Part 1 : Kalispelle to Duck Lake

The following voice dictated by our two intrepid travellers:

Jonathan: We left at 6 AM this morning from Kallispelle, MT because we didn’t have a reserve spot to go through the entrance at Going to the Sun Road. You need to be there before 7 AM or you are denied. So out of our comfortable Super 8 Motel after snorfing some of the eggs from the bag…

Tina: …and toast, and really good coffee that we didn’t have enough time to drink a full cup of.

Jonathan: And then we drove like a bat out of hell because we knew if we got there after seven we would miss out on a great opportunity.

Tina: Right, so Jonathan drove very skillfully – like a bat out of hell – and we made it into the park. Nobody was at the gate. And then I’m like, ‘Yeah’ – we made it. And then there was a sign that said, “Have your ticket ready” and we realized their was another checkpoint a couple miles down the road. We’re only five minutes before seven! And sure enough a couple miles down the road – there was another sign. But nobody was there either, so we went through.

Exaltation!

Jonathan: It was quite a drive. So many people have told me that Going to the Sun road is an epic ride – and it surely was. Starting from the woods and the lushness and the long run along a lake, but gradually gaining elevation, and then just amazing views of mountains and the feat of engineering for this road.

Tina: We stopped at a picnic/camping area, grabbed a spot and had oatmeal next to the lake. Jonathan gave me the bulk of the coffee. It was sweet. And that was just an incredible ride. Definitely bucket list-worthy.

All photos below are from Rising Sun Picnic Area, viewing Saint Mary Lake.

These are on Going to the Sun Road

Tina: And now we’re at this campground that’s very primitive called… Duck Lake campground. It is in the middle of nowhere, but it’s peaceful and near St. Mary. But their ain’t nothing here, nothing.

Jonathan: When we came out of the Going to the Sun road – it ends at a town called St. Mary there is a campground from the National Park Service. And then there’s like a red light intersection with a gas station and like a convenience stores and a small grocery store. We went into the grocery store and ended up spending about 10 minutes just with our jaws dropped, looking at the prices.

Tina: It was $19 for a foot-long sandwich. And $3 for can of Campbell’s chicken noodle soup, which I got. I splurged. Jonathan got a 90 cent bag of Raman noodles.

Jonathan: We both randomly picked out the same kind of peanut butter crackers, which is kind of cool. Just identifying how compatible the two of us are.

Tina: I wanted to get the pound bag of fresh, green peas, but Jonathan wouldn’t let me because they were $8.

Jonathan: But they did give us about four liters of tap water for free that the guy behind the counter was kind enough to take our water bag and go fill it up for us so that was kind of cool.

Oh! And my souvenir for the whole trip I found at this store.

Tina: A toenail clipper.

Jonathan: Yeah, but it’s a sharp one. It’s a dandy for three dollars. I was hoping they would engrave my name on it but they did not offer that service.

Tina: Hey – the bees have escaped!

Jonathan: So you may be wondering where are we now? We’re in our tent. We just had a nap because we were pretty tired. We didn’t sleep that well last night. Tina is still on the mend. But she’s got a secret weapon in store if needed. She’s got one remaining day time TheraFlu. So that’s good. But we both decided we’d lay down and take a nap in the tent. We’ve been here for probably an hour and a half. And while we were asleep.

Tina: The bugs have come in in between the rain fly and the tent. And the tent is mesh so – it’s like our own show. You can lay back, look up and have this panaromic, entertaining show. We’ve been watching the bugs crawl trying to find their way out.

Jonathan: We’re very thankful for that nylon / synthetic / whatever barrier that sits between us and them. And we’re imagining that there’s actually a swarm of killer bees outside. They’re all looking for their friend that’s been trapped between the layers and can’t figure his way out. And once they find out where he is they’re going to come and get us.

Tina: He escaped, we’re safe. The End.

---

Part 2 : Duck Lake to Browning

An ordinary day might have Going to the Sun Road as sufficient excitement, but after a quick nap this afternoon Tina and I decided to go and explore towards East Glacier. The map at bottom of this page shows the whole days’ wandering but roughly: we took WY-89 south to East Glacer, then route 2 to Browning and WY464 back to campground.

WY-89 has got to be one of the most sublime rides I’ve done in years. After the intensity of Glacier, to experience these long sweepers and moving towards the plains of WY. Yeah, words are failing me and photos were neglected today. I think it is the contrast with what we saw earlier today to the simple beauty of rolling plains. Take me back please…

Towards the end of WY-89 is an intersection at Kiowa which we turned onto 49 aka “Looking Glass Hill.” Their was a DOT blinky sign that said “Motorcycles consider alternate route. Jagged pavement” or some-such and that may have set Tina off. The road was indeed bumpy for traveling two-up, and 30 minutes in she was over the experience. Eventually we came out of East Glacier, saw the Amtrak station landmark and proceeded to cross-wires about restaurant preferences (She spied a field-to-table restaurant that really appealed to her.) Before the night was through we would be seated at a Subway franchise and observing the place she had identified earlier was highly-rated on Yelp. You messed up Jonathan.

We are in the middle of Blackfeet Indian tribe lands and specifically in the “seat” of their lands in the town of Browning. If you spy the water tower in Browning – it appears to my eyes to use the same font as the gun manufacturer.

Browning is a rather haggard town. There are a lot of dogs just wandering randomly throughout the city. There is a campaign of murals of anti-meth theme. I’m trying not to be melancholy as I write but you just feel the historic tragedy of these native Americans.

After our veggie subs – we go to the IGA grocery store across the street with the purpose of getting camp meal fodder. This triggered one of the most random and heart-warming interchanges of the entire trip for me.

We’ve got our fresh fruit, can of clam chowder and I don’t recall what else in line waiting to check out. The store clerk is congenial but in a silent way. She makes eye contact and smiles, crosses her hands – and makes no motion to process the contents of our buggy. Instead, we both gaze at the half dozen items already on the conveyor belt of the checkout – and the lack of any customer there to pay for those items. I’m just looking at the cashier rather stupidly, trying to figure out what was going on. What does this holding pattern mean, is their an unstated method you use in Browning, MT for checking out? What do I do now?

It all became clear when a gentleman in work pants and boots came rushing in from the parking lot holding up is his IGA customer value card and proceeds to say to us “you know they discount your gas if you use this thing….”

No airs about him, he turns to us, scrutinizes what we’ve selected and says “Oh, I want to have dinner with you guys tonight.” I tell him that is just fine, but he can’t have any of my pistachios. Nice jovial interchange with someone I will never see again. Yeah – the Rose of my day for sure right there in that IGA.

We had a similar experience earlier in the day. On arrival in the campground to register, there were 3-4 children ranging in age from 3-8. One of the youngest – a barefoot girl perhaps 3 y/o – just kept repeating “motorcycle, motorcycle, motorcycle.” The oldest of the set was a young boy on a bicycle who promptly offered to show me to our site if we liked. I settled up with the campground attendant (their grandmother?), put my helmet back on and made a hand-motion to the young boy. He smartly led the way.

So, nice interactions with random people in a truly beautiful part of our country.

Stats

• Highlight : Under the wire at GTSR, Random exchanges at IGA
• Miles : ?
• Hours : 6 am - 6 pm
• Cost : $30/night at Duck Lake, $3 toe nail clipper, etc.

Map