Current Location: Bozeman, MT, N 45 40.633', W 111 00.699', elev. 4874 ft.

On monday morning, I woke up and drove north on US 93 into Missoula, MT, a distance of about 50 miles. In Missoula, I drove around and did a little shopping, and set out for Glacier National Park at about 12 noon. I was told that Glacier was about 3 hours from Missoula. And it probably would have been had I not run into road construction and then a horrific truck accident on the mountainous road. To make matters worse, I was behind a caravan of carnival vehicles, with rare opportunities to pass, so most of my drive was spent observing the different traveling carnival rides, and wondering if they had any freak / geek exhibits tucked into the crevices of their trucks.



Four days worth of Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana insects

US 93 eventually met up with US 2, which I took east until I reached the park road, which is called Going to the Sun Road, because from many viewpoints you get spectacular views of the rising or setting sun. Upon entering the park at about 5 PM, I was presented once again with the map and guide, my favorite collectible, but I noticed it read Waterton-Glacier. Apparently, there is a Canadian national park, just north of Glacier (which reaches to the border), called Waterton Lakes, and together they form Waterton-Glacier International Peace Park. As soon as I entered the park, I knew I was in for a good time, and the depression from the Seattle experience and the speeding ticket in the previous two days was melted away. Depression has been a rare occurrence in this trip, mostly because I am having a spectacular time in general, but I was a little depressed and missed home and people I know when I was in Washington and Idaho. Certainly on this trip, the cities are a bit more depressing, probably because they are more expensive and more difficult to get around, while the national parks are definitely a refuge, a place where I can get away and clear my head and do some good thinking. It would be impossible to be depressed even a little in a beautiful place such as Glacier.

Glacier is one of the larger parks, just over a million acres, which I believe works out to 1 Delaware. There are several glaciers in the park, as well as hundreds of lakes, and if you are traveling into the park from the west, the first lake you see, Lake McDonald, is the largest.



Driving along the Going to the Sun road was spectacular, and the mountain views were absolutely incredible. There were very frequent stops along the road where you could get out and admire the views, take some photos and just take in the pristine air and sky.





The road takes you up into the mountains, along several switchbacks and you really get some elevation within a short time. Up in the air, it is a little harder to breathe, further magnifying the "breathtaking" aspect of the park. Get it? I made a joke, hahaha. Near the top of one of the larger ridges along the incredible road, I came to a waterfall area with a few people stopped. It was there I noticed the people weren't looking at the waterfall, but at some mountain goats, which were very cool. When I first walked up to get some photos, I noticed some asshole was throwing rocks at the goats. I walked over to the guy and told him what an absolute asshole he was and he got all embarrassed in front of his friends and left with his tail between his legs. Fucking asshole. Who throws rocks at mountain goats? Anyway, I stopped and admired the goats for a good 25 minutes, getting lots of good pics.



Eventually the goats walked out of site, and I continued on the road to the very top of the continental divide, where the western part of the continent is being bumped by the eastern part of the continent, forming the Rocky Mountains. Here, at the highest point in the road, is the Logan Pass Visitor Center (N 48 41.731', W 113 43.028', elev. 8683 ft.). At Logan Pass, there are several trails you can hike. It was getting near dark, so I did venture off on one trail, planning to get a few good photos at the top of the world and then coming back to my car. The trail elevation was steep though, so I only went about half a mile (and an elevation of about 400 feet more than the visitor center) before deciding I couldn't go any higher. It was very cool though, and I got a lot of great photos up there.






Last photo is from the trail, half a mile and 400 feet in elevation from the visitor center

From there, I was on my way down the eastern side of the continental divide. It was getting dark, so I didn't really have too many more photo opportunities, though I did get a couple of the moon over the mountains.




You can view the rest of the photos here. It occurred to me on the way out of the park that I do envy smokers a little bit. The reason is, 20, 30 times a day, they get a 5 minute break, where they can relax and reflect and mellow out. Rarely have I taken much reflection time in my life, but I do get to have it in the national parks, even if its only for a few minutes while I enjoy a view and take a few photos. The rest of my life is spent racing around, and even on this trip, racing form one destination to the next, often driving late at night, early in the morning, just to get to that next destination. Regrettably, I rarely take the time to relax, except in the national parks.

On the eastern end of the park, I met up with US 89, which I took south to US 2 again, and US 2 took me east until I reached I-15 in Shelby, MT, where I crashed for the night. The first place I looked was a bit expensive and only had a smoking room, so I asked the pretty girl working at the desk if there was anything less expensive in town. She directed me to two other motels, both of which I found to be booked up. I went back to the original place, and the girl gave me a decent room for a lower price than she had originally quoted me. I stayed and flirted with her a little because she was pretty and had a tattoo which intrigued me, before I headed to bed.

Tuesday, I got up and headed South on I-15, until I reached Helena, MT, where I caught up with US 12 / US 287, which I took south until it intersected with I-90 which I took east to Bozeman, MT. Montana is a big state, and this drive took most of the day, so I stopped a little earlier than usual in Bozeman. I got a motel, and watched a bit of TV before getting dinner. On my way out the door, I got a fantastic idea about something I might like to pursue after my trip, as far as a job or an opportunity. I'm not going to reveal what it is, but lets just say I happened to be watching the Travel channel at the time. Since California, I have spent a lot of my driving time thinking about what I should do after the trip, and this is the first idea that really struck me as something that would be cool to do for a while, even if nothing comes of it.

Anyway, on wednesday (today), I got up early and took my car to Firestone in Bozeman, where my car is currently getting a tire rotation and oil change. Today I am headed to Yellowstone.