Mountains!
This is my first time ever using a computer in a tent! What a strange combination of wilderness and technology.
We arrived in West Glacier at about 12:30 am last night. We were quickly escorted off the train and not moments after we stepped off it began moving again. I’m just glad we got off at the right place, since it was pitch black outside and dark and quiet inside the train car where almost all the passengers were sleeping. We had to be pretty alert to catch our stop.
The sunset last night was not the most fantastic one I have ever seen, but I think it was one of the longest lasting. I assume that’s because we were traveling west - chasing the sun - as it sank. I am still disappointed that we missed watching the mountains from the train. It was dark dark dark before we even got out of flat country. In fact, everything was kind of a dark mystery until this morning.
After our quick exit from the train, we stood on the platform trying to get our bearings. A couple closed stores and a road were all we could see. We loaded up and I geared up mentally for our three mile hike in the drizzle that had started falling. After walking not more than 500 feet on the road into the park, a jeep sped by us. Charlie and I decided it was now or never for us to actually try our luck at hitchhiking. We half-heartedly stuck out our thumbs, and sure enough, the jeep turned around and a young man named Zach who was working in the park picked us up. The three miles to the campground sped by in a couple minutes as we got to know each other a little better. So much better than a 45 minute hike in the rain!
We made camp as best we could despite the darkness and the wetness and went to sleep with Glacier still mostly a mystery.
We are camped in Apgar, the first campground as you enter the park from the west. It is cold and wet and there are piles of melting snow and fallen trees almost everywhere you look, but we are camped under beautiful tall old pines, just a minute’s walk from the lake. This morning, walking to the bathroom, I looked up. My breath left me! There, towering above me, were the mountains. They looked like they just went straight up! I am so used to Minnesota, where on the north shore of Lake Superior we have some peaks, but nothing that could be called a real mountain. I hadn’t even thought to adjust my eyes upwards until that moment.
Today it has been alternately rainy and sunny in equal chunks for most of the day, which has made everything a little harder as we have to work to keep things dry. I slept pretty poorly last night due to being cold and huddling in the tent has been pretty enjoyable this afternoon, though I also walked down to Apgar Village this morning and Charlie and I explored the area a little together, too.
While new places look and smell different, they also sound different. I heard birdcalls this morning that were unfamiliar. Including something that must be the raven’s call, because I saw a raven winging down the path by our tent. I heard a swooshing sound just a few minutes ago, and it turned out that he had returned to check out our campsite and our pot of lentils cooking over the fire. What a huge bird!
Now to snuggle back into the sleeping bags and see if I can get warm.
Love from the road,
Laura
We arrived in West Glacier at about 12:30 am last night. We were quickly escorted off the train and not moments after we stepped off it began moving again. I’m just glad we got off at the right place, since it was pitch black outside and dark and quiet inside the train car where almost all the passengers were sleeping. We had to be pretty alert to catch our stop.
The sunset last night was not the most fantastic one I have ever seen, but I think it was one of the longest lasting. I assume that’s because we were traveling west - chasing the sun - as it sank. I am still disappointed that we missed watching the mountains from the train. It was dark dark dark before we even got out of flat country. In fact, everything was kind of a dark mystery until this morning.
After our quick exit from the train, we stood on the platform trying to get our bearings. A couple closed stores and a road were all we could see. We loaded up and I geared up mentally for our three mile hike in the drizzle that had started falling. After walking not more than 500 feet on the road into the park, a jeep sped by us. Charlie and I decided it was now or never for us to actually try our luck at hitchhiking. We half-heartedly stuck out our thumbs, and sure enough, the jeep turned around and a young man named Zach who was working in the park picked us up. The three miles to the campground sped by in a couple minutes as we got to know each other a little better. So much better than a 45 minute hike in the rain!
We made camp as best we could despite the darkness and the wetness and went to sleep with Glacier still mostly a mystery.
We are camped in Apgar, the first campground as you enter the park from the west. It is cold and wet and there are piles of melting snow and fallen trees almost everywhere you look, but we are camped under beautiful tall old pines, just a minute’s walk from the lake. This morning, walking to the bathroom, I looked up. My breath left me! There, towering above me, were the mountains. They looked like they just went straight up! I am so used to Minnesota, where on the north shore of Lake Superior we have some peaks, but nothing that could be called a real mountain. I hadn’t even thought to adjust my eyes upwards until that moment.
Today it has been alternately rainy and sunny in equal chunks for most of the day, which has made everything a little harder as we have to work to keep things dry. I slept pretty poorly last night due to being cold and huddling in the tent has been pretty enjoyable this afternoon, though I also walked down to Apgar Village this morning and Charlie and I explored the area a little together, too.
While new places look and smell different, they also sound different. I heard birdcalls this morning that were unfamiliar. Including something that must be the raven’s call, because I saw a raven winging down the path by our tent. I heard a swooshing sound just a few minutes ago, and it turned out that he had returned to check out our campsite and our pot of lentils cooking over the fire. What a huge bird!
Now to snuggle back into the sleeping bags and see if I can get warm.
Love from the road,
Laura