Though book-ended by two nightmarish air travel experiences*, Dan and I had an amazing trip to Glacier National Park in Montana and Yellowstone in Wyoming. We met Mom, Dad, and Mariah at the Bozeman, Montana, airport last Saturday and then headed northwest to Glacier and the fabulous Bad Rock B&B (hosted by the now infamous innkeeper Mark).
On our first day in Glacier, after a great breakfast, Mark sufficiently freaked us out about bears by telling us several stories about grizzly bear maulings – including one in which a father and daughter encountered a grizzly while hiking; the daughter was swiped first by the bear, and then the father was scalped by the grizzly as he tried to get his bear spray out of his pack. The general message was: “One of you will probably be eaten by a grizzly bear. Please pay for your room in advance.” Thanks Mark! We did carry this big canister of bear spray though, which is like super-strong pepper spray. Mark told us that he got it on him once and was literally incapacitated and thought he was going to die for about 30 minutes. Again, the positive takeaway message: “If you spray this at a bear, you will also be immobilized along with the incapacitated bear, only prolonging your death by 30 minutes – just long enough to say your goodbyes.” OK! Mark also informed us that the grizzly would eat the slowest runner, but Dan came up with a brilliant solution - we find a fat little kid to hike with us (oh, and cover him in honey).
So, with the bear problem solved, we headed off for Glacier. That first day, we tried to do the responsible thing and take the shuttle rather than drive throughout the park, but after waiting for at least an hour, we had to call it a lost cause and drive up to the trailhead for Avalanche Lake. The lake was absolutely gorgeous, though very cold! We met a really nice young park ranger on the trail who was from Concord, MA, where Dad grew up and went to the same high school as Dad (and Laura)... what a small world.
glacial river on the hike to avalanche lake
the hold-up...
Dan offers me a heart-shaped stone. How sweet.
Though none of us had got up the nerve to actually go swimming in Avalanche Lake, we stopped at Lake MacDonald (one of the largest lakes in the park) on our way back—where there is a historic old lodge—for a swim and a local microbrew (so many good ones, like Moose Drool!).
Glacier NP touring cars
*On the way there, both Dan and I and Mom, Dad, and Mariah had delays due to some weather system in the Midwest and ended up stranded in Denver and Chicago, respectively. This was fine, except that apparently when United said that Dan was “confirmed” on a flight to Bozeman the next day (I flew ahead on an early morning flight on which I got the last seat), they really meant he was confirmed on the standby list… ARGH. On the way back, our flight to Manchester was canceled, and then we didn’t get on standby for the next flight, and then the flight we finally got on was delayed… we ended up getting home at 5 in the morning.
Next up on the vacation recap - the highline trail!
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