MT Day 6 - Glaciers, Goats, and Great Falls
Today was a day of mostly driving and nature so I saw some really beautiful things as I spent most of the day exploring Glacier National Park.
I started out by fueling up at a really great little drive through coffee shop in Ronana called The Original Java Junction. It was no frills, but the service was friendly and the coffee spoke for itself.
I was feeling kind of hungry though so I stopped just a little ways up the street at Stella’s Deli and Bakery. I think I intended to get a relatively healthy breakfast, but then as soon as I walked into the bakery I saw this beauty of a raspberry crumble bar and I was helpless to resist. It was so fresh and tasty with just the right balance of fruitiness to cinnamon, cakey, crumbly goodness. It was a pretty perfect breakfast.
A big part of today was simply all the scenic natural beauty along the roads of Northwest Montana. The first major spot I passed was Flathead Lake, which even from the side of the road looked pretty majestic:
Next up, I made my way to Glacier National Park. Clocking in at over 1 million acres (!) , Glacier is the 12th largest park in the country and fifth largest if you’re only counting the contiguous United States (fun fact:Alaska is freakin’ gigantic). The park contains two different mountain ranges, with 6 of the mountains standing over 10,000 ft tall. These mountains were shaped over hundreds of thousands of years by the slow but powerful movement of the parks namesake glaciers, and I have to say that given all that I thought they’d be bigger:
All jokes aside the park actually has been drastically losing it’s last remaining glaciers down from 150 in the 1950s to only 30 with the possibility of none being left by 2030. Knowing that you can imagine how much it made my blood boil seeing a massive Hummer driving by me to the parking lot. With the amount of driving, I’ve done I don’t exactly have a teeny carbon footprint, but the lack of self-awareness some people have is truly the most replenishable natural resource we have in this country.
Putting all my judginess aside, I just let myself get really immersed by doing a little mile long hike called the Apgar Loop which started at the Apgar Visitor Center just a short distance into the park from the west entrance. It wasn’t a particularly strenuous or lengthy hike, but even doing the barest of minimums in the park granted you some spectacular views. Maybe there were slightly greener greens in Washington, but something about the verdant greens being so close to the bright blue skies made both colors all the more striking. I feel like every time I enter a National Park, it’s like the first time Dorothy steps into Oz and I’m seeing these colors for the very first time.
I was also particularly stuck by how the some of the taller pine trees would have long spindly trunks and then start having bright green tufts of leaves just at the very top. I’d never never seen any trees that looked quite like that let alone so many of them. They kind of look like those fancy tooth picks with the colored plastic on top. Except giant sized.
At the end of the trail was a real gem of the park and one of the most astonishing views I’ve ever gotten to take in: Lake McDonald. The lake is the largest, longest, and deepest in the park measuring in at 6,823 acres in area, 10 miles long, and 464 feet deep. Because glacial lakes like Lake McDonald are so cold year round (rarely reaching temperatures of above 50 degrees), plankton doesn’t tend to grow there which gives the waters their gorgeously crystalline color. Add in the views of the snow capped mountains in the distance, and you’ve really got a one in a million vista.
After staring out over the pristine waters for a few serene minutes, I started circling back to the visitor’s center. I stopped at a cute tourist center called Eddie’s Cafe and Gifts. They had some good coffee which was very welcome, but I was even more happier to see all the neat handmade crafts on display. My favorite thing in the store was the goofy grinning wood-carved mountain goat who greeted visitors at the door. I was also very impressed by some of the local ceramic mugs, plates, and candles with different park themed animal and nature silhouettes. I like that you never know where you’re gonna stumble upon cool art.
I was also pleased to learn that there’s still hard hitting journalist’s out there who aren’t afraid to ask the tough questions:
I did my best not to buy a whole bunch of stuff at Eddie’s but besides my coffee, the one thing I was helpless to resist was a Huckleberry Chocolate Truffle. Outside of Finn and Hound, I had no huckleberry experience before this trip but ever since hitting the northwest it’s been one of my favorite confectionary surprises. It’s such a pleasant but not overpowering flavor that is particularly well complimented by a nice rich chocolate.
From Lake McDonald, it was a long (but very scenic) 3 hour drive to the town of Great Falls where my Air BnB was so that really took up most of rest the day. Unfortunately that means I didn’t really get to the explore the other 999,999 acres of Glacier. I was particularly bummed I didn’t get to go along the Going-to-the-Sun Road a fifty mile road that takes you between the East and West Entrances via the mountains with an elevation high of 6,646 feet. It’s supposed to have the most incredible views, and even though I didn’t get to see them first hand, luckily some intrepid you-tubers were nice enough to set record video of their route and set it to supremely goofy music:
As much as I would have liked to drive that road right into the sun (I’m just guessing that’s where it goes), my real biggest regret is that I never got to see one of these fluffy idiots in person. They’re the Park’s official mascot, and my god are they wild looking:
Three hours later I made it to Great Falls with a heck of an appetite so I went to a great Irish pub called the Celtic Cowboy (because it was a name I simply could not avoid). I got their specialty Celtic Burger which consisted of 6 ounces of seasoned lean elk meat on a Wheat Montana Stout Brewery Bun topped with smoked pastrami, Dubliner Cheese, and tomato. It was so much meat and the perfect blend of Irish and Western specialties. The great Irish cheddar and fries were just extra.
After dinner, I met up with my friend Rachel and she gave me a little tour of the city and took me to see the titular falls. The stretch of the Missouri River that cuts through the town contains five waterfalls, the first of which Black Eagle Falls has been converted into an impressive hydroelectric dam. It was sort of dark while we were there none of my pictures came out great, but here’s what the dam would have looked like in all its glory:
Favorite Random Sightings: Round Butte (it’s always funny to me); The Blind Man (a big, very poorly thought out billboard for a company that sells blinds); Big Fork (fun town name); Hungry Horse Reservoir (I feel like a hungry horse wouldn’t have as much water in its reservoir); The Wandering Gringo (a cafe not what anybody called me)
Regional Observations: I almost spit out my coffee when I read the wonderfully intense road safety signs on the highway that said: “Make Our People Proud. Buckle Up” I’m all for wearing your seat belt but that is some crazy marketing
Albums Listened To: Tooth by Da Whole Thing (an exceptionally weird and jazzy little album by a ragtag group of New York ska guys); Tooth & Nail by Billy Bragg (a sweet and simple album); Top of the Pomps by the Pomps (a really energetic album by some fine Bostonians)
People’s Favorite Jokes:
one from the web:
Little Johnny did not go to school one day. The next day when the teacher asked him why, he said, "Our cow was on heat, so I had to take her to the bull."
"Oh I see," said the teacher, "but I'm sure your father could have done that."
"No ma'am, he couldn't have," said Johnny, "it has to be the bull
Songs of the Day:
it’s not my favorite version, but this is a pretty obscure album
cute song and video with a brief cameo from one of my favorite British comedians, Stewart Lee
they’re very nice guys too!
Bonus Stewart Lee Stand Up:
one of the finest bits of sadly still relevant British political comedy I’ve ever seen