Going-to-the-Sun road is the premier throughway spanning Glacier National Park—from West Glacier to St. Mary. The road snakes from valley floors to the height of Logan Pass and back down. Along the way are awesome waterfalls, dramatic cliffs, no shortage of massive glaciers, and plenty of wildlife. We encountered both mountain goats and big horned sheep, which only leaves "grizzly bear" on our great outdoors bingo cards.
Well that's just great. There is no grate. Since we couldn't find a camping spot in Glacier National Park, we had to settle on a private camping ground outside of the park. We settled on one what advertised having WiFi but whose router was on the fritz. But, hey, it was somewhere the sleep.
That didn’t take long. We drove in to Glacier National Park to find a camping site and, instead, we found a bear. We really messed up this time. I knew this was high season but naively assumed that whatever challenges…
I was 7 when I came face to face with a bear. It was gigantic. But, then again, I was seven.
Helena, Montana was a mining town. A lot of towns around here were mining town. Gold was discovered in Confederate Gulch and with each successive discovery, more people poured into the region. Most of the people who remain in Helena have government jobs, be they county, state, or federal. Helena is, after all, the state capitol. It also possesses a pleasant mountain with a moderate hike.
We are trying something new. We wanted to get a lot of work done so we are spending a week at an extended stay hotel.
After a relatively dismal experience in Yellowstone, our outlooks needed cheering and it was lunch time. So, rather than even attempting to get to Mammoth Hot Springs, we headed west to get out of Yellowstone National Park and into the tourist trap that is West Yellowstone. Yet, along with the jumbo sized McDonalds, massive visitor's center, and ads for wolf and grizzly zoos, West Yellowstone has Las Palmitas.
The Norris Geyser Basin in Yellowstone National Park is interesting for many reasons. The Porcelain Basin is one of the most colorful expanses of land in Yellowstone. The variety of thermophiles that thrive in the hot, acidic environments of the basic come in a rich pallet of colors. The steamboat geyser is the worlds tallest active geyser. Unfortunately, it is notoriously unpredictable and infrequent. It does still plop up the occasional sprits of water for hopeful viewers, but that is about it. But for those interested in the macabre, there is also a body here that was never collected.
Today, we leave the Grand Teton National Park, headed north. Guess what’s directly north of the Grand Tetons? That’s right! Yellowstone National Park. Given we had to skip certain stops on our previous day in Yellowstone, we thought this would…
On occasion, I have alluded to the fact that I do not drive. When I refer to my fearless driver as "my driver" it is because that is an exclusive position. I do not drive. I haven't driven for almost a decade. Instead, I lived in metropolitan areas where I could walk to work and social life could be served via mass transit.