Old Retired Guy Blog

Jun 28 - Jul 3, 2007

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Looking west and...

...looking east from Highway 2
in Montana

On the Road (Page 2/4)

[July 1, 2007]  Good news, bad News.  We heard last night that the Going-to-the-Sun Road would be opened today.  We were happy about that because it meant that we could take a scenic detour from Highway 2 by cutting through Glacier National Park.  So, after checking out of the hotel this morning we went to West Glacier and entered the park.  Given the holiday, it was not a surprise to see a long line of cars already waiting to pass through the entrance station.  The line moved slowly and as we approached the entrance station I noticed a sign saying that Logan Pass was closed.  When I asked about that I was informed that they hoped to get the road open later in the afternoon but were not sure.  Due to our limited time, we couldn't chance driving 25 miles into the park in hopes of getting through only to have to turn around and head back later in the day if the pass remained closed.  So, somewhat frustrated, we turned around and headed back out of the park.  We got back onto Highway 2 and headed to East Glacier, Montana.

The drive around the park followed the Middle Fork of the Flathead River and was very beautiful.  This is apparently a popular spot for rafting.  Highway 2 cuts through a small part of the park where we stopped at Goat Lick Overlook.  We saw some mountain goats, both young and old, though it was from quite a distance.

In East Glacier we took the time to stop at the Glacier Park Lodge.  It's a beautiful old log structure in the same grand tradition of Old Faithful Lodge in Yellowstone National Park.  Gardens lined a path that must have been at least 150 yards long leading up to the front of the lodge.

Parked in front of the lodge I saw an old red bus with what appeared to be a big canvas sun roof.  I talked to the driver and he told me that it was one of a fleet of restored vehicles that started carrying tourists in the park in the 1930's.  The Ford Motor Company recently restored the exterior and added new engines and transmissions to the fleet so that visitors can once again enjoy a tour in these classic vehicles.  The restored buses use gasoline and propane fuel and are much cleaner and more fuel efficient than the originals.

As we were driving through Montana I was surprised, though I guess I shouldn't have been, to see how many casinos there are in that state.  Every little town has at least one and the bigger towns have several.  It almost seems like the poorer parts of the country have more casinos.  Maybe it's the only hope -- false as it is -- that some people have of improving their standard of living.

Heading east from East Glacier the landscape quickly divested itself of mountains and donned a mantle of grass.  Traffic was definitely light.  Sometimes we could see for miles and miles (did The Who sing that?) in both directions and see no more than one or two cars, if any.  I thought that I would soon be saying, "Get me out of here!"  To my surprise, however, the subtle landscape was kind of interesting, and the reason for calling this place "Big Sky Country" quickly hit home. 

One other observation; we are back in the land of mosquitoes! Now we have to make sure we leave the car windows closed at rest stops.  We didn't do that at one stop and spent the next couple of hours trying to swat those troublesome insects as we drove down the highway.

On the Road
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