I decided it was time for Bryant and his scurvy dog to see Glacier National Park so we took the 250 mile drive to the northeast and by lunch time we were at West Glacier. Pretty drive through Sandpoint and Kallispell and along the Kootenai River. Boo had never been there and was in a dilemma about the grizzly bears, he wanted to see one but was scared to be eaten by same. Well, we had no choice but to camp at a park campground. Bry had never done this before and was horrified to learn that there would be other people nearby. (the Larsen mentality has been engrained in him and he has only camped in seclusion unitl now) The campground was heavily treed but still offered little privacy but we didn't plan on spending much time there. The highlight of the campground experience was a toss up between the garbage truck that emptied the dumpsters at 5:00 a.m. or the guy who blew his nose for five minutes with the pitch and volume of a mexican trumpet or possibly the whistledick who pulled in at 10:oo p.m. and proceeded to build a cabin on top of his van that was so ridiculous that me and Boo couldn't stop laughing at him, he could tell and shot us looks of hatred every few minutes. ( I think he was scared of the bears) National Parks are generally overcrowded and full of so many dipshits that you develop a renewed sense of disgust with the human race and Glacier is no exception, although not as bad as some just because of the remoteness of the park.
We drove the 12 miles to the top of the Going To The Sun Road. Like its name suggests this road goes straight up the mountain. It is crazy where this thing is built. Hanging on the side of steep mountain slopes it climbs up to Logan Pass. It is a little shaky in some spots and goes to one lane where there are trying to fix it, my truck barely fit through some places. It was incredible scenery and it is easy to see why it is a famous destination. It was my first time up the road, when Lisa and I went to Glacier 2 years ago it was the end of June and it still hadn't been cleared of snow. We saw mountain goats, a big horned sheep and kept looking for bears. The next day we got up early and put the dog in the tent and hiked up to Avalanche Lake, it was a beautiful 5 mile hike and was well worth it. We then went back up over the pass to East Glacier, we had a good time seeeing the country on that side and at the Many Glacier area we saw a Grizzly loping across a meadow, we got a good look and then drove up the road a ways and saw it again. It was cool and I was glad Bry got to see it, if you don't see one while you are there it is disapointing. Ironicaly we saw this griz about in the same place Lisa and I saw one two years ago.
Then we stopped in Babb Montana at the Babb Bar and had a gigantic steak dinner. This place is on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation and is famous in some circles for having the best steaks in the country. It was listed in Playboy magazine as one of the roughest bars in the U.S. so naturaly you take your son there. A few years back they scalped someone in the bathroom there, never found the guy just his scalp. It was a good dinner and Farley was rewarded for staying in the truck with some prime steak scraps that he swalowed whole although he carefully spit out a piece of zuchini, he's no dummy.
One interesting thing about Glacier Park is that the glaciers are disapearing, due to global warming, low snowfall and a vast right wing conspiracy. There are pictures of the glaciers from fifty years ago that show that they are about a fourth of what they were. Just another place you can add to the list of things that are good but use to be better. I think if I hear that one more time I will freak. The problem in most places is simple - too damn many people, the planet is badly overcrowded and it is just going to get worse. Don't let it get you down it's just a fact.
The next day we broke camp early and headed home, Bry said two nights were his limit. I called him a wuss but sadly that is about my limit for sleeping on the ground too. We drove home a different route south through Montana and Flathead Lake ( neat area ) and through Plains and over Thompson Pass which I had always wanted to see. Ended up on the Couer d'Alene River and was home by afternoon. It was a good trip.
A week later I read in the paper that a man and his teenage daughter were attacked by a grizzly at the Many Glacier area. They are in critical condition, they surprised a sow with two cubs, they do not plan on doing anything to the bear. When I told Bry he said 'holy crap'.
