Day 7 July 7, 2014

Day 7 – July 7, 2014

We set our alarm clock for 6 o’clock so we had plenty of time to get ready and have breakfast without rushing.  SIX O’CLOCK? As it was, we were at the boat dock at 8 for our 10 a.m. boat ride. I guess we must have been excited and didn’t want to miss it.

We walked around the parking lot and enjoyed the scenery. The boat ride with Kyle, our captain, was nice but we didn’t see any wildlife.  Darn! The 2^nd boat arrived at the destination right after us and carried the Park Ranger besides another large group of travelers. The Ranger reminded all of us that the majority of injuries in the park were not from bears but from slips and falls on wet, slippery rocks along an icy cold stream or river so we should mind our feet.

From which direction is the blowing?  Hmmm.

Morning view outside our cabin.

Fireweed

We hiked the short 100 yard walk to Baring Falls and it was lovely. My knee had been hurting so I am wearing a brace everyday from now on. With sore hips, I do extra stretching each morning to limber them up.

Baring Falls

After Baring, we returned to the boat dock and the Ranger was about to take our large group on a 3 miles hike to St. Mary Falls which has a 250’ elevation change. We had to complete the hike in 2 hours to make the return boat. That information started me thinking. I’ve hiked 3 miles in my neighborhood in one hour…on flat level sidewalks…at 7’ BELOW sea level not 5000’ above. I CAN’T DO A 3 MILE IN GLACIER IN 2 HOURS! I felt badly for Melodie since I thought I had ruined her morning hike but she agreed that she didn’t think she could do all that in 2 hours either. Whew!

St. Mary Lake, a glacier-fed lake with blue-green waters.

We returned on the boat and enjoyed our new captain’s sense of humor. She explained that the rust color on the rocks was lichen. You see, “Anna Algae fell for Freddie Fungus and they started lichen each other but their marriage is on the rocks because Freddie is a fun gi.” (groan~) During the winter and spring months, the snow and rocks avalanche down the side of the mountain and sometimes catch elk, deer, and mountain goats in their path. Bears coming out of hibernation can smell the meat under 25’ of snow pack and dig down for their goat-cicles

On our return voyage, we decided to take the shuttle to Logan Pass and check out the pullouts on the Going to the Sun Road. The 12 miles from Rising Sun to Logan Pass took us an hour! There’s major road construction underway which turns this two-lane road into one at times.

Reaching Logan Pass, we witnessed the mounds of snow newly cleared from the road last July 2^nd for the opening. Amazing! Their late June snowfall dumped 36” on the Pass and required a 2^nd clearing for traffic to pass.  Not 45 minutes after clearing the road, it was shut down again for hours when a 800 pound boulder blocked the roadway. As we walked around the Logan Pass area, we saw some trails that were marked but not passable.

No hiking today without snowshoes.

Some guys were skiing and many children enjoyed their snowball fights and snowmen.

A paved trail is unpassable unless you had cleats to attach to your shoes like the guys below.

Columbian Ground Squirrels abounded in this summer’s winter wonderland as they constantly chirped.We met a Missouri elementary school librarian sporting her Reading Rocks sparkling shirt. She only has one more year until retirement. We chatted a bit and laughed as we compared notes.

Heading back to the shuttle, we decided to walk across the parking lot just to see the view from that vantage point. As we walked, I glanced up at the mountains and saw a bighorn sheep standing in the snow. We hurried to the other side and saw another 5 as he joined them.

What luck! We ticked off the bighorn from our list of sightings along with black bears, mountain goats, and moose for our big game list. We still need elk, grizzly, and deer.

Our ride back on the shuttle allowed for grab shots out the window.

The evening was rounded out with purchasing another bottle of Moscato, having a shared dinner of Tofu Taco and salad, driving the 5 mile stretch between Rising Sun and St. Mary Visitor Center searching for wildlife over and over and over, and watching the sunset.

A nice surprise is that we get phone reception at the Visitor Center only 5 miles away and wifi is available in the restaurant during dinner.  We ate veeery slowly AND had dessert of Chia Pudding in chocolate, butterscotch and huckleberry flavors!  ;-)  The chocolate was the least appetizing. Go figure! Chocolate, of all things!

Shower, blogging, chips and wine at 10:00 before heading off to sleep.