Glacier National Park, Montana

Had a nice visit in Glacier over the past few days. I rolled up to Fish Creek Campground and found a nice site that wasn’t booked for four nights, so I took the lot. The day of arrival I took a quick hike via Avalanche to Avalanche Lake. The Road to the Sun was closed from there, so no more to drive.

Day 2 I took a longer hike to Snyder Lake. 4.4 miles with 2500ft elevation gain, one way. 2 hours out (uphill), 1 hour in (downhill). Pretty sure I saw bear scat on the trail, and another couple hiking that I caught up with mentioned they saw one. I also found an auto parts store to replace a headlight, and stopped at Glacier Distillery to buy some local whiskey—not just locally made, but made from local ingredients too. Really cool ethos there. Oh and quite good booze.

Day 3 was pouring rain, so I took a driving tour to the east side of the Park, St Mary’s. Nice playful winding road to get up there, but sadly the road was still closed only 2 miles in from the entrance, so not much to see. There was a goat herd on the side of a hill, which was cool.

Day 4 was pouring rain again, so I took a driving tour up to the north-west corner of the park. The Polebridge Mercantile was like a mirage, unbelievable that after all that unpaved and muddy road anything exists, let alone a good off-grid bakery (where you have to pack out your own trash since there’s no service). I thought that 25 mile gravel road into Polebridge was rough. Then I hit the 6 miles of muddy winding track to get to Bowman Lake. Glad I was in 4WD! I hiked for about forty minutes along the lake trail before giving up after getting soaked and walking back the remaining forty minutes. Everything was waterproof except for my pants, which were just wet and cold.

Overall I thought Glacier was beautiful, but I really felt I was missing its key feature, the Road to the Sun, with it still being cleared of snow. Guess I’ll have to come back.

Enough of this rain – time to head south. At least I got to play with fire. Long exposures while blowing on the embers. Cool.

Kalispell, MT

After Bozeman I stopped to see Ben and Michelle’s home in Kalispell, near Flathead Lake. They both teach in the same school district as my mom in Illinois. They summer in Montana and work in Illinois. They were gracious to host a near-stranger for a night (it’s probably been 15 years since we’ve seen each other). We had dinner in Bozeman as they passed through, and had a nice meal with a great view at The Raven on Flathead Lake.

Next stop: Glacier National Park.

Bozeman II

In the end, I stayed a week in Bozeman. It’s a really cool place. I guess because the economy revolves around the university there’s no industrial feel like Billings and Missoula had. The local radio stations are more rock and NPR than country. The locals are so focused on the outdoors that they have a special beacon to alert them to fresh powder at the Bridger Bowl ski area; from Wikipedia:

Local skiers are alerted to the presence of fresh snow by a flashing blue beacon placed atop the Baxter Hotel in downtown Bozeman. First installed in 1988, it is activated every time Bridger Bowl accumulates two inches of fresh snow, and remains on for 24 hours. Local skiers depend upon the beacon because the ski area can have a great deal of fresh powder, dubbed "cold smoke," even when it is not snowing in Bozeman. For this reason, maintenance of the light is a priority and only once in 20 years was it out of operation for two days.

Talk about having your priorities in order!

I went for a hike from The M to Sypes Canyon with a group from meetup.com and I learned that the only time of year that people in Bozeman aren’t active outdoors is “mud season,” April, when the snow melts.

I also tried a trail at Hyalite on the East Fork Creek, toward the two alpine lakes, but was thwarted by too much snow. Boo.

I had a few more nice meals. Rice had some good Thai food, Ted’s Montana Grill had great prime rib and milkshakes. The Coop for lunch every day. Sitting around in Lindley Park practicing guitar, making a paracord bracelet and chopping away to make a walking stick.

I’m a fan!

Louis and Clark Caverns

An hour west of Bozeman are the Louis and Clark Caverns, a state park where you may take a guided tour through the caves. Pretty beautiful! Stalactites hold tight to the ceilings. Stalagmites might one day reach the ceiling.

Last night I had dinner at Copper, which features an extensive whiskey list and a focus on Montana whiskeys as well. The pork ribs were outstanding.

Bear encounter

I had a bear encounter today on the Battle Ridge trail, about 20 miles north of Bozeman, MT, today. I had hiked out along the trail for two hours, and was about an hour into my return journey when I turned a corner and saw a tawny-colored black bear (no hump on its shoulders like a grizzly) fifty yards ahead of me, loping across the very trail I needed to continue on to get back to my car, and disappearing down into the valley.

I’ve read the safety sheets so was reasonably prepared, but in the instant the fight-or-flight response sent my heart racing! I stopped, slowly took two steps back, putting the bend and hillside between us, and then continued to walk back a few paces. Meanwhile, I was clapping and repeatedly saying “Hey, bear!” in as friendly of a tone as I could muster. I stood there on guard for five minutes, clapping and shouting, making sure the bear knew I was there and wasn’t leaving.

In all, I only saw him for two seconds, but I must admit, it was a terrifying couple of minutes. He crossed the trail I needed to continue on to get back to my car, there was no safe place to go or hide, and forty minutes away by walk from my car. I do make noise on an ongoing basis on the trail (clapping and shouting) when I’m by myself so that I don’t spook a bear, but I managed to spook one today anyway!

I now own a can of bear spray. I didn’t buy one earlier because I thought, how likely is a bear encounter anyway? Yeah. This likely.

Anyway. I’m in Bozeman, Montana. I like it here, so I’m staying for a bit. Great cute and vibrant downtown, surrounded by mountains, a very outdoorsey and eco-aware culture. I’ve actually checked into a campground so that I can have hot showers every day. A revolution!

Tuesday I scoured the city for things to do. Community bulletin boards in the local food coop, the library, the REI, coffee shops. Picked up local papers and found their events calendars. That evening I went to a yoga class at Breathe Light and had dinner at the Bogert Farmers’ Market then a drink at Lockhorn Cider House (a pub dedicated to cider!).

Wednesday I went to the Museum of the Rockies (loved the amazing dinosaur collection! The planetarium was well worth a stop too.) and then a short hike up the College M trail (there’s a huge M on the side of the mountain for the university here). I took the steep way, and regretted it. In the evening I went to Mountain Yoga and had dinner at Rice, a Thai restaurant. I’ve had lunch at the coop every day, which is an amazing place with excellent food.

Today I went on that hike with the bear. Pretty nice scenery despite the momentary terror!

Edit: Are these fossils? I found them alongside the trail.

Pictograph Cave State Park, Billings, MT

This park features some many-thousand year-old sandstone caves that have ancient human paintings still visible on the walls. Sort of. It’s all very faded and without the placard there to guide me, I don’t think I would have been able to make anything out. Interesting history, but unfortunately a bit of a let down on how visible it was.

Spent the night in Billings and will head out to Bozeman today. Billings has a few cool shops downtown (the Indian Nations Trading Post, Lou Talberts Western Outfitter, and the historic Montana Ave area in particular), yet smells like diesel from the nearby train line.

Little Bighorn National Park, MT

Little Bighorn commemorates a dark moment in US history, where the US government was trying to turn all of the Natives Americans into Christian Farmers living peacefully on reservations, while the Natives were defending their way of life as nomadic buffalo hunters. In this famous battle the Natives (whom I refuse to call Indians because are we really still using an incorrect term based on a mistake made in 1492?) overtook 220 US soldiers and slayed them all. The battlefield has markers where individual men fell, white for the government men, red for the native warriors. Helps bring the battle alive. There was a 40-minute lecture by Michael Donahue, who was in his 25th year as a summer park ranger, a college professor the rest of the year, and a published author on this very subject. Great stuff.