Day 11: Wall Drug in South Dakota

  There were so many signs telling you to stop here. Wall Drug Store is now down to about 250 signs in South Dakota, 30 in Minnesota and 20 in Wyoming.  They are pretty amusing and are worth looking up.

  They might be in children sizes, but I might also have been able to find my size if I had looked.  We did some light shopping after getting breakfast.  While the breakfast wasn't anything spectacular, it's more about where you are.  There are a ton of stained glass hanging lights.  I would go back to browse some more and possibly check out some of the other stores down the street.

  On the way into The Badlands we saw some bison right off the road by Buffalo Gap National Grassland.  It was really cool to see the rippling grasses.  One guy also tried to get a little too close to the bison.

  Stopped with a bunch of other people to look at the big horned sheep.  It was so windy that it was a bit tricky to get pictures of them.  It makes me wonder how they can so easily walk around on their hooves without getting blown off.

  Some groundhog spam.  We stopped by Roberts Prairie Dog Town.  I had a great time there watching them.  Before running into the hole, after standing watch, they would squeak really loudly and bend backwards a few times.  People kept trying to hand feed them, but they aren't dumb.  They are curious but skittish.

  I had to take a panorama at Panorama Point.  It was a bit tricky because there was sign that was fairly tall.

  I was a lot easier to get a good panorama at White River Valley Overlook.

  We stopped at most of the overlooks and it was interesting to see how the landscape looked the same but also changed as we went through The Badlands.  Some areas were very monochromatic while others have a range of colors.  Heather says the colors really stand out around sun-rise.

  At the last stop we overlook we stopped at, Big Badlands Overlook, I saw some people looking over an edge and pointing.  I went over to see if they were looking at some animals, since we had seen some bison in some of the shallower crevices.  They spotted these flowering cacti.

  This is the Dignity of Earth and Sky statue at the Lewis and Clark Welcome Center.  It looks really impressive in pictures and looks even more impressive in person.  She is 50 feet in height and made out of stainless steel.

  Bill keeps telling me that we keep getting handicapped rooms, then when I ask him how he can tell he takes another look and changes his mind.  The lip to the slower was fairly low, but the door wasn't any wider than it has been in any other.

  We got a quick dinner at Ruby Tuesdays and then had a few beers at Lupulin Brewing company.  Their Super Karate Money Death Car tasted just like a Mounds bar.

Day 10: Two Days of Travel in One

  When leaving Lake McDonald yesterday we saw a bunch of puffy white seeds floating around.  It must have become time for something to bloom because I was sneezing a ton this morning.

  On the way out of town we passed by the bright building called Burger Box.  I wanted to try their fry bread, but they didn't open until 11am and we didn't want to wait around that long.  I looked up a recipe and it doesn't look too hard to make.

  During the drive we saw one dog running along the road and another with something in it's mouth trot across the road.

  We passed through a wind farm.  In the town they had one of the turbines out for people to look at.  They are pretty impressive.

  Another interesting thing we saw was a tire go flying off a truck, probably off the back because it was still whole and bouncing/rolling across the road and then down the bank.  There was a black dog in the back of the truck that pulled over and he looked like he wanted to go after the tire, but luckily he didn't jump out and in front of any cars.

  I always find it interesting to see buildings like this.  It makes me want to go explore them and see what is still inside or if it is still being used for something.

  I got to see so many cows again today.  It's so fun to see them doing cow-things.  The solid off white ones look almost naked.

  Bill pointed out that we were passing Sturgis.  I asked if that was special and he told me that a giant motorcycle gathering happens there.  I looked it up and found some information.

The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally is a motorcycle rally held annually in Sturgis, South Dakota, and the surrounding Black Hills region of the United States. It was begun in 1938 by a group of Indian Motorcycle riders and was originally held for stunts and races. 

  Our original plan had us spending time at Little Bighorn and Devil's Tower then staying a night in Billings.  Bill and I decided we didn't really need to see them, so we kept going and combined two days worth of driving.  It was a lot, but not too bad.  It also means we caught up to Jim and Heather.  It also meant having to change hotel reservations, which is how we ended up in such a large room.

Day 9: We Split the Party

   Heather and Jim decided to head back a day early.  We had already cut the trip short by one day when planning previously.  Bill and I still had some stuff we wanted to do so we stayed back.
  On the way in to the Park we were asked if this was the first time we had used our pass.  It was the first time we got that question.  The Park Ranger made a note on her clipboard.  

  On the way back up to the Polebridge Mercantile & Bakery we saw some deer that still had the velvet on their antlers.  We also found out the answer to our question.  The road was an unfinished road and was also due for some maintenance.  Heavy equipment was going up and down the road, spraying it and raking the gravel flatter.  It was a much smoother ride and they weren't even done with it yet.

 

  While there we got to pet a bear.  It was a dog named Bear, but I still think it counts.  Bear was being very good and casually coming up to people to see if they would give him a pet or share their food.

  Here is the full array of goodies you could get.  I got another Huckleberry Bear Claw, a Spinach Blue Cheese, and a Pesto Rollie.  The Bear Claw got eaten really quickly and I decided to save the other two until a bit later.

  Bill had wanted to go to Bowman Lake when we had gone to the Bakery before, but we couldn't get the website to work that told us what roads were open.  Since we had time and it was nice out, we decided to see if the road was open.  It was!

  On the way to the lake we had a deer go darting out right in front of us.  I think all three of us were startled.  There were also some more chipmunk and weasel/mink sightings.  The road was one lane with a few bump-outs and a lot of blind corners.  It was exciting to see another car coming the other way.  Luckily it didn't get too exciting and everyone was able to make it past in the same condition as they were in before.

  Bill thought that this location would make a really nice spot for a sun-rise photo.  I think it's just a plain good place to get any photos.  The views are great and there were a bunch of butterflies flying all around.

  We thought maybe the trail was a loop because though the camp grounds were behind us but the trail marker claimed it was 7.1 miles to the camp ground.  Turns out there is a second camp ground.  I told Bill I could probably make it out to the second camp ground, but not there and back.  From the looks of the map it didn't look like there was an easy way for him to come and get me either.  So we just hiked out a bit and then went back to the car.

  As we left the one lane road we noticed that one of the Road Closed gates had been closed.  I don't know if that was because the parking was full up there or what.  I guess we just had good timing.

  During the drive we saw two sedans who didn't look to be having the best time and a motorcyclist standing while riding.  It would be interesting to see how different the road feels in the different vehicles.

  I had to stop and see what the sign with the pie on it said.  It was interesting that you are allowed to pick the berries in the Park.  It's probably also amusing to watch the large bears eat the small berries.

  We stopped by Huckleberry Lookout but it was a 6 mile hike.  We didn't do it because we were already a bit tired from the Bowman Lake hike and we wanted to catch the 3pm boat tour.

  It was probably because it was a Monday, but we saw a lot less people in the pull over areas.  It might have made more sense to visit during a week when the locals have to work.

  We were put on the wait-list for the boat tour since we didn't get reservations ahead of time.  While we waited to see if our name would get called we watching one of the employees, Kyler, run around and help two paddle boarders and a family in a canoe.  Turns out she was also the one to piloting the boat.

  During the tour we learned a little about the boat.  The DeSMET is allowed to only have six people sitting on the top at a time.  She was also built in 1928, and it only took six weeks to build her.  She gets dry docked every winter and that is when they do any repairs.  Our tour guide, Ethan, was the one who got to spend two weeks watering her.  Since she is all wood, if they didn't water her the gaps between the boards would let water in and she would sink.  Since we were taking a tour, it seems he did a good job.

  Ethan said that the boat has three lift rafts and if the boat started to go down we would all just hop on those and continue the tour from there.

  We learned some interesting information about the forests around Lake McDonald.  Some of the trees are the kind where when they burn they shed a layer, lose some lower branches, and are fine.  Others are the more resiny ones that burn really well and have pinecones that only open at higher temperatures.

  We asked for some funny bear stories from Ethan.  His goal is to run all the trails in the park and he says he is about 33% of the way there.  He was running along at one point, paying attention to his feet because of the trail difficulty when a branch smacked him in the forehead.  He hit it so hard he fell down and then noticed the black bear twenty feet down the trail from him.  If that branch hadn't been there he might have run into the bear.

  As we were just driving around exploring more we found the Lake McDonald Ranger Station.  We also found the driveways of all the lucky people who get to live in the Park along Howell Ridge.  There were also a few more hiking trails at the end of the road.

  Because I've fully accepted the huckleberry hype, we had to stop at the Huckleberry Hut.  We got some huckleberry teas and a I Saw a Bear pin.

  For dinner we tried to go to the Wondering Gringo, but they were closed.  We considered going to The Tavern, but they were also close.  So we went back to Paul Bunyan.  The waitress, Roxy, asked if we had eaten there before and if we were the "steak people."  We were not the steak people but we were warned that the kitchen was way behind and it could be over an hour for our food.

  They are open until 10pm, but around 6:30pm she was telling people the kitchen was closed, probably in an attempt to not kill anyone or to not have the kitchen staff quit.  At one point Roxy said "maybe after I serve this table I'll take more patients."  It was about another half-hour before the kitchen was caught up enough that she was bringing people menus and had another sever show up.

  When we got back to the hotel I did go look for a Geocache that I thought was a lot farther away than it actually was.  The clue said it was going to be at eye level.  As I was looking an employee of the Lodge asked if I was Geocaching.  I told him about it and mentioned that though the Geocache was on the ground, the hint said it was eye level.  He said he was going to come back and fix it.  I also found a little Travel Bug to come back with me.

Day 8: Be Bear Aware

  Today was the day we were going to drive to the eastern part of the park.  It also meant we were going to be driving through the BlackFeet Reservation again.  Everyone made sure to bring a face masks, since we needed them the last time we were within the reservation.

  The drive along 49 is super pretty.  The roads get pretty windy and it sometimes feels like you might drive off the edge, but it was worth it.  There were even some fresh growth of trees along the way, they were cute.  We showed our pass and entered at the East Glacier Park Village and drove to Many Glacier.  When I had heard everyone talking about it yesterday, I thought they kept saying Mini Glacier.

  We also saw about four interesting looking cars.  They looked super vintage and it made us wonder if a meet-up had happened.  I want to join that club, but I don't think I can afford it.

  We parked and a nice Park Ranger asked us to put our cooler into the cab of the truck.  She said that there had been a lot of bear activity lately and they know food can be found in coolers.  The plan was to take the Swiftcurrent Lake Loop Trail to Grinnell Lake.  At one point we saw a sign with two different distances to the lake.  The same Park Ranger was walking the path and we asked her the difference.  They are just on either side of the lake.  One was a bit longer, more sunny, and also more popular.  We went with the other one.  From the car to the lake we saw  a chipmunk in the parking lot, a duck, a weasel/mink, and a squirrel.

  It was so pretty and worth hiking in a bit of mud, even if some parts were the sticky mud that makes gross sounds.  I did like the swaying bride we had to walk over, it could sway so much that they limited it to one hiker at a time.

  It was so strange standing on the snow in June getting breezes that alternated between being warm and cold.
  We saw more people heading out as we headed back than we saw when we were heading out.  It was interesting to see people's footwear.  There were a lot of hiking boots, some sneakers, and even a guy with toe-loop sandals and toe socks.
  I don't know if it was because it was a more flat hike, or because there was more standing around time, but my feet were hurting a lot more today than they were on Friday.  It was a shorter distance too. 

  Few more stops to get Heather some more stamps.  Not all the sections of the roads in the park are open yet, so we wanted to see how far in we could go before the road was closed.  We got to the Gunsight Pass Trail before we found the Road Closed stop.

  We saw some Park Rangers and visitors looking and pointing at something.  Turns out a bear was digging for something and everyone had to stop and look.  We weren't any different.  The inconvenient part was that the bear was part of the way between stops.  That meant that the Park Rangers had to try and keep people from stopping in the middle of the road and also keep the pedestrians from getting run over.  Heather and I hoped out of the cars in a quick stop, then Bill and Jim went to a spot they could turn around and come back to get us.  I had my short lense on, so I couldn't zoom as much as I would have liked to, but I think the picture came out pretty well anyway.

  We saw this statue on the way in.  We tried to stop and get more information about it but there was a sign saying that the area was closed.  I did at least get a picture of it out the truck window.  There were some metal teepees off to the side, but they were a bit far away to try and get in the picture.

  Since it was late we stopped at the Snowgoose Grill in St Mary Village.  I got the Bison Chorizo Quesadilla and it was really good.  I was even nice enough to give Bill one of the pieces with a lot of meat in it.  Everyone was pretty much done after that and the almost two hour drive back to the hotel  We had considered staying on the East side when we first planned the trip, but decided not to.

Day 7: Rain

  The day started off rainy and I found some fun rocks in the parking lot of Glacier Highland Restaurant.  These are all the ones I've found so far.  They say you can't take things out of the park, but they don't mention anything about relocating them.

  On the drive down North Fork road, Bill made a joke about asking where the South Spoon road was.  Passed a sign along the way that looked like pie with ice cream, and it really made me want some warm huckleberry pie with vanilla ice cream.

  At one point Jim questioned if it really counts as a road trip if you don't include your car in pictures.  Here is our car picture with the park sign somewhere in there.

  The road was very bumpy and we couldn't tell if it was because it wasn't finished or if it just didn't have the best maintenance.  Our main goal was to get to Polebridge Mercantile & Bakery.

  Saw a tiny library near Hay Creek and also one by the bakery, I should bring small books for such occasions on trips.  That way I can have a chance to get some more interesting books.

  Bill got me the one that looked most like a foot.  There were so many options that we considered getting savory ones for lunch.  We decided against it, but I want to come back to get more.  We did get some tea, a huckleberry beer loaf, and some huckleberry and bourbon jam.

  On the way back out we saw some of the red tour buses for the first time.

  Heather wanted to check out a possible spot for her sun-rise photo.  We took a short hike to Fish Creek.  Turns out it might work better as a sun-set location, unless we put her in a boat.  The forest here was also teeming with mosquitoes.

  It was supposed to rain all day.  At one point the forecast said it was supposed to stop mid-morning, but it decided to rain almost all day.  Luckily it was fairly light rain while we were out and only got pretty heavy during lunch time.

  For lunch we went back to Apgar Village and I got the Bison Burger at Eddie's.  I also got the huckleberry iced tea, which wasn't too sweet, so it was really refreshing.  You could tell the homemade chips really were made there because not all of them were actually fried.  It looked like some stuck together and couldn't get hot enough in the oil.

  Since we were right there, we decided to stop in at The Cedar Tree Gift Shop.  I thought the bear bottle opener would make a good addition to a travel bag.

  We had some more time in the day, so we decided to drive around and go to some of the stops we passed yesterday.  Lake McDonald Falls were nice and I'm glad we stopped.

  The next stop was Sacred Dancing Cascade.  I really liked the fallen tree and how smooth the water has made some of it look.  I also saw another deer, but wasn't able to get a picture of it.

  On the way into town we spotted this waterfall.  We almost missed it when trying to find it from the other direction.

  The last driving stop was at Goat Lick to hopefully see some goats.  You couldn't see them from the viewing area, so you had to hop the fence and go up the ridge some.  You could also see them from the road looking downward.

  By the time I got there most of them had moved on to a spot that couldn't be seen from where I was, so I used one of the pictures that Bill took.

  On the way in to the hotel parking lot we saw one of the chefs picking herbs from their planters out front.

  We decided on Glacier Highland Restaurant for dinner because Jim thought he could get cheesecake.  I got the Huckleberry Hound which is "Served on a brioche bun with our tangy homemade huckleberry BBQ, crispy bacon, sautéed onion, melted havarti cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, and mayonnaise."  I didn't know what was being "Served" so I decided to just go for it.  Turns out it's a burger.

  When it was time to order dessert we confused our waiter.  Turns out our waiter's mom makes all the pies and he was sure she didn't even know how to make cheesecake.

Day 6: First Day of Hiking

  Lil' Loki got to sleep in.  The hotel gave us ear plugs to help with the sounds of the trains going by, but those weren't a problem for me.  The problem was the loud guy in the lobby.

  We had breakfast at the Glacier Highland Restaurant.  The lady behind us told her husband that he doesn't get any more bread for the day and he was very grumpy about it, I don't blame him.  He also didn't want to scoot in his chair to let Bill sit.

  We stopped by the visitor center and then wondered around the Apgar area for a bit.  There was supposed to be a loop, but we couldn't find it.

  We did go to Lake McDonald where there was an Earthcache and a bunch of pretty rocks.  I wanted to scoop the whole beach up and take it home.  I even found a heart rock.

  Then we decided to drive up to Avalanche and hike out from there.  We passed a bunch of people on bicycles, they should really make a bike lane or a shoulder or something.

  It wasn't looking good for spots as we circled around.  As we were going to check out the temporary day parking I spotted an empty spot.  I was told I got a gold star for the day.

  We hiked the Avalanche Lake Trail and Trail to the Cedars.  It was 1.9 miles going upward to see the lake and about a 575ft elevation gain.  I didn't do too badly on it.

  On the way down we made a trail friend from Philadelphia, PA.  She was going to get an ice cream after she got back down, she said it was the only way she could get herself to do the hike.  She got her knees fixed about two years ago and said it has made a load of positive difference.

  Since right now it's more interesting to look outside the car window than it is to knit, I figured this is how I could give you an update on how the hat is going.

  We had lunch at Russell's On The Run, which is around the back side of the Lake McDonald Lodge.  There were lake tours by boat, but we would have had to hurry to make the 3pm one and we weren't that excited about the idea of hurrying lunch.  If we had gotten to the area sooner we might have tried harder to get a seat on the tour.

  Some people wanted to change shoes, I mostly just wanted to be off my feet for a bit so they would stop hurting.  I thought I had gotten off without any, but it turns out I got a blister on my little toe.

  We had talked about going back to the park, but ended up getting a drink at the hotel bar, which was in the same external building as the restaurant.  Then some of us went back to Paul Bunyan for some snacks since none of us were hungry enough for a whole meal.  They make some pretty good nachos.