Sunset, Sunrise and Going to the Sun

Today's blog is brought to you by the sun......



Let's begin with where we stayed last night.  We camped in a tipi on the Blackfoot Indian Reservation on the plains in Montana.

After a great meal provided by our hosts at the Lodgepole Gallery and Tipi Village, we had the pleasure of watching the sun set over the mountains.  It created a wonderful backdrop for the tipi village and a beautiful hue of color on the mountains we would visit today in Glacier National Park.














As we settled into our tipi for the night, we lit a fire in our fire pit...the smoke flaps were opened and all of the smoke rose to the top of the tipi and out.  It got very warm in there very quickly.  We laid on our mattress talking about our trip so far.  As we spoke we could see the sky lighting up.  We went out to watch the most spectacular lightning show about 36 miles south of us.  It moved across the sky all around us changing from a streak of lightning to sheet lightning, to chain lightning and even seemed to go across and up through all of the clouds a time or two.  It was quite a show.  The only affect for us was the wind.  As the fire went out, we closed up the smoke flap and the doorway and settled in for the night...sometime during the night we woke to the sound of coyotes and dogs calling to each other.  It was really comforting in a strange way I guess, but it felt very normal.


We woke around 6 a.m. to the sunrise just ready to make its' debut.  Again, the sky was red from the fire of the sun.  So focused on the sunrise that I almost forgot about the mountains.  As I turned around to face the mountains that we had watched the sun set on the previous evening, I was amazed at the color the sunrise was creating on the mountains.  It reminded me of Sedona.  Washed in red tones, it was spectacular yet again.

Our fire.

We packed up and headed out with the intention of riding to the East Glacier Village to find a place to eat.  We saw a sign for one place and while looking for it found another and as soon as we found a place to park the bikes, we found yet another that we stopped and had breakfast in.  Two Medicine Grill is a small counter and restaurant that caters to an adjacent hostel.  They use all local sourced products for their meals and we had one of the best breakfasts we have had so far.  The omlette made from farm fresh eggs and veggies, hash browns homemade from grated potatoes and the bacon...omg! Larry had the sour dough pancake stack and bacon.  We couldn't even finish it all!



We took off with our bellies full and headed to route 49 which would connect with 89 which would take us to Glacier National Park.  Route 49....yes, route 49.  Filled with up and downs, quick turns and what I came to call Thelma and Louises which are essentially turns with very steep drop offs that if you missed you would sail out and over the valley.  As I am essentially not fond of these type of heights as we passed them I would just Thelma and Louise...almost a form of swearing.  Larry however seems to be a BIG fan of Thelma and Louises.  The other interesting thing about Montana is that there is a lot of free ranging of horses and cows.  As Larry rode ahead, I would get the advance notice of ground squirrel (he started by yelling squirrel and I thought he was joking), coyote, and then the odd horse grazing on the side of the road with their butts stuck out on the road...and of course the cows, doing the same.  Now this particular thing brought back memories of cows from another trip which you can find on our blogs from our 2011 trip.

By the time we reached Hwy 89 we both had big smiles and it wasn't even noon.  This however was just the warm up, or the appateaser to our afternoon.

We rolled up to the gate of the park...we paid our bits (actually we got a family pass for a year so who knows), and now we are off to the show!  After a frustrating 15 minutes behind a group of vehicles led by someone who was already obviously nervous about the drive  (and the fun hadn't even started), we pulled over to take a couple of photos and let the traffic get ahead of us.  I will only say this...I am posting some pictures, none of which will do this park justice.  I could give you a description of everything we saw, but there really are no words....Going to the Sun Road in Glacier National Park is spellbinding, spectacular and has the ability to move you to tears at it beauty, make you giggle like a child at the wonder and forever be a memory that will never be erased.  I know this because I experienced it.  It is a highly recommended drive for anyone who ever travels close to the southern borders along Canada/US in Alberta and Saskatchewan.  Waterton Lake Parks I am told is another great place to see.

We finished the day with our stop in Libby, MT.  Nestled in the valley it is a quiet town.  A quiet night will be good...we have a long day tomorrow and will be in Kelowna by supper.  Looking forward to some down time, friend time and the next part of our adventure...not necessarily in that order or even that there needs to be any order...just looking forward to it all!

Evergreen 

City of Eagle