Going to the sun

Day 23
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Sightseeing in Glacier National Park

Montana was just as cold last night as Canada has been. The only differences were that we were freezing in Fahrenheit and it was more humid so condensation inside the trailer became an issue. Life is tough without electricity (and therefore heat)!

In spite of the overnight chill, we awoke to a beautiful, cloudless blue sky. The sun warmed our skin and souls! We cooked breakfast on the picnic table outside our trailer and then set out for a day of sightseeing.

We drove west toward Logan Pass on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. The road was under construction and we encountered several half-hour delays. At the summit, elevation 6,646 feet, there were deep snow drifts in spite of the 51 degree temperature. We spent a few minutes in the visitor center and then continued westward. The section of road between Logan Pass and Lake McDonald was wild and wonderful. Forget Needles Parkway, forget the highway from Ouray to Silverton, forget the highway up to the hot springs in Jasper; this road is the number one engineering feat of any road we’ve ever driven on. The lanes were exactly eight feet wide with sheer stone cliffs on the uphill side that hung out over the road in places and sheer drop-offs on the downhill side save an eighteen-inch-thich, knee-high, stone retaining wall that might keep you from falling over the edge in an accident. And the road’s grade was significant at the same time. Needless to say, the odor of hot brakes going down into the valley was strong. We suppose that this road, built in the 1920s, would never have been undertaken in modern times due to safety and environmental concerns. It is truly something special.

The really special thing about Glacier, however, isn’t its famous road. The mountain peaks are the draw. We contemplated together over lunch why Glacier was different and worthy of national park status. Although Glacier has peaks, ridges and lakes that are no more spectacular than those in Teton, Mt. Rainier, Jasper and Banff, at Glacier you feel as if you are among them more than in those other places. The alpine features appear to be steeper and closer together making them more dramatic and awesome—and the road has a lot to do with that. Sessy also noted that its remoteness and the difficulty associated with getting here have something to do with its appeal. We took 154 photos today, second only to the day on Icefields Parkway, which is an indication of how beautiful Glacier is.

Once down on the valley floor, more than 3,500 feet below the pass, we walked up to Avalanche Lake, a total of 4.6 miles roundtrip, with a thousand feet of elevation change total. On the way, we walked through an old-growth cedar grove that included some specimens that were more than five hundred years old. Almost the entire walk was through very heavy wood—trees growing as close together as we’ve ever seen trees. Along the way we saw purple and green stones that we later learned, from a ranger, to be argillite, similar in composition to copper ore. Sometimes, on rare occasions, the purple and green can both inhabit one rock. Emily spotted one with duel colors and we photographed it.

We drove to a KOA campground and paid an exorbitant price to use their showers. We then cooked a simple but hardy meal and joined camping neighbors from California, England, Minnesota, and Alaska for a community campfire complete with s’mores.

We decided that we had seen enough of Glacier and will move on tomorrow, mostly because after more than a week without electricity we felt it has been long enough. Life off the grid has been okay—fun even—but it’s been difficult, too. We love being able to say that we have a tiny carbon footprint, but this may be a bit too small for the Hazzards.