The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 8/2/11

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After breakfast in Babb again, we headed for the Going-to-the-Sun road one last time. We stopped at the 1913 Ranger Station where volunteer Sheryl Mink, the artist, invited us to participate in the painting of the mural that when finished will be hung in the St. Mary’s Visitor Center. After that we did the Sun Point trail to Baring Falls which was very pretty. Then we continued across the road and out of the park. We headed towards Missoula on the east side of Flathead Lake because we took the west side to get to Kalispell. On the side of the road were tons of cherry orchards so we had to stop and buy some. A lb. of bing cherries were 2.50 and a lb. of Rainer cherries were 3.50 so we got both. We ended up for the night at Ruby’s Inn (King room for only $89). The staff were really friendly, the rooms clean, and we walked to The Montana Club for dinner.

What I Learned Today:

· The 2 bedroom cabin at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn had more room and was worth the $10 extra if one is available.

· Singing on the trail must keep the bears away because we never did see a bear on the trail since I was always singing.

· Some mom and pop hotels are much better than chain hotels.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 8/1/11

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Our one bedroom cabin at the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn was small but cozy. The bathroom building was not too far away and they gave us 4 tokens for the shower (1 token = approx. 8.5 minutes). We got up early and did a wildflower hike around Lake Josephine. The area was abundant with wildflowers and I took lots of pictures. We saw a load of bear scat on the trail but no bears. After the wildflower hike, we had a picnic. Then we hiked to Apikuni Falls which was straight up a mountain. It was a great hike but it was tiring. After the hike we hit the restaurant for some pizza and then ice cream.

What I Learned Today:

· Beargrass was named by Lewis and Clark because it looked like grass and is found where bears live. Bears do not like to eat it unless they have to in order to survive.

· Sweet Cicely smells like licorice. You can eat the seeds that taste like licorice.

· Aspens shoot out roots underground for new growth.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 7/31/11

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I woke up early because I heard the wind howling and the rain pouring down. After I got up and tried to read my Ipad in the dark, I decided to go sit outside in my lawn chair. The rain and wind stopped and the sky looked like it was on fire! I was able to sit outside and knit while I listened to podcasts. When Don woke up, we checked out of our room and drove into Babb for breakfast. On the way back we hiked around Swiftcurrent Lake and looked for wildlife. The wind picked up while we were hiking and it felt like a fall day. After our hike, we stopped and had a picnic. In the afternoon we checked into our cabin and then joined the ranger on a nature hike which was wonderful. After the hike we came back to our cabin to relax before going to the restaurant and having a pizza. After dinner we went to hear the ranger talk about bears.

What I Learned Today:

· There is 1 species of salamander in the park and 4 frog species.

· The Calliope Hummingbird nest we saw was made from lichens, moss, and spider webs.

· Talking and making noise is the best way to let a bear know you are near.

· Human mother’s milk is about 3% fat and grizzly bear mother’s milk is 33% fat.

· The bears mate in the spring and is “almost pregnant.” If the conditions are right and the mother is in good shape, she is pregnant in November and the cub(s) are born in January or February.

· Black bear cubs stay for one summer and are kicked out the next. Grizzly bear cubs stay for 3 summers.

· Black bears get pregnant every other summer and grizzly bears every 3^rd year.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 7/30/11

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This morning we left Glacier Park Lodge and went to Browning for breakfast. The only place we could find was at the Glacier Parks Casino and the breakfast was great! After that we headed to Two Medicine Flats area. There we hiked to 2 waterfalls: Running Eagle Falls and Appistoki Falls. Both were beautiful! Of course we were on our own so Don did a lot of singing (off key of course) to scare away any bears and we didn’t come across any. I want to see some but only through binoculars or through a car window. After that we had lunch in Babb at Thorson’s Café and it was good too.

By then it was time to head to the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn to check in. Thankfully our room was ready for us. What a difference this place was compared to the Glacier Park Lodge! Everyone was smiling and seemed happy to be there. Our room was ready even though we were about an hour earlier than scheduled check in.

Once we checked in, we drove to the Many Glacier Lodge and looked around. It was a beautiful place! How different this place was compared to the Glacier Park Lodge. The staff was welcoming and the whole place was so much cleaner even though they were going through a major renovation! At 4pm we took the historical hotel tour with the ranger and learned about the history of the hotel. After the tour we headed back to Swiftcurrent where the ranger and some volunteers had scopes set up in the parking lot. We were able to see the mountain goats high up on the mountain as well as people hiking down the mountain. I think that was a neat activity to set up for visitors.

What I Learned Today:

· I can spray bug spray on my clothing and it will have the same effect as putting it on my skin. The bugs stayed away from me. Of course I had long hiking pants and a long sleeve shirt. I also sprayed the bug spray on the brim of my hat which helped keep them away from my face.

· The Two Medicine Flats area is not as heavily visited as the other sections of the park. This made it quite enjoyable for hiking.

· The Many Glacier Lodge which was built in 1915 by the Great Northern Railway.

· I would recommend the Many Glacier Lodge and the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn to others.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 7/29/11

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On the way to Glacier Park Lodge in East Glacier today, we stopped at a sale in front of an antique store called Station 8 in Columbia Falls, MT. I found my first spinning wheel – a Louet S70! I wasn’t sure if I should buy it since we were so far from home though and I called my friend Caron (who doesn’t seem to mind if I keep bugging her for advice!) and she said the price was great so I couldn’t resist. We took some parts off of it to get it in the car. Now I hope I can get it back together again when I get home. We may need to stop in Kalispell on the way to Idaho to find a long box and then take it apart more to ship it home.

Then we arrived at the Glacier Park Lodge. It was supposed to be a grand hotel and we were pretty disappointed. First we got there at 2:15 and this snooty desk clerk told me that check in wasn’t until 3pm and our room wasn’t ready yet. I can understand that but I was surprised that no rooms were cleaned at this time and there was no one else checking in. I went to use the restroom and it was filthy. There was toilet paper and empty rolls on the floor. The trash can was overflowing with dirty paper towels. The paper towel dispenser was empty and a roll was on top. You had to get it with your wet hands to unroll some to dry your hands. In the lobby, the radiators must have had dust an inch thick because we could write our names in it! I was shocked that a “nice” hotel would look like this! I went back at 3pm and they told me that there were still no rooms ready for us and that we needed to come back in 20 minutes. By this time the train arrived and a ton of people came in to check in and there were no rooms ready so the lobby was full of people milling around. I went back at 3:20 and they told me that my room still wasn’t ready. Finally at 3:30, I was able to check in. (Now would they let me check out 30 minutes later since my check in was 30 minutes later? No.) When we got to our room (307), the room had 2 double beds and a small bathroom. It wasn’t anything fancy at all and it cost almost $200! I’m glad we are only staying here for one night.

After check in, we walked around East Glacier and checked out the shops. At 4:45 we got in line outside of Serranos (a Mexican restaurant) waiting for it to open at 5pm. The food was outstanding! We each had 3 large chili rellenos ($14.95) that came with black beans and rice and a pitcher of margaritas ($24). I would definitely go here again! I want to thank @GlacierMTGuy on plurk for recommending this to us!

After dinner we walked around the train station and back to the lodge. We met a really nice couple from Denver and visited with them for awhile. Then we sat out on the porch to enjoy the sunset which was lovely.

What I Learned Today:

· It takes about 2 hours to drive from Kalispell to East Glacier.

· Huckleberry ice cream tastes like blueberry to me.

· Serranos is a wonderful place to eat!!

· I would not recommend the Glacier Lodge to anyone.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 7/28/11

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We had a lovely day today especially since the sun was out! We got to Logan’s Pass to do the Hidden Lake Trail. The ranger said it was under snow but if we had hiking boots and hiking sticks, we could do it so away we went. The views were beautiful but it was very challenging to walk up the mountain in the snow especially when we came to steep ledges. The trail was very slippery! When we got to the lake overlook, we came across a bunch of wild mountain goats and they were beautiful! I even got some fiber from one of them (No, I didn’t attack the goat! It shed its hair and I rescued the fiber as a souvenir!) On the way back down the mountain, we did a lot of slipping, sliding, and skiing with our boots.

When we drove out of the parking lot, we heard a scraping sound so we parked the car and looked under it. But we didn’t see anything making that awful metal sound. The teen in the truck next to us even got on the ground to look under our car and said that it was probably just a rock in our brake shoe. So, away we go again. But this time it sounds even worse so we stop and I jump out again to look. I expect to find a brake shoe dragging on the ground. A couple nearby (from Florence, SC) told us that it was probably a rock in the brake shoe and the man suggested Don put the car in reverse. After this gosh-awful screech and scrape, the noise went away (I guess the rock came out) and all was well again so we left. What a relief that it wasn’t anything more major! I could just picture us coming down that mountain with no brakes!

On the drive down the mountain, we stopped at a few overlooks. One had a trail to a bridge over the raging river and that was exciting.

It was a lovely day!

What I Learned Today:

· Hiking in the snow in July is magical but it can wear you out!

· Mountain goats are very lively (or restless) animals and move around quickly rather than staying in one place.

· Hidden Lake was still frozen over!

· Rocks in brake shoes sound awful like the car is falling apart!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 7/27/11

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We got up early so we could do some hikes before the crowds hit the park but when we got in the car, our tire pressure was low. We noticed this last night and Don checked the tires and added air with our air pump so we were worried when it was even lower this morning. So, we found a Les Schwab store to check on our tires. (We like Les Schwab stores! Last time we were out west, we had to buy chains because the law said so and the fine was outrageous. This guy in Idaho opened his store on a Sunday and sold us the chains at no extra charge for Sunday. So, we felt like we could trust Les Schwab to check our tires). Unfortunately the metal was showing in both back tires so we had to get new ones and we were back on the road in an hour.

We drove to the trailhead and hiked to Avalanche Lake. Again, the views were wonderful! There were lots of people on the trail so I didn’t feel nervous about meeting a grizzly. At first we didn’t expect the lake to be anything special but it was at the foot of Sperry Glacier. From the lake we saw 6 waterfalls coming down the mountain before it!

After the hike we hunted for lunch but by then most places stopped serving lunch so we stopped for an ice cream to tide us over to dinner. On the way back to our hotel, we stopped in Columbia Falls at the Nite Owl restaurant for dinner. My rib eye was mouthwatering!

What I Learned Today:

· It is smarter to check out tire problems rather than ignore them. It would have been bad to be in the park with a flat tire!

· Snow melting out of the mountains create beautiful waterfalls.

· The hike to Avalanche Lake is a must if you visit Glacier National Park!

· It is cheaper to eat outside the park than inside.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

The Great Adventure 2011 Montana – 7/26/11

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We headed for Glacier National Park early in the morning and spent the day driving on the Going to the Sun Road. I was surprised when we got up to Logan’s Pass how cold it was. It was actually snowing and sleeting on us! The scenery was absolutely beautiful and due to the snow melting, there were waterfalls all around us. There was lots of construction on the road so we had many delays involving stopping on the road and waiting for the road to clear. I didn’t mind this because I was able to take plenty of pictures. It was funny to see people in shorts and tshirts when their lips turned blue! We didn’t stop a lot but really enjoyed the trip. We went to a café in Babb, MT for lunch and the food was good.

What I Learned Today:

· There is still snow in higher elevations in July!

· Some people just don’t know how to dress in different types of weather and insist on wearing shorts in July even if it is snowing.

· Snow melting in the mountains create magnificent waterfalls!

· Montana is a beautiful state and the people are nice here too!

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley

The Great Adventure 2011 Wyoming and Montana– 7/25/11

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We left early this morning and headed towards Kalispell, MT. On the way out of the park we saw elk and buffalo. One buffalo was walking right down the yellow line towards our car! When we saw the elk, we saw a baby elk run out in front of a car and narrowly was missed. We drove 400 miles to Kalispell and got there around 3:30pm. We decided to get our oil changed since we have driven about 5200 miles since the oil change right before we left home. Surprisingly, the Toyota dealership was cheaper than any of the hourly oil change places. After the oil change, we went to Wal-Mart to refill some of Don’s prescriptions and buy some supplies. Since there was a Subway shop there too, we grabbed a couple of subs for dinner. We ate our dinner at the hotel while we did laundry. We feel like we accomplished a lot today and will be ready for a fresh start in the morning. Hopefully the weather will be nice and we will drive on the Going to the Sun road through Glacier NP.

What I Learned Today:

· Early morning is the best time to spot wildlife.

· It pays to call around and price oil changes. I would never have thought that the dealership would be the cheapest.

· It wasn’t hard to transfer prescriptions to the Wal-Mart as I expected.

· I take my own washer and dryer for granted when I’m hope and I really appreciate them when I have to do laundry when traveling.

Posted on the Successful Teaching Blog by loonyhiker (successfulteaching at gmail dot com).

Original Photo: by Pat Hensley