June 30th, 2006
Drive to Roosevelt National Park

We bade goodbye to the grand mountains of Glacier National Park and started our journey east towards Roosevelt National Park in North Dakota. The mountain range ended abruptly in the flat prairies which accompanied us all the way to Medora, ND. We received some break from the wheat fields and grasslands by the Little Belt Mountain on the way. It was mostly a desolate stretch with us sighting more cattle than people.

After 11 hours of drive through lonely stretches of Montana, Wyoming and North Dakota, the town of Medora was a pleasant sight. Dedicated to tourism, the town is built to look like a Hollywood set of good old West – with its Saloons, Taffy stores and western gift galleries.

We checked into the Badland Motel with good views of the Badlands of Roosevelt National Park.

June 29th, 2006
Glacier National Park - Many Galciers

Many Glacier Hotel built in style of Swiss Chalet sits next to the crystal clear waters of Swiftcurrent Lake and offers beauteous views of the rows of Rocky Mountains that cast their majestic shadows on the lake.

We started off the morning with a 4 mile hike to Granite Lake. The gentle walk on the Swiftcurrent Nature Trail took us to the lake, where we crossed a bridge and took up a slightly uphill path along Lake Josephine. There was a lot of bush whacking involved as the path was overgrows with fading wildflowers.
We did get to see a lot of Bear weed in full bloom though.

We were very close to the Grinell Lake when we found the path submerged under the swollen river that feeds the lake. We trudged 3.8 miles back to the hotel, where I went in for a break, while Joe and Ben decided to pick up the Red rock falls trail in the same area.

Afternoon and the evening was spent curled up in one of the many comfortable couches in the breezeway, which afforded beautiful views of the fort like walls of mountains and lakes.

We ended the day by attending a multi-media show by Montana singer/songwriter David Walburn. This show “retraces the expedition of David and three friends as they set out from Atlanta, Georgia to claim and establish a homestead deep in Alaska wilderness”.

June 28th, 2006
Glacier National Park - Drive to the Sun Road

If there is heaven on earth… Nothing had prepared us for the gorgeous, majestic peaks of the Glacier National Park. We started on the Drive to the Sun Road that coasted along Lake McDonald through the typical temperate forest. However, a few miles on the road, the sight changed, we passed from bend after bend of awe-inspiring sight of jagged peaks jutting into the sky, cradling numerous glaciers around their bellies. Hundreds of waterfalls roared down the melting glaciers, just a thin stream from far, but roaring deluge of water from us close. The road was not for the faint of heart, as it snaked up hugging the sides of the massive mountains. The glaciers had eroded these giants into craggy peaks and sharp ridges. These massive structures surround you like giant ramparts of some ancient forts.

The highlight of the day was 8+ mile hike to the Granite Park Chalet. We climbed some 2500’ over 4.8 miles. The first mile was fairly easy, but soon my lungs starting burning. In another mile, I had gotten into a rhythm – stick, 2, 3, 4, stick, 2, 3, 4… On and on we climbed, our pace slowing over time – stick.., 2.., 3.., 4.., stick.., 2.., 3.., 4.. I was really wary of an encounter of the bear kind, so I prodded Joe to yodel every few hundred feet, just as the park ranger had suggested – which Joe did with gusto. However, the only wild life that we encountered were a couple of deer that were curious enough to walk over to us, some hare, a lot of over fed chipmunks, some grouse and a cowboy with 2 horses ;-). The view from the chalet was amazing. We were almost eye to eye with the gorgeous glacier covered peaks. Large meadows filled with Lily of the Valley surrounded us in all the directions. It was all worth the effort in the end.

We checked into the historic Many Glacier hotel inside the National Park’s Many Glacier entrance for the next two days.

June 27th, 2006
Drive to Galcier National Park
Today we undertook the 550 mile drive from Mt. Rainier National Park in Washington to Glacier National Park in Montana. We drove through the Mt. Rainier National Park to savor the beautiful vistas one last time, picked up the road that led us through the lonely stretch of Pinochet National Forest and then through desolate wilderness of dry rain shadow area on to I-90E. Soon we were in the midst of rolling hills with potato farms as far as the eye could see. With just the dust devils to keep us company, we rode on through Idaho into Montana.

The “Big Sky” Montana was true to its word. Vast expanses of open skies accompanied us through the rolling hills into the majestic Rocky Mountains. We checked in for the night at the Vista Motel right outside the West Glacier entrance of the park. The room opened us right to the views of the mountains. The rooms had the look of a mountain chalet with wood paneling on the wall. A swinging, shuttered, saloon style half door separated our room from Ben’s. A meal of delicious pizza from a local pizzeria accompanied with Huckleberry ice cream was a great ending to the day.

June 26th, 2006
Mt. Rainier National Park
The Nisqually Glacier is probably the most beautiful feature of this park, so we drove to Paradise early in the morning to attempt the short, but steep Nisqually Vista Trail. We reached the destination to find the trail still under 4-5 ft. of snow!

Joe and Ben attempted to walk up at least part of the trail, but I stayed behind in the blinding sun and temperature steadily reaching the upper 90s.

Disappointed for not having been able to do the hike, we drove down from 5400’ high Paradise Visitor Center to Ohanapecosh at the bottom of the giants of Cascade Mountains. We took a 10 mile loop that took us over the falls, into the Grove of Patriarchs and back to the Visitor Center.

The Grove of Patriarchs had magnificent specimens of giant old growth cedars, firs & spruces – some even a 1000 yrs old! It was very hot, dry and sunny. We were thankful for the endless glasses of chilled water with our lunch at the Longmire Inn.

The drive through the national park loops along the sides of the mountains through numerous switchbacks, affording wonderful views of massive glacier covered peaks and Mt. Rainier and its accompanying mountains.

We stayed at the rustic Nisqually Lodge run by an old couple. The place was charming, comfortable, clean and very well kept.