The Two Glacier National Park

Into Montana we went.. we decided to stop for a week or so and get our mail because we had to renew our submerged land lease with the state of Florida and get some other paperwork done before we headed into Canada, so I found us a park just outside of Glacier National Park. I have to give snaps to my wonderful Daughter-in-law Kristin..when were checked into the RV Park there was a package already waiting for me! It was flowers from her for Mother’s Day..I shed a few tears on that one! 

Navi

They lasted the whole time we were there so I got to enjoy them for some time!

While we waited for our mail, we explored both the West Glacier and East Glaciers. What I was surprised to hear was that Glacier is called the Crown of the Continent because It is the headwaters for streams that flow to the Pacific Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and to Hudson's Bay, so what happens here affects waters in a huge section of North America...amazing... please don’t pee in their streams! 

The first day we drove up to The Going-to-the-Sun Road, this road is a spectacular 50 mile, paved two-lane highway that bisects the park east and west, it was closed for driving about 10 miles up....but you could walk or bike ride another 10miles to where the snow was blocking the road, so we took our bikes and off we went....what a treat.... it was one stunning view after another because this road passes through almost every type of terrain in the park, from large glacial lakes and cedar forests in the lower valleys to windswept alpine tundra atop the pass. There are many viewpoints and pullouts that line the road, so we stopped for the views and I took way too many pictures! This road is well worth traveling in either direction because the views from one side of the road are much different than from the other. It took us about 2hours to bike this stretch and we did get to see a young black bear that came out of the woods. 

In 1983 Going-To-The-Sun Road was included in the National Register of Historic Places and in 1985 was made a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

The next day we drove to Polebridge Montana the only thing they have there is a Mercantile store and it has been serving the North Fork community in remote Northwest Montana for over 100 years. Much as it has from the beginning, the “Merc” serves as a general store, bakery, base camp, and vacation getaway. It is one of the anchors of the North Fork experience and an must stop for anyone visiting the west side of Glacier National Park. Exploring lesser known areas of Glacier National Park is one of the highlights of a visit to Polebridge. There is only one entrance to Glacier National Park in the North Fork and it’s located a few miles down the road from the Mercantile. From here, you can access Bowman and Kintla Lakes so we drove the long bumpy dirt road but both of these roads were still closed off due to snow and damage from the harsh winter.. bummer..

We decided, because we had some extra time, to make a car drive over to East Glacier National Park, from where we were parked it was about a 3 hour drive, but we wanted to see the difference the other side of the mountains offered. What a difference there was..the East side is in a valley and the land is flat, no trees, till you get to the mountains. The road up to the Park had been badly damaged and we had to go through some road work, and there were some horses on the road too..cool...

 we entered the Going to the Sun Road on the St Mary’s side, but it too was closed almost right at the entrance. You were allowed to park and walk the road..so that’s what we did...I was on the hunt for some mountain goats, elk, bear..whatever I could shoot with my new camera. The great thing about this side of the mountain is that it is not as popular, not sure why but it’s not and there were very few people. 

After a few miles of walking we came across some mountain goats! Let me tell you..I was so excited 😆 

It was so gorgeous..and also no people...miles and miles we walked, waterfalls came down off the mountain with cold clear water, it was magical!....

but the problem with walking in, it that you also you have to walk out, it was getting later and we still had a couple hours drive back to Esprit! It was a wonderful experience!

Spokane Washington

The city of Spokane was initially named "Spokane Falls" because it was once the site of a large village of Spokane Indians and they had named it “Stluputqu” which means Swift Water and the river is very swift lots of Falls. Later it was shortened to just Spokane. 

The city also features Riverfront and Manito park. The Riverfront is fabulous, they have cable cars that cross over the Lower Falls, but they were closed for renovations..bummer...so we walked along the Spokane River and crossed over the many walking bridges they have. We saw the Upper and Lower Falls, they were spectacular!

We spent two days exploring the Falls and then we went to Manito Park.. it is a botanical park and quite beautiful..a lot of the flowers were were just starting to come up and lots had not even poked their little heads up, we were there early in the spring, but from the looks of it I bet it is incredible when it is in full bloom! 

The only thing I was surprised about was the amount of beggars in Spokane, they were on every corner.. every one! On the busier corners they had shifts of them..some were making signs while other were trying to get cars to give them money. They were lots of them in Walmart buying sign making stuff! Not sure if they are homeless or this is a new “job”. Most of them were quite young!