"I Am 60" Tour- Day 7-Glacier National Park, Montana - June 26, 2017

Back in February, I received an email about the Red Bus tours that Xanterra operates in Glacier. As I read over them, I realized that the "Crown of the Continent" tour did exactly what I wanted to do-cross the park on the Going-to-the-Sun Road. Looking at the road on the map, I saw that there were a lot of twists and climbs involved. The tour would save me from driving and provide info from someone who knew the park. I booked 4 tickets at $96 each and told everyone it was my birthday present to myself. To say I was looking forward to it is an understatement.
However, as of last night, the road was closed in the middle. My husband had talked to an information woman at Lake McDonald Lodge and she said that there had been late avalanches and they were having to replace guardrails. One could hike, but no cars past a certain point coming from the west or east.  So, the tour would go on, it would just be different. It would go around the bottom of the park and visit some of the eastern side from there. Disappointing, yes, but it would still be an all-day tour.
We got up at 6:30 and our daughters arrived at 7:21 for breakfast. The room had implements and dishes for just two people, of course. We ate sort of in shifts and improvised by using a cutting board as a plate. Someone set off the smoke alarm by using the toaster to toast their bagel. Since we all have toaster ovens, no one was used to an actual toaster.
It was cool and was to warm up, so my daughters and I had on shorts and sweatshirts or jackets over t-shirts. My husband wore long pants and a jacket. We left at 8:06 and I parked at 8:11 at Apgar Visitor Center with the odometer at 2836 and the car saying it was 52 degrees.
People were gathering for tours on the far side of the visitor center. Our tour guide/ bus driver Ed from Georgia checked us in and made sure we knew the road was closed. That was probably smart to make sure people couldn't complain.

The bus is equipped with bench seats that seat 4 each. One passenger sat in the seat next to Ed and it turned out he was a German travel writer doing a piece for online that will appear next year. At various times during the day, he set up special pictures for the piece.
We set off at 8:25. Ed wore a microphone and talked to us about the park for 20 minutes on our way to Lake McDonald Lodge, where we had a 20 minute restroom break and photo stop. The lake was misty and had a different look than last night, so we took more photos. This first one shows McDonald Creek dumping into the lake.

 

At 9:08, when we set off again, the top of the bus was off. It was so cold!!My younger daughter was sitting next to me and we just sort of huddled together. Ed told us, that this was a 500-year old temperate rainforest. The eastern side of the park is high and dry.
Our next stop was the Sacred Dancing Cascade on McDonald Creek at 9:20. This was where I'd been unwilling to go down the steps to the platform last night, so I had to go down now. It was totally worth it.

The water is that beautiful glacial green. Ed grabbed two rocks and rubbed them together so that we could see the flour that was created and turned the water green. And, because you can't take anything out of the park, he tossed the rocks back again. We soon headed back down the road.
At 9:37, we were crossing the bridge that you can just make out up above. The park service doesn't like people standing up in the buses, however, we were stopped on the bridge and Ed told us we could play prairie dogs and pop up for photos.

On the other side of the bridge, he pointed out where we could park at the end of a family-friendly loop trail, if we wanted a hike. There was a drive with several names on it-folks still own property in the park boundaries.
At 10:05, Ed parked in the Apgar Village camping area for restroom and photos. I can't run, but the cabin was near the entrance to the cabins-close enough for me to walk extremely quickly. I saw another passenger doing the same. I could use my own bathroom and then peeled off the jacket, dug out my sweatshirt and put it on and the jacket back over it. I grabbed the blanket I'd bought last night and hurried back.
Ed had put the top back on for the ride down route 2, but my daughter and I still appreciated the blanket. I tried, but I still dozed off, but then again, so did others from what I heard.
About 11:03, Ed pulled into a spot at Goat Lick.  It took some work, but we managed to spy a couple on the far ridge. Then, further down the path, someone spotted one through the trees, that I also managed to photograph.

 

11:32 found us at the Silver Stairstep. Not only did the water cascading down the "steps" look cool, but the spot smelled like Christmas trees!

At 11:50, we were at Marias Pass, elevation 5216, the Continental Divide. The green in the rocks is limestone. There is an obelisk here for the Flathead National Forest memorial to Teddy Roosevelt. we left at 12:02.

Our next stop was not in the park, but in the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. We arrived at 12:15 at the Glacier Park Lodge and were given an hour and twenty minutes for lunch and exploring.  The lodge was really impressive inside with giant poles supporting the roof, a table made from an incredibly large tree and buffalo on the upholstery.

The lodge was not as busy as Lake McDonald. There were two places to eat, but they served the same thing. We chose the Great Northern Dining Room, named for the railroad that built the place. (Folks still arrive at the Amtrak station nearby.) There seemed to be only two servers and the food was not cheap and slow in coming. I ordered the Chicken Salad Wrap for $14. My husband and younger daughter both ordered the $14 Apple Bourbon Elk Brat. My older daughter got the Chicken Burger, also for $14. All four meals tasted good.

I ducked into the gift shop to get 4 postcards for $2 before heading out front with my younger daughter to take photos of the gorgeous flowers.

 

Everyone got back to the bus on time and we set off at 1:35. The roof was back off, but it was warmer now. The forest here was younger than on the other side of the park.
In one half hour, we arrived at Two Medicine Lake. It was really beautiful with the mountains behind it. Even though it felt cool, there were a few kids wading.

The line for the restroom had sucked up a lot of my time. Ed said that with the road closed, this stop was busier than usual. We did have time for him to take our family photo in front of the bus. I went in the shop/ snack bar to buy a pin and was delayed by the clerk swiping my AARP card for the discount and the register counting it as a credit card. He needed all kinds of help to fix it. Luckily, I was not late to the bus. We were back on the road at 2:32.
Five minutes later we stopped for a pleasant walk through the woods to the incredibly photogenic trick waterfall, Running Eagle. The water comes from Two Medicine. The walk also provided shots of Bear Grass and other wildflowers, as well as an arty shot with a dead tree and the stream.

  

We left at 3:05 and had a beautiful view of a lake at 3:23.

When Ed stopped about 20 minutes later outside of the park to put the roof back on, I took this shot of this cool Indian sculpture.

I dozed off again and suddenly found it was 4:17 and we were pulling in to the Izaak Walton Inn for photos and a pit stop. My husband paid $2 for a Diet Coke to help me come to.

Besides the inn, there were also railroad cars in the woods that one could stay in. (The railroad tracks are right at the end of the flower path.) I don't know how they are, but we heard a couple complaining about ants in their room. Like the Lake McDonald Lodge, there was no cell service.
We left at 4:31 and Ed had us back at the visitors' center by 5:10. He'd been terrific and my husband gave him a $10 tip. After using the restroom, we debated a bit about what we wanted to do, but opted for going back to the cabins and going to eat dinner. Two minutes later (2837), I had us parked in front of our cabin at 5:21.
Less than a half hour later, we'd gotten rid of the blanket and jackets and had strolled up to Eddie's Cafe. It was still warm enough, that we chose to eat inside, rather than on the porch. My husband and older daughter each ordered the Western Legend Fried Chicken ($16), but they maybe should have split an order. There was so much chicken! My husband also felt there was too much breading and took off most of his skin. They did like the flavor. I thought it was good, but not as good as I remember Albertson's used to be. My younger daughter ordered the cleverly named Where the Buffalo Roam Loaf for $19. It was denser than a meatloaf made with beef and tasted good. I ordered the Polebridge Pulled Pork Sandwich for $13 and it was pretty good. We were way too full for dessert.

 We walked down to the Cedar Tree, where I found pins and other souvenirs. My older daughter had a headache and headed back to her cabin. My back was screaming and I needed to lie down with my knees up. My husband and younger daughter headed for the talk that a Native American was to do at the nearby pavilion. They really enjoyed it. They saw someone wearing a Chuluota shirt and talked to her, because that is near our town. Amazingly enough, it turned out I had taught her son German - until it became obvious he wasn't succeeding, evidently. Unfortunately, they failed to get her name.
When they came back, the three of us went down to the lake to take photos in the fading light. I also realized, that I had failed to take a photo of the village and that it was quiet enough now to easily do so.

About 11:30, it started to rain. The heavy downpour sounded really neat on the roof of the cabin.