I slept like a champ last night, probably due to the cool night air and the long hike the day before. After a quick breakfast of granola and tea, Matthias and I packed up camp, said good-bye to Waterton, and made for the border. We took Highway 6 to the southeast, which changed to Highway 17 once we crossed back into the US (Montana, to be exact.) Ahhhh, the US… It’s great to be back! Our encounter at Customs was brief, but thorough. We had to park the car, and the border agent told us about how Switzerland is an ally of the US – while he photographed and fingerprinted Matthias. One of the other agents confiscated an apple from the trunk.
From Highway 17, we turned south on 89 toward St. Mary, Montana. St. Mary is on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and serves as a gateway town to Glacier National Park (which we were about to explore.) Once in St. Mary, we took the Going-to-the-Sun Road (GttS) to the west. We stopped at the park’s St. Mary visitor center to get a better understanding of the lay of the land – and we reserved two backcountry camping permits for two different trips into the wilderness. We continued further to the west on GttS to the park-operated Rising Sun campground where we pitched our tent. The campground really wasn’t in very good shape and the tent-sites were close together. I’d recommend going to the Kampground of America (KOA) to anyone visiting.
We returned to the small town of St. Mary, bought groceries, ate a late lunch of burgers and fries at a local lodge and then we drove to the St. Mary KOA, because we were told they provided wifi access. As we were checking into cyberspace, there was a little commotion just outside the front door; someone noticed smoke coming from a forest fire burning to the south. Unaware of the consequences, I kept right on blogging…
Emails and blogs complete, Matthias and I got back on GttS and stopped again at the ranger station to inquire about the fire. It was about 8 miles to the south of St. Mary near Red Eagle Lake and was reportedly started by a human. The fire, it seemed, was quickly spreading. We stopped along the north shore of St. Mary Lake and looked to the south about 4 miles. Smoke jumpers were diving from planes into the vicinity to assess of the fire. Talk about on-the-job hazards; these jumpers were coming in low and fast. We took pictures and conjectured about what was happening.
We decided to take the GttS further to the west. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect besides higher altitude and a great view. The road opened in 1933 and at the time was considered narrow even for the Model T’s that dared to make the climb. The road stretches 52 miles east-west across the park, across a strand of the Rockies, and follows the Continental Divide for a short while half-way up from the base of nearly sheer cliffs. The ride was truly amazing. Even the crazy drivers that chose to delay 15 to 20 cars behind them by traveling at half the legal speed limit couldn’t ruin it. Logan Pass was the highest point on the drive and contained a wonderful ‘backyard’ with hiking paths up and around the open mountain meadow. Matthias and I stopped at the pass for a little while, took pictures of the mountain goats in and around the parking lot, and Matthias bought a couple of things at the visitor center.
We descended to the west and drove as far as Lake McDonald Lodge, a rustic old place built before the land was designated a national park. We sat by the lake for a while and peeked into the lodge then we got back into the car, crossed over Logan Pass again, and returned to a different lodge near our campsite that provided showers for $1.25. By this point, it was getting dark. We drove to a spot again on St. Mary Lake and looked across for a great view of the forest fire. Clearly it was spreading. It was beautiful to behold. We watched as trees torched. A note from the park warden placed under a rock on our picnic table back at our campsite told us that at 5:00 PM this day, the fire had spread to 50 acres and that a voluntary evacuation warning had been issued for the town of St. Mary. The warning didn’t include the campground, likely because we were more insulated from the fire by St. Mary Lake. Because it was late and because we had a late lunch, we skipped dinner and went to bed.
From Highway 17, we turned south on 89 toward St. Mary, Montana. St. Mary is on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and serves as a gateway town to Glacier National Park (which we were about to explore.) Once in St. Mary, we took the Going-to-the-Sun Road (GttS) to the west. We stopped at the park’s St. Mary visitor center to get a better understanding of the lay of the land – and we reserved two backcountry camping permits for two different trips into the wilderness. We continued further to the west on GttS to the park-operated Rising Sun campground where we pitched our tent. The campground really wasn’t in very good shape and the tent-sites were close together. I’d recommend going to the Kampground of America (KOA) to anyone visiting.
We returned to the small town of St. Mary, bought groceries, ate a late lunch of burgers and fries at a local lodge and then we drove to the St. Mary KOA, because we were told they provided wifi access. As we were checking into cyberspace, there was a little commotion just outside the front door; someone noticed smoke coming from a forest fire burning to the south. Unaware of the consequences, I kept right on blogging…Emails and blogs complete, Matthias and I got back on GttS and stopped again at the ranger station to inquire about the fire. It was about 8 miles to the south of St. Mary near Red Eagle Lake and was reportedly started by a human. The fire, it seemed, was quickly spreading. We stopped along the north shore of St. Mary Lake and looked to the south about 4 miles. Smoke jumpers were diving from planes into the vicinity to assess of the fire. Talk about on-the-job hazards; these jumpers were coming in low and fast. We took pictures and conjectured about what was happening.
We decided to take the GttS further to the west. We weren’t sure exactly what to expect besides higher altitude and a great view. The road opened in 1933 and at the time was considered narrow even for the Model T’s that dared to make the climb. The road stretches 52 miles east-west across the park, across a strand of the Rockies, and follows the Continental Divide for a short while half-way up from the base of nearly sheer cliffs. The ride was truly amazing. Even the crazy drivers that chose to delay 15 to 20 cars behind them by traveling at half the legal speed limit couldn’t ruin it. Logan Pass was the highest point on the drive and contained a wonderful ‘backyard’ with hiking paths up and around the open mountain meadow. Matthias and I stopped at the pass for a little while, took pictures of the mountain goats in and around the parking lot, and Matthias bought a couple of things at the visitor center.
We descended to the west and drove as far as Lake McDonald Lodge, a rustic old place built before the land was designated a national park. We sat by the lake for a while and peeked into the lodge then we got back into the car, crossed over Logan Pass again, and returned to a different lodge near our campsite that provided showers for $1.25. By this point, it was getting dark. We drove to a spot again on St. Mary Lake and looked across for a great view of the forest fire. Clearly it was spreading. It was beautiful to behold. We watched as trees torched. A note from the park warden placed under a rock on our picnic table back at our campsite told us that at 5:00 PM this day, the fire had spread to 50 acres and that a voluntary evacuation warning had been issued for the town of St. Mary. The warning didn’t include the campground, likely because we were more insulated from the fire by St. Mary Lake. Because it was late and because we had a late lunch, we skipped dinner and went to bed.
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