Brrrrrr its cold in them thar mountains

An Urban Archaeologist is a second hand store! We didn't stop to investigate further but thought it was a clever name.

On our trip east, we drove through western Washington and saw more of the nondescript landscape we've been seeing for the last few days. The clouds in the distance were menacing and we figured our string of good luck with the weather was about to end.






Crossing into Idaho brought us into some mountain passes during our short trek across the panhandle. When we passed through a swampy area we both had a glimpse of a young bull moose swimming across the open water. That is the first time we have seen a moose in real life. Several trips to New Hampshire, Vermont and Maine never yielded a sighting, even though numerous road signs professed "Moose Crossing." I wasn't fast enough with the camera, of course, and only managed to get a blurry image of the bushes along the road. But we both saw it and it was exciting.






Montana is beautiful so far, exactly what we expected: mountains, forests, small towns, rivers, creeks, etc. The drive from I-90 to the small town of Polson was over two lane roads and would have been very scenic if it wouldn't have been raining. We drove along the Clark Fork River, site of the ice dam that resulted in the glacial flooding we learned about at Grand Coulee. It's a nice sized river but hard to believe it was responsible for the water that carved the landscapes in Montana, Idaho and western Washington.






Our overnight location is Eagle's Nest RV Park in Polson, on the Flathead Indian Reservation. The location is appropriately named. After we setup Dennis spotted a golden eagle flying overhead. Like the bald eagle we spotted in Oregon, this golden was also being harassed by a smaller bird. This is the second golden eagle we spotted today, the first being in Idaho. We're hoping the moose and eagle sightings are indications of things to come as we tour the next two national parks.







We awoke this morning to temperatures in the low 40's but Kalispell, where we are heading in a bit, is only 33 and there is fresh snow in Glacier. The Going to the Sun Road is not open in its entirety yet, which is a disappointment. But the drive to the park was enjoyable. We could see the Rocky Mountains in the distance and they still had snow on the peaks.










The drive to Glacier is along Flathead Lake, the longest natural freshwater lake in the US. It is 30 miles long and almost 15 miles across at its widest point. It is 300 ft deep at some points and there is 160 miles of shoreline. That IS a big lake. Several "resorts" looked inviting but are still comfortable in Bert's Bus so we passed them by.














At one point we saw a flock of Canada geese flying in formation. Now, that begs the question - are they late going south or early going north? Or just year around residents on local lakes? It is interesting to read about wildlife you might see at some locations and find Canada geese included in the list. We are so accustomed to seeing them and the mess they make.









Shortly after arriving at Glacier National Park, we spotted our first deer - a whitetail was standing at the corner and crossed in front of the van. OK, so far we've seen Canada geese and whitetail. We were hoping to see something a bit more exotic.











Lake McDonald is located in the park and the Going to the Sun Road runs along the lake for a short distance. Across the lake you could see evidence of the large forest fire that occurred in the park in 2003. The fire was started by lightning and burned 145,000 acres.












The Rocky Mountains were spectacular from the park. Their craggy peaks seemed so different from the mountains we had been seeing so far on this trip. Binoculars did not reveal any mountain sheep or goats but we tried anyway.












The Going to the Sun Road is only open about 14 miles from the western end. Snow removal and road repair are ongoing and the road is expected to open completely by the end of June. At the farthest point, we parked the van near the Avalanche Creek, which runs swift and clear from the mountain to empty into Lake McDonald. It is an incredible shade of blue and the color of the rocks along and in the creek make it even more attractive.











The road is open to The Trail of the Cedars nature trail and Avalanche creek. We enjoyed walking on the wooden boardwalk in the old cedars but were surprised at the number of people who seemed to be in a hurry to complete the trail. One couple passed us and then asked "Do you know where this trail ends?" We found that strange - why would you set out on a trail and not know where it goes?











Numerous large cedars have toppled over and we found this exposed root system attractive. The trees appear to be rather shallow-rooted and to us it is amazing they grow to the size they do without deeper roots.





















Along the trail were interesting rock formations and the Avalanche Gorge which provided a pretty waterfalls. Most of the rocks were wet and according to one of the interpretive signs, they are wet year around. So there is also a lot of moss and lichens growing here. The excess moisture also is what allows the cedar, hemlock and ferns to grow here.




















McDonald Inn was going to be our lunch stop but a sign indicated "Restaurant Closed". So we ate the lunch we had packed and watched these young mule deer pass right beside the van in the parking lot. They seemed almost tame.













The Inn is an interesting building with - you guessed it - a restaurant and coffee shop inside. Oh well, lunch was good in the van. The lobby of the inn has lots of stuffed animal heads on display. So even if we couldn't see the real animals, we could see them in the inn.















We did see a Columbian ground squirrel on our walk. And yes, it does look like a gray squirrel with a very small tail. It was eating clover and grass - something our gray squirrels don't do. So for the day, we saw Canada geese, several wild turkeys in a field, 4 mule deer, 1 whitetailed deer and the Columbian ground squirrel. No bears, mountain sheep or goats, or moose. But we're on to Yellowstone tomorrow and looking forward to seeing lots of wildlife.