.

That's a long 2 days worth.  I'll do a short "flowers only" blog sometime soon.  Too much for now!

Glacier National Park

We could see it in the distance - Glacier, here we come!

 

And here we are...but where are the big glaciers?  Global change  has made it's mark.

 

 

So has fire...

 

 

But here we are, tucked SNUGLY in our somewhat smallish RV site.

 

Passenger side...

 

 

Drivers side... 

 

But we can't complain because we have shade!

 

Of course, our daily trip would not be complete without some little excitement (i.e. repair).  We found a small chip in one of the front windows this morning.  From past experience, we learned that our insurance company will send someone out, at no cost to us, to repair a chip as long as it is smaller than a quarter.  If it is larger than a quarter, then the windshield has to be replaced and we have a $500 deductible.  We opt for chip repair.  Sure enough, our insurance company found someone en route.  We stopped long enough to have the repair made and then have lunch with the repairman. Elk hunter, rancher with 200 acres and 8 horses, 1/4 Cree Indian, interesting fellow. We learned that a "unit" (cow and calf) takes 12 acres to feed for one month, with the 13 inches of rain per year in this area.  We also learned that "they" are conspiring to control the world and out to get us, with much empirical proof presented ----  On our way again!  I'm glad the RV is parked for the next 5 days!!!

 

The plan is to drive The Road to the Sun tomorrow morning to catch some great pictures of the park.  Looking forward to it.

Last Wal-Mart for a while! in Montana....

ahh, as I type, here comes in yet another big...no, make that TWO big RV's, each pulling a full size truck.  That will be a dozen over-nighters in the parking lot.  But this is the prettiest WM site so far.  Just like a park (on one side)  Note - at least another 6 or so have arrived since I started this blog.  Guess we'll see most of them in Glacier!

But this lot and yesterday's parking lot both have secrets - the homeless, living in their cars.  These are the only 2 places we've seen that.  The cars mingle with the RV's (all parked in one far section of the lots).  You can tell - blankets covering the windows, folks standing by their cars having dinner, someone sleeping in the grass under one of these trees. There were at least 6 or so in each lot.  Apparently WM either hasn't noticed them or they don't hassle them.

It was a beautiful drive from WY to MT today.  The terrain changed drastically.  Eastern and Central Wyoming that we passed through is largely flat - winding roads, but fairly flat landscape.

As we drove into MT and a little more westerly, the world changed - suddenly mountains appeared and the whole landscape became more rolling and hilly.

We did make an unplanned stop when we realized that the Little Bighorn Battlefield National Monument was right along our route.  It's pretty amazing to walk on those grounds, see the actual spot where George Custer fell, and read the accounts of the event.

Custer's 262 men faced 1500 Indian warriors.... obviously, it was a big mistake.   All Federal troops were killed, with about 80 warriors killed.  Luke's insight is that the Federal troops were doomed not only because they were outnumbered by the warriors, but also outgunned by more modern weapons. The troops carried single shot breach loading rifles, but 200 of the warriors carried repeating rifles, giving them much more fire power than the troops. The troops were buried in assorted spots, but later interned and all buried in one large mass grave under this obelisk.

That is, except Custer - his wife chose to have his body returned to his eastern home for burial.

This is the burial ground where a number of the cavalry men are buried - adjacent to the obelisk marking the mass grave.

The Indians collected their 80-ish dead and took care of their bodies within their customs.  This memorial is to the Indians that gave their lives.

It's a sad story with no right side - Custer was carrying out President Grant's instructions to remove the Indians from their lands to a reservation in SD.  The Lakota Sioux and Cheyenne peoples were fighting for their right to remain nomadic buffalo hunters.

For a really good insight into the entire event, you can checkout the following site

http://www.nps.gov/libi/historyculture/index.htm

oh, and....at lunch the generator wouldn't start.  sigh.  When we aren't hooked up to electricity, we depend on the generator to provide it for us.  That's the toaster, coffee pot, chargers, etc.  It worked fine this morning.  Several calls and we found a great gentleman who talked Luke through correcting the problem!  It's a temporary fix, but we then found (and bought) a new starter for the generator plus some maintenance items.  Not a big deal or problem, but sigh, just another thing to fix.

Hoping to be in Glacier National Park tomorrow.  I know they don't have wifi and I'm not sure how effective my phone will be in getting it.  I'll post as I can.  9:22 pm  - still really light outside!

WY, finally!

A couple of valves in the valve stems were loose - got 'em tightened and re-inflated - that was it! Luke bought a little tightening tool to take care of it himself if it happens again. On our way at 11:15.  We've made it to Casper, WY.  Despite an elevation of almost 6,000 ft, it's about 95 degrees.  We're sitting in the small parking lot of a small Wal-Mart with at least a dozen other RV's of all types.  And it's only 6 PM.  Bet there are more by nightfall! mmm...here comes another big guy, pulling a big car...

We stopped at the WY visitor center.  A beautiful place, like a mini museum of natural history, bragging about all things WY.  WY is the home of one of  the largest dinosaurs found in the US, plus many, many more.  The center had a nice exhibit of a HUGE Columbian Mammoth.  They roamed the WY grassy plains between 11,000 - 200,000 years ago.

Tomorrow we'll be in Montana (RV willing) and to our next stop, Glacier National Park, on Friday.  Sure hope it's cooler!!

Trying to leave Longmont

We've had a great stay in Longmont, seeing family.  We celebrated the birthdays of all 3 grandchildren, plus one son-in-law!

Pool party on a hot day!

Bright and early, eager to start our 1000 mile trek to Montana to Glacier, we were ready to go, just one last walk-around.  Flat tire.  So, now we are again waiting for Bad Sam.  Supposedly, a tow truck with compressed air is on the way.  Luke thinks it's only a problem with a slow leak caused by a valve stem.  If so, we'll just need to get the valve stem "fixed" (and check all of the others!) when we can get to a tire shop down the road.

And THEN we'll head for MT!

Longmont

From Gunnison to Longmont, we passed over the Continental Divide - all 11312 feet of it!  It was a long haul  over Monarch Pass, with the RV grinding slowly up the mountain, but the view was great.  Mountains, still with snow.

As we crested the pass, the valley below was incredible.

Finally, St. Vrain's State Park in Longmont.  Last year we had a site in the new section - treeless and hot, hot, hot.  This year we managed to snag a spot in the old area, with big shade trees.  It's a great difference.

The path around one of the many lakes in this campground has one big tree in the middle of the path.  Very picturesque.

The road to the campground has a big field, full of prairie dogs.  They are so darn cute!

We spent most of Friday evening and  Saturday with Erin's family.  Luke and granddaughter Evelyn had fun with her My Little Ponies!

Today the daughters had other commitments, so we had a "free day".  Last year we visited Brainard Recreational Area.  It was green and beautiful ----

This year we were stunned.  High winds have knocked down hundreds of trees.  Hiking trails are blocked and trees are down on the roads.  The trail we hiked last year is still closed due to SNOW DRIFTS!  We were really disappointed to find this instead of a green paradise. 

Our plans keep us here 2 more days.  We'll be seeing daughters Lisa and Erin both days.  After that, we head northward, towards Calgary...rainy, flooded Calgary...we're hoping for some dry weather!

Our stay in Gunnison

Sorry – no internet for DAYS!  Almost no phone…

Monday – Lisa, Simon, Luke, and I took a pontoon boat ride down the Gunnison River.  Mat would have joined us, but he tele works over the internet, so he needs to find civilization and wi-fi to contribute. ( “from trailer” and had to clock in.)

The Gunnison River is deep within the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  It used to run freely and wildly, but is now subdued by 3 dams.  Now it just runs wildly.  The high walls of the canyon are up to 2300 feet above the beautiful green river.

One spot is Chipeta Falls.  Chipeta Falls is named for the wife of the regional Ute chief, Ourey.  About 200 feet high, the falls tumble and roar.

In addition to the awesome scenery, the amazing history of the Black Canyon of the Gunnison includes the construction of the 15 mile long,  Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad’s narrow gauge railroad through it in 1893. Below you see the remaining rail bed which we walked to reach our boat for the ranger guided trip down the river. The rail line became obsolete and the tracks pulled up in 1949.

Tuesday - we headed north of the canyon, looking down at the river and canyon where we floated the day before.  

Here is the first of the dams, the Blue Mesa dam, creating the Blue Mesa reservoir. This a 390 foot tall "earth fill" dam, with a 86 Megawatt generating capacity. Pretty impressive pile of rocks.

On top of the ridge, the spring flowers are in full bloom.  Thistle..

Sulphurflower…

Arrowleaf balsamroot

Later in the day, we all drove out to the tiny one-store town of Cimarron, location of the second dam, the Chrystal dam, a concrete "thin arch" dam, 323 ft tall..

Also located beside the Chrystal dam is the last remaining truss bridge of the old Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad’s narrow gauge railroad, routed through the Black Canyon of the Gunnison.  An old restored engine and tender car are both located there, too, behind locked maintenance fencing….guess they will someday be again set on the old truss bridge.

The 15 miles of tracks laid at the base of the canyon took only 1 ½ years to complete – emigrant workers from Ireland and Italy did the work by hand, working through a winter of temperatures of down to -40F, through the hardest rock on earth.  The line was designed to carry agriculture and cattle but found itself to be more profitable as a tourist attraction.

Wednesday – Simon’s big 5^th birthday!  For a special day, the we all drove to Ourey, CO (named for that Ute Chief, Ourey!).  Ourey is a little western town, surrounded by high mountains. Towering walls line both sides of town. It really seems like the hybrid offspring of a western town and a Swiss village nestled in the Alps.

Ourey even has it’s own waterfall..

We did a little shopping, spent a long afternoon at the hot springs pool, and then a play time at the local park for Simon.

Thursday -  Luke and I drove to the Black  Canyon of the Gunnison National Park.   More wildflowers on the rim – multiple purple ones…

Pink cactus..

Yellow prickly pear cactus…

The view from the top of the rim was fantastic. This shows the painted wall, where molten lighter colored material once flowed to fill the fissures of the hard black rock. This is the highest cliff in Colorado, 2,350 ft down to the Gunnison River below. 

And with the clear, dry weather, you could see forever!

It’s Thursday evening and still no wi-fi.  We leave here tomorrow and will go to Longmont for a few days to see Erin’s family and help her 2 kids celebrate their birthdays!  Lisa and family will be there, too.  I hope to find internet en route and post this.  If not, I’ll post when we get to town!

Friday a.m. - posted!