After another wonderful nights rest at our B & B we awoke at an early 7:55am. We headed to the kitchen for yet another hearty breakfast. Had eggs and bacon, toast, fruit and huckleberry jam. We loaded up and said good bye to our most gracious host and hostess and owners of the B & B Tom and Diane (La Villa Bed & Breakfast in Whitefish, MT) and pulled away around 9:15.
We needed to be in West Glacier by 10 to go whitewater rafting. We rode the flathead river and took a 3 hour guided raft tour. It was absolutely beautiful as the current took us by the San Sante Fe railway track on the left side and the national park on the right. The river was calm and peaceful and the bottom of the river was speckled with purples, greens and blue river rock. The river was much wider than it looked from the road above and seem to snake around every old mountain so smoothly it was hard to tell if the river was turning or ending. We only got a little damp and decided it was too cool for a swim. The ride ended and we ate lunch at the in the west entrance of the park.
We ate at a diner called Eddie's in the Apgar visitor's center. It was cozy and we read quite a lot of information about the park off of the menus. After lunch we walked down to Lake McDonald and decided to rent a canoe for a paddle around the lake.
We were very excited about the view of the mountains in the distance and they seemed much closer than the day before at Big Mountain. The lake water was clear green and blue and you could look straight down in to the lake and see the bottom. We were very adventurous as I wanted to head straight towards those tall mountains and get out into the center of the lake and take pictures. We finally got tired and headed back to shore because we new that we needed to hurry up and drive the Going to the Sun road.
The Going to the Sun Road is an architectural feat that was completed in the 1930's. It is know for the terrific views as it heads directly up the Mnts and looks as though it is going to the sun. It started out slow but soon we were awe struck as the road climbed higher and higher. Sarah was driving and I was directing her to stay in the middle of the road - way away from the small rock wall that was shielding us from an early death. Each time I screeched she swerved and we were a traveling comedy act. This road was like nothing I had ever ridden on and like nothing I had ever hiked up. At the highest spot it seemed as though we were looking straight across at the Mnts instead of looking up. The road was also very curvy with its looping back and forth around the massive rock sheaths. We noticed how any SUV vehicle was unable to stay on their side of the road. We were in a compact Honda CRV and fit just fine on our small portion of the road.
Along the way we saw patches of elegant wild flowers and eventually came upon a small bank of snow. I'm unsure if it was a glacier because I do not know if it moved but it was melting and a cave had formed at the base. The interior of the cave was etched out like concave glass.
We drove around the next bend and saw mountain goats. Two were high on a bluff and as we watched climbed even higher. One was sitting peacefully by the road, many visitors, including myself, snapped shots as he seemed to ignore all of his popularity. Next we came to Logan's Pass and the visitor's center.
It was five til' seven and we only had a chance to cruise through the center. We planned to come back and hike a well populated trail that starts behind the center in a day or so. Noticing that we still had over an hour drive to our bed at Many Glacier we left with hopes to return to this area for further investigation.
We made it to the small town of Babb and saw it's main building- a road side bar. It seemed like a place were the old time outlaws would hide out if there was a bounty on their head. The was a small church building several yards from the bar but that looked like all of the highlights of Babb. We turned left and saw the sign for the lodge and also a sign that said "Watch for Cattle". We laughed, but as we zoomed around the sharp curve there on the side of the road, were cattle. There was no sign of a fence but there was a road and there was cattle. We took their pictured, moo-ed and drove on. We came upon a line of cars pulled off the side off the road with a ranger car gathered in the midst. We asked what they saw and one lady said there was a bear just below them. All this as we approached the Many Glacier Lodge to check in for a three night stay.
- Tiffany