Catch up post

This is an overly long post because I got behind.

Stan: St. Mary June 6, 2005

St. Mary-Drizzling rain, cold wind, 51 degrees.

Here we are at Glacier National Park a thousand plus miles from home. We arrived yesterday afternoon after a good and bad driving day; don’t ask. Well... I’ll mention a bit of the worst. About sixty miles of yesterdays drive was over twisty, narrow, roads with far to many up’s and down’s, and no shoulders or pull outs. You might not think that sixty miles out of 320 would matter much. But some how that lousy sixty miles put a drag on the entire day. I got irritable, and started snapping at Johnna and even Sheila. Johnna snapped back and Sheila just laid her ears back and got a sad look in her eyes. I’ll have to except the fact that some driving conditions won’t be to my liking, and get on with life.

It rained most of the night and this morning was cold, and windy. Our plan for the day was to take the Going-to-the-Sun road, but when the weather turned from bad to worse, huddled in the warm trailer most of the morning instead. 

Around 9 AM we took in the Glacier visitor center and then drove up the road to another part of the park called Many Glacier. Many Glacier is an area of peaks, eroded by repeated freezing and thawing of glaciers, into tooth-like horns.

Even through a steady drizzle, to day’s trip was interesting. Tomorrow, weather permitting, we’ll attempt the Going-to-the-Sun road again.

Johnna: Dillon Montana June 4, 2005

Woke up this morning to a beautiful sun shinny day. Decided to explore Bannack State Historic Park which is about 20 miles west of the RV Park via MT-278. After crossing over Badger Pass you drop into the Grasshopper Valley. Grasshopper Creek runs through the old (1863) gold mining town of Bannack which was, for a short time, the capital of Montana. Montana State Parks has done a very good job of preserving this old mining town. Spent about three hours exploring the town site before stopping at the campground to eat our picnic lunch. The Grasshopper Valley is now splendid cattle and horse ranching country.

Before going back to the rv park, decided to drive over the Big Hole Pass into the Big Hole  River Valley. This wide picturesque valley of mostly cattle and horse ranches is what I have always imagined Montana country to be. Surrounded by snow capped mountains, every vista is a picture postcard. We drove as far as Jackson before turning back to our home base in the Beaverhead Valley. All the surrounding mountains are still covered with snow. This part of Montana is certainly worth another visit. The day continued to be pleasant with temps into the seventies. A big difference from the forties and fifties of yesterday.

Johnna: St. Mary Montana June 5, 2005

On the road about 8:00 AM. Another sunny morning. While driving north on I-15, noticed several pronghorn in the fields along the side of the highway. The wind at the rest stop near Dear Lodge Pass was so chilly, we did not stick around very long. At the rest area between Boulder and Helena, it had warmed up enough we had to take off our sweet shirts. Stopped at Choteau to fuel up. By the time we got to Browning, thunder clouds were beginning to pile up. US-89 from Browning to St. Mary is a road we will not likely travel again. Very slow going; crooked, narrow and no shoulders most of the way. Was very glad to get settled in at the St. Mary KOA. Had planned to grill a steak for dinner, but it started to rain. Went out for pizza instead.

Johnna: St. Mary Montana June 6, 2005

Rained hard most of the night. There was still intermittent showers this morning with very low clouds and fog covering the mountains. After touring the Visitors Center, decided to explore the Many Glacier area, as driving the Going to the Sun Road would most likely not be worth it today.

It rained most of the way, but by the time we arrived, the clouds had lifted enough to take some pictures. Due to the damp and chilly air, did not do any hiking to points of interest. The road to Many Glacier follows the shore line of Lake Sherburne, a reservoir formed by a small earth filled dam on Swiftcurrent Creek. The lake backs up close to a cascade which drains the Swiftcurrent Lake. There are many turnouts where one can view scenic vistas of the lakes and mountains. The snow covered mountain tops and green lush meadows and mountain sides reminds one of pictures from Switzerland.

I think that June is to early to visit Glacier; July or August would be better. Hope it clears up tomorrow.