After dinner we were all beat from the day of traveling. So we divided and packed up the trail food and called it a night. We were all in bed by 10pm.

The sun rises early in northern Montana. I first woke up at 5am and the sun was already up. Some of us got up around 7am. Pulled on some clothes, grabbed a bagel and banana and went to the sitting area between the hotel lobby and the annex to have breakfast and talk.  

We left the lodge around 9am and got back on highway 2 instead of highway 49. After a few miles we figured it out and turned around. It was a cold morning and looked like it was going to rain. We all pack extra clothes and rain gear. Lisa and Brenda each bought a lined jacket to wear. And then Brenda twisted my arm until I bought one so that I could be like them.  

While we were crossing the lake the guide spotted a mountain goat high up above us. Everyone saw it except Catie. She thought we were all just pulling her leg.

Once across we were going to head up to Rockwell Falls, but we took a wrong turn and started heading to Twin Falls instead. When we figured that out, we just decided to keep going to Twin Falls and go to Rockwell Falls later. Twin Falls was our first waterfall of the trip. We had to climb over a downed tree to cross the river to get close to the waterfall so we could take a group shot.

It started to drizzle after we were past Twin Falls again and it got colder fast. We don’t know how much because Peggy didn’t bring her famous thermometer. We put the layers back on and I was glad to have my new jacket. That Brenda is a good friend for making me buy it. Since the weather had turned worse, we decided not to hike to Rockwell Falls but take the boat back across. This hike was 4.4 miles long.

 

When we got back in the lodge we took turns in the shower. We decided Moose Heads were in order so we could toast the day and the bear sighting. Peggy, Connie and I went down to the bar to get the beer. While we were there, we saw Tiger Woods win the U.S. Open by 15 strokes. Our timing could not have been better. It must be the clean living and praying to the vaca gods. That is god with a small ‘g’.

After we were all cleaned up, we went to a Mexican restaurant for dinner. Peggy, Connie and I all ordered the same thing and it was pretty spicy. Connie asked for some sour cream for us so we could cool it down. She is really a good person to have around. Peggy started not feeling well (altitude sickness she claims) as we ate. She was really in distress because she actually left food on her plate.  

After dinner we walked to a small grocery store nearby and got Huckleberry Ice Cream for dessert. The scoops were really big and guy asked me if I could handle it. I told him I would give it my best shot.

Then we headed back to the lodge. I dropped them off at the door and then parked the van. Peggy gave me two points for dropping them off because she was in distress. After Peggy laid flat for a while she started feeling better and then we started playing Euchre. Peggy and me against Connie and Catie. Catie was just learning so Brenda helped her out. Connie and Catie were a couple of snakes just laying in the weeds and they beat us 10-6.

Brenda, Lisa and I got up before 7am and went to the sitting area between the lobby and the annex and had coffee and talked. The others slept a little (or in Brenda’s words) a lot longer. Around 8:30 we finally went back to the room to roust them and get packed up. We checked out around 9:30 and headed for St. Mary Lake.

The forecast for the day was a high of 68 degrees with scattered showers. The road to St. Mary Lake was windy and slow. At one point we had to stop for road construction but it didn’t slow us up too much. We got to St. Mary Lake around 11am. It was raining pretty good so we stopped in at the Visitor Center and watched a short slide show. 

 

We were climbing up above the lake. At one point we had a view of the lake with a large rock sitting about 5 feet from the shore. Brenda showed us her rock throwing skills by trying to hit the rock. She is so strong; she over shot it several times before hitting the target.  

The next stop was Sunrift Gorge. By the time we got there it really started to rain again, so we didn’t get to see the Gorge in the sunlight. But it was beautiful anyway. Since it was raining, we all put on the rain gear and started to hike back to the van. Peggy was the lead dog and we were walking at a pretty quick pace. We were almost back at the van when Brenda and I started to talk about food and what we were going to eat when we got in the van. Well, Peggy must have been hungry because she picked up the pace even more.

 

We checked in at the Many Glacier Lodge. The woman at the desk asked me if we had a floor preference. I told her (I was traveling with old people) the lower the better since we had to carry our bags up the stairs. We have two rooms 145 for Connie, Lisa and Catie and 149 for Brenda, Peggy and me.  

We mixed some Canadian Whiskey and United States Sprite and sat in the lounge area for toasting. We toasted to women making their own choices. Then I stood on my head just because I chose to do it.  

Around 5:30 we decided to go to dinner at the Swift Current Motor Inn just a mile down the road. We order pizza. It was good, but didn’t have much cheese. What is it with cheese in Montana? During dinner we were talking and it came up in the conversation that Peggy doesn’t like scary movies and in particular Steven King. She also didn’t like the Moose Head because it didn’t agree with her and put her in distress Sunday night. I made the comment that since she didn’t like Steve King or Moose Head, I needed to find a new friend. Both Brenda and Connie quickly raised their hands to volunteer. They are good for my ego.

After dinner we went to the gift shop next door and shopped. Peggy and Connie each got shirts. I tried to be sneaky and buy Peggy a “bite me hat” (a hat with an attitude) for her 40th birthday. After all she is putting for birdie on the 9th hole of life and she is just 3 days shy of 2 months away from turning 40. She was a weed lying snake though and caught me, so I gave it to her then.  

When we got back to the hotel, Peggy realized that she had left her shirt at the restaurant. Yes, that’s right, she left her shirt at the restaurant. Luckily she was wearing two when we went to eat. She and I drove back to get it.

The Lodge we were staying at had just opened for the season and they were still working out the kinks. I took a scalding hot shower because there was no cold water in the bathroom. We called maintenance to get that fixed before Peggy and Brenda took their showers.

When Connie, Brenda and Peggy got back they brought me a Power Bar to help me get my strength back since I had hit the wall earlier. They are sooo thoughtful, what have I done to deserve such good friends. Must be all that clean living.

 

We just sat around and talked after we got cleaned up and finally went to bed around 11pm.

We got up at 7am and everyone met for the breakfast buffet in the hotel restaurant at 7:30. We needed an early started because we had a big day planned. Catie and Lisa went on an all day horse ride with wrangler Pete. The rest of us were taking a 10-mile hike to Iceberg Lake. We had asked at the desk the day before and this trail was highly recommended.

We packed up our gear and got to the trailhead around 9am. There was a ranger there with a group of about 30 people getting ready to start, so we quickly took off to get ahead of them. The beginning of the trail was steep and we started to wonder if the guy at the front desk had led us astray. But the trail quickly tapered off to a gentle upward slope.

The trail was wet because it had rained the night before and we were all glad to be wearing hiking boots. We passed a lot of weeping walls and waterfalls. The trail actually went through several waterfalls. There are more waterfalls per capita in East Glacier than in any other part of the continental United States. We decided that we were lucky being here in June when these waterfalls were still active from the snowmelt. We are just The Best Vacationers EVER!

 

The lake was beautiful. It was still frozen and surrounded by mountains on three sides. Snow and ice were breaking off the mountain and falling into the lake. We arrived around noon and decided to eat lunch there. We had carried up cans of Sprite and put them in the lake to cool while we ate. This is a trick that Peggy first showed us in the Grand Canyon – she is just full of good ideas.  

Once we started walking again and got away from the wind coming off the lake, we quickly warmed up. The Ranger and his hikers had arrived and we saw a lot more people going down than we did coming up the trail.

We got back to the lodge around 3:15 and decided to take the 4pm boat across lakes. This trip was across two lakes: Swift Current Lake, which was right outside the hotel and then a short walk to Lake Josephine. Just as we were taking off, someone on the boat spotted a bear moving towards some hikers. The driver phoned it in and we kept going. 

On the ride across the lake the guide told us about a moose that had had twin calves here a few years ago. A bear had killed one of the calves and had eaten the carcass right on the shore. They had trouble moving the bear to a safer spot. Important safety tip: bears become even more dangerous when they have a carcass. A bear needs to consume 1500 to 2000 calories per hour to survive. They are very protective of their food.  

We also saw a beaver lodge that had walls at least eight feet thick. A bear had tried for three weeks to get in to the lodge before giving up.

 

The lakes in this area are all glacier filled. The water is green. This is caused by the rock sediment from the glaciers. As the glaciers move, they grind the rock into a fine powder, which floats in the water. As the sun shines on the water it becomes green.

We got on the boat when it came back. Most of the people on the boat had spent the afternoon taking a hike with Ranger Clare Landry. Clare was from Beloit, Wisconsin and had worked as a ranger in East Glacier for 36 of the last 37 years. His full time job was teaching in the learning center at Rockford College. Peggy had lived in Beloit when she was collecting dairy sperm. Clare and Peggy had attended the same church. Small world!

We got back to the lodge at 5:30 and met up with Lisa and Catie. We shared stories of our days and found out that Lisa and Catie had seen a grizzly bear while on horseback.

 

Catie was getting pretty hungry. We were afraid that she would become transparent if we didn’t feed her soon. So we went to the lodge restaurant for dinner.

After dinner we explored the lodge. We sampled some huckleberry chocolate purchased in the gift shop. Then Peggy showed us her cartwheeling skills in the first floor hallway in the annex. She had to be careful not to hit the lights hanging from the ceiling. We walked on every floor of the hotel and I stood on my head on the third floor.

Then we walked out by the river. Brenda and Connie marked their territory behind some rocks and trees while we were out. Peggy and I were concerned that the bears would get their scent and track them back to the lodge during the night.

We went back to our rooms around 10pm and were asleep by 10:30.

 

Got up around 7am. Got dressed and packed our gear before meeting for breakfast. Connie, Lisa and Catie didn’t have a good night. There room got so hot that they ended up propping the door open to get a breeze going.

After breakfast we loaded up the van and headed to the Going to the Sun Road. Just as we were getting ready to leave, Catie realized that she had left her bunny in the room and had to go back. That was a close one. We left the lodge around 9:15.  

As we were leaving the area, we moaning about not seeing a moose while we were there. Many Glacier was our best shot for seeing a moose because there was one living near the lodge. About 5 minutes down the road a moose stepped out of the woods and crossed the road in front of us. I slammed on the brakes and we all scrambled for cameras. I was so busy driving, I missed the shot. We are The Best Vacationers EVER!  

 

Virginia Falls was just short way up the trail. We stopped there for some pictures. Then hiked back down the trail.  

When we got back to the van we continued on down The Going to the Sun Road. Stopping occasionally for photo opts. The next big stop was Logan Pass Visitor Center. It was so early in the season that they still didn’t have the restrooms opened – just a line of kybos in the parking lot.

We started up the trail to Hidden Lake Overlook at 12:20. Normally this would be an easy 3-mile hike. But the trail was still snow covered and the climb up was very hard. We had just gotten started when an older couple on their way back, stopped and talked to us. We asked if the view was worth the walk. The man said it was a long way up there but worth the effort. Then he told us that if he could make it we could. So at that point there was no backing out.

About half way up we stopped and shared the Power Bar that Brenda, Connie and Peggy brought back for me the night I hit the wall. It came in handy. And believe it or not, it wasn’t half-bad.  

On the way up we saw snowboarders who had climbed way up above us (must have eaten a lot of power bars) coming down the mountain. When they got to the bottom they climbed up to the other side and we watched them go down as we walked back. We also saw one skier go down.

We were almost back when the Kalispell Baseball team showed up. They were climbing the trail as a team. Catie missed her chance because she had sit this hike out and waited in the van. We finished the hike around 2pm.

We stopped in the visitor center for a while before climbing back in the van and continuing our journey on the Going to the Sun Road. Everyone was tired by this time and we didn’t stop as often at the scenic overlooks. We passed the Weeping Wall but it was more of a Gushing Wall. There was a lot of water still flowing from the snowmelt.  

We got to Lake McDonald Lodge around 3:30 and checked into cabins 12A and 12B. They were two small rooms in the same cabin, but we didn’t have a door that connected them. The guy working at the desk asked me where 24th street was in West Des Moines. So I told him it was between 23rd and 25th. Turned out he was from Perry Iowa and was moving to Urbandale to attend DMACC in Restaurant and Hotel Management in the fall.

After we got settled into the cabins we went to the lodge lounge for dinner. It was Wednesday, which is Lisa’s day to eat. We decided she is like a camel with food because she put a lot of food away at dinner but hadn’t eaten much all week.

The alarm went off at 7am. It was the first time all week that Brenda was still in bed when the alarm went off. We were moving slow after the late night.

Around 9:30 we went over to Charlie’s – a little restaurant near the lodge and had breakfast. The service was really slow – guess they had a late night too. Peggy ordered pancakes that were burnt and were like eating a loaf of bread.

This was the first day that the weather was warm enough to wear shorts. We sported the shorts and hiking boots look and looked GORGEOUS. This was a particularly good look for Connie!

The trail was 4 miles long round trip. It had poured the night before and the trail was very muddy and slippery. We were all glad to be wearing boots. We started singing TV theme songs to pass the time and scare the bears. I think we scared the other hikers also.

We passed a family with four kids on the way up. The kids ranged in age from 2-8 years old. We talked with them at the lake. Peggy bonded with the two youngest ones. Kaitlen was about 2 1/2 and Tyler was probably around 4. They were both right in her face telling her about going to Bear World where your car is your cage.

We had a snack and took pictures at the lake. I forgot my camera in the van. So there were no pictures taken by me. We headed back down around noon.  

It took us about an hour to get back down and we went back to Lake McDonald to use the restrooms and get some food. While we were eating Peggy and Brenda taught us the royal wave.

Around 2pm we headed over to John’s Lake Loop Trail which was about 3 miles long. Lisa decided to sit this one out, so she took the van back to Lake McDonald. We made plans to meet her back at the trailhead between 3:30 and 4pm.  

 

We also heard beavers slapping the water to warn the others of danger. Everyone heard the slapping except Peggy who was too busy yapping to hear the slapping. "You can't hear the slapping if your are too busy yapping."  After they got over being afraid of us, we helped them with their dam by moving a large fallen tree.

At one point I lost my balance and fell. The only thing I hurt was my pride until I realized that what probably caused my fall was the extra weight of carrying Peggy’s water bottle. Once I figured out it was her fault, my pride wasn’t hurt as bad. Catie said that she wished I had fallen in a pile of horse manure because that would have been even funnier. I have made some great friends on this trip!

The trail was tricky to follow because it kept crossing roads and rivers and wasn’t clearly marked. But thanks to Brenda, our faithful lead dog, we made it back. We got back to the trailhead at 3:30 and there was Lisa with the van.

We loaded in the van and drove to Apgar to check out the village there. Did some shopping and had ice cream. The Huckleberry ice cream was very good! Then we walked over to the lake and washed off our boots and skipped rocks for the last time.  

 

We stopped in West Glacier, which is just a few miles down the road and did a little more shopping. Before heading to Kalispell and the Super 8. Luckily, Peggy had the hotel address handy because the rest of us had packed it away in our bags. We took the scenic route to the hotel. It wasn’t hard to get there, but we made it a challenge.

 

We got to the hotel around 5pm – two rooms a single and a double. Connie, Brenda, Peggy and I stayed in the double #212 and Lisa and Catie took the single #211. The rooms were hot when we got there and the air-conditioning didn’t work in Lisa and Catie’s room so they move to room #204.

We cleaned up and had a few toasts before walking to dinner at a nearby pizza place. We sat at tables outside, basically we were sitting in the parking lot. But it was a beautiful evening and the food was good. When we got done eating, Peggy got up and went to the restroom. While she was gone we all blew bubbles in her pop. When she came back, Catie who hadn’t toasted with us all week decides she wants to toast. She wanted to make sure that Peggy drank some of her pop. In Peggy’s words, Catie is evil!

Back at the hotel we drank some more wine and talked. Peggy made me laugh right when I had taken a sip of wine and it went down the wrong pipe. I ended up running in the bathroom and lost it. I came back in the room and told her that if she wasn’t careful that I would tell her what we did to her at dinner. So then we told her about blowing bubbles in her pop.  

This was the first room we had all week with television. Catie turned on Animal Planet and we watched Croc Week and some snake wrestling.

We were all tired and knew we had to get up early, so we crashed around 11pm and went to bed.

 

The alarm went off at 6am. We dressed and packed up quickly and loaded up the van. The hotel had a toast bar (toast as in bread not beer) so we went down for breakfast and checked out. We left the hotel a little after 7am.

We got to the airport plenty early. We dropped our bags off at the Northwest Airline Terminal and then we dropped the van off in the parking lot. You know you are at a small airport when you can leave the rental van in the parking lot unlocked and they come and get it later.

 

The landing in Minneapolis was pretty rough. We think the pilots were tired from the night before and weren’t in their best form. But we made it to gate 20 anyway around 12:30. We all ran down the red concourse together. There we said quick good-byes before rushing to our connecting flights. Lisa and Catie had to meet a connecting flight at gate 69 at 1pm. I had a 1:10 flight at gate 87. And Brenda, Connie and Peggy had to find Brenda’s car someplace in the airport parking lot.

The vacation that did not suck was over, but the memories live on!