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Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - Paul F. - 08-15-2008
This is gonna be long... so if you have a short attention span, or aren't interested, you might want to find another thread :-)
Just got home from a two week long road trip from Northern California, to North Dakota (outside Minot), and back.
It was a GREAT trip! Thought I'd share some random thoughts, and of course, some pictures!
The purpose of this voyage was to celebrate my parents 40th wedding anniversary, and see some uncles, cousins, and the kids of cousins ("First cousins, once removed" to be technical). It was great catching up with some of them, and a little disturbing to find that some of my "first cousins once removed" are really hot young women! (There will not be pics of 'em... sorry... ). My cousin Danielle is particularly stunning.... and single... and I probably shouldn't dwell on that.
Minor irritation; while driving my mom's borrowed Prius (they flew, I drove, so I borrowed my parents Prius to make the drive...), I encountered 20 miles of road resurfacing east of Boise Idaho. I was within sight of the end of the project, when a stray rock POP'ed against my windsheld... and within 10 minutes I heard the "sleeek" of a 6" crack forming.
My first stop of "note" was traveling through Yellowstone National Park... Beautiful park! I wish I'd had more time that day to travel slower, make a few more stops, and take more than a couple lousy pics!
There was more than a little geothermal activity.... and a few buffalo (surrounded by tourists...).
That day ended in Cody, Wyoming, amongst quite a few folks going to, or returning from, Sturgis South Dakota. Lots of Harleys.
Also in Cody, The Buffalo BIll Cody Historical Center and Museum
Oh, and did I mention that I'm not interested much in "Western Stuff"?
They also house the Cody Firearms Museum... one of the finest collections outside the NRA National Firearms Museum, and the Smithsonian (which does not display very much of it's collection...). I won't bore you with the details of the Collection... except to mention that they have some "prototypes" on display in the Browning room that were made by John Moses Browning himself. (John M. Browning was, and remains, one of the greatest firearms designers in history... many of his designs are still in use today, and he died in 1935!).
From Cody, I cut north into Montana, and "back tracked" a bit west to visit a couple small firearms manufacturers in Big Timber Montana; Shiloh Sharps Rifles, and the C. Sharps Arms company. Competitors, once partners, and right across the street from each other in Big Timber.
(Northern Wyoming, north of Cody)
(Shiloh Sharps, where the rifle(s) for the movie "Quigley Down Under" were made.... )
I also had to locate a windshield repair shop in Big Timber... that crack grew by another 6" over the course of the day! Nice long chat with the guy at the repair shop while the epoxy cured.
Next up, driving east from Miles City, Montana, towards Bismark North Dakota, I drove over the heart of the Bakken oil reserve.. (which, by the way, is considerably larger than previously thought, and booming North Dakota's economy presently... One of my cousins has been offered quite a bit for the oil rights to some land of his in south-west N.D.)
Not exactly attractive country.. but it's got it's own charm..
After a long day, and getting a room in near-by Minot North Dakota, I arrived in my Dad's small home town, Velva... among the sunflower fields, and huge rolls of hay, and cattle lands.
And my Uncle's place. Which is less than a mile from my other uncles farm... and next door to my cousins farm... which is half a mile from my OTHER cousins farm. There's a LOT of land around Velva owned by folks with my last name... (Grampa accumulated much of it, but each of his sons bought adjoining lots once they inherited).
I'll spare you the details of the reunion in the same park where my parents were married, 40 years ago this summer, except to show you a picture of my niece, front, and, uh... well, embarassingly I can't remember exactly who the other girl is... There were almost 60 people there, all relatives, and I kinda lost track of a few of 'em... She's related, somehow...
These two girls are enjoying their cake, after delivering every other piece to everyone else! Miraculously, without dropping a single one! (but with close-calls a plenty!).
After the reunion, and a breakfast paninni at a great little coffee shop in Velva (the Quilted Bean, sadly one of the last businesses on "main street" of this little farming town), I was off again... headed West. I ended up in Shelby, Montana.
Northern Montana is a mind numbing expanse of low rolling grass land. More than nine hours of driving, and the scenery hardly changed. Not ugly, mind you.. but it did get pretty monotonous. No pics of it... I was concentrating on making time to Shelby, so the next day could be a leisurely one;
This was the next day!
Glacier National Park I remembered fondly from visiting there more than 20 years ago (the last time I went to North Dakota, too...).
THIS was why I wanted to drive there and back, rather than flying. I wanted to see some of the sights that I recall from family road-trips.
Fifteen minutes beyond the gate (where, like Yellowstone, people had to pony up $25... no complaint there...);
Stunning, breathtaking... nearly unreal... choose your own descriptions. Yosemite, Yellowstone... nice parks.. but they PALE in comparison to Glacier, IMHO.
From the "Going to the Sun" Highway;
Standing the PARKING LOT of the Logan Pass visitors center;
Yes, real big horn sheep... apparently, according to another tourist, they'd just wandered across the parking lot.
There was also a deer in the parking lot, being sheperded by a park ranger admonishing tourists to read the signs about not approaching wildlife... while they tried to approach the wildlife. (I see deer at home all the time, so I didn't take any pics.. now I'm sorry I didn't.)
From the Logan Pass center, there are several hiking trails.... I sorely wish I'd had the time, clothing, and footwear to take a couple of the 1-3 mile trails. The "Hidden Lake" trail looked fantastic on the map! They are apparently easy trails too... well, unless you're an out of shape sea-level type like me. There's appreciably less air in Glacier than at sea level!
This from a few hundred yards up the Hidden Lake trail from the visitors center;
Less than a mile down the road was another pull off area. There are pull-over areas VERY frequently in the park, and I suggest you stop at every single one... They'll almost ALL there for a reason!
At this one, some highly paid stunt mammals were less than 3 feet back from the 5 foot retaining wall that car-bumpers pulled up against.
Here is a Marmot of some sort. I didn't pay quite enough attention at the visitors center to the labels on the pictures...
And, a few feet away, a ground squirrel posed in front of a scenic patch of ice;
I'm still thinking these there were some sort of animatronic critters... utterly without fear of the tourists a few feet away.
And, up the short trail/steps... more tourists who can't read the signs that say "Do not approach wildlife- they're wild animals, and can injure or kill".
Cute goat... but those points on his head didn't seem to phase the tourists, a couple of which tried to approach and pet him (morons...).
I, on the other hand, stayed well back, and used my zoom...
His family, relaxing in the morning sun, was 100 yards down the road (taken from my car window). The Kids were having a great time rolling in the dirt..
After an hour or so weaving through the Highway to the Sun road... a narrow and winding road, with tight turns, and low guardrails where there ARE guardrails, I pulled over for another rest and "stop to smell the roses" break...
This time, I took a 50 yard hike off the road, down to the river (which tasted better than the bottled water I had in the car, by the way).
I wish either of these had captured the clarity and color of the water better...
After the long drive around Lake McDonald, and past quite a few campgrounds that would be great places to spend a few days, I exited the park, and came down into Western Montana, and Idaho.
From there, I stopped once in Ponderay, Idaho, to visit a shooting-stuff vendor and pick up some black powder to save the shipping costs of the Haz-Mat fee.. (Hey, I was going through there anyway! ).
After not making any effort to "hurry" through the park, I made surprisingly good time/distance and ended up at 8pm local time in Pendleton Oregon. Four western states in one day is pretty good!
Then, my Longest Day... the last day of my journey. Wednesday... Pendleton Oregon, to Eureka, via Highway 395, then on Highway 299, and the 101 to home. Left at 7am, arrived in my driveway at just short of 9pm. Fourteen hours driving... not something I would like to repeat, but I was determined that as long as I was mentally alert I wasn't going to stop so close to home! Hey, out here in the west, 3-4 hours drive is "close"!
Sadly, that last day cost a rabbit his life south of John Day, Oregon... From the far side of the road, he foolishly chose to play a game of chicken with the Prius. He raced from the left, into my lane, and turned directly for me... and charged!
I hit the brakes, but things did not end well for the rabbit.. :-(
I AM happy to report that a very small chipmunk or squirrel looking critter was more fortunate the previous day...
Warp speed to the very middle of my lane faster than I could react... but over him I went (between the wheels, not under 'em)... In my rear-view, I saw him tumble arse-over-teakettle a few times, blasted by my turbulence, and then race off apparently unharmed the direction from whence he came. Hopefully he learned his lesson!
It seems I've left out many details of the trip, but as much as I'd like to share them, this post has gone on far enough!
My only regret was not spending more time in some of the places... and not seeing if that lady holding a "Need Gas" sign in eastern Idaho would be amenable to an immoral suggesting of barter... (OK.. maybe it's better I didn't stop... both morally and legally....).
Rather surprisingly, the Prius I was driving got a LOT of questions at pretty much EVERY stop. It was funny in Cody at the Motel... the six parking slots went; Harley, Prius, Harley, Prius, Harley, Prius...
I think Toyota is going to have a REALLY good year selling Prius's next year if they can get on top of production ( they quoted one lady I talked to in Glacier 11 months from order to delivery!).
Anyway... I hope anyone considering a "road trip" around parts of the vast west finds this interesting or useful!
Back to doing laundry and working out the kinks in my legs and back...
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - Carnos Jax - 08-15-2008
Well done bro, well done...(^_^)
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - rgG - 08-15-2008
Nice shots and commentary. I saw a special on the "Going to the Sun Highway" on the History channel not long ago. Very interesting history of the road and the ongoing preservation of it. Beautiful scenery!
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - Jimmypoo - 08-15-2008
Great pics. Did you add anything to the water you drank? Or UV it?
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - Jimmypoo - 08-15-2008
btw... is that town where Velveta comes from??
(don't smirk... I coulda went the other way)
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - Stephanie - 08-15-2008
Great pics Paul! I made the trip to Yellowstone back in 04 & I'm hoping to go again in the next couple of years.
I haven't been to Glacier since I was 6 or 7. I had hoped to make it up there this year (end of August, in fact) but that's not happening. Now I'm hoping for next year.
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - Stephanie - 08-15-2008
[quote Jimmypoo]btw... is that town where Velveta comes from??
(don't smirk... I coulda went the other way)
I was wondering who'd be the first to think that way...
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - Paul F. - 08-15-2008
Pretty sure Velveeta is a Minnesota product :-)
And no... no need to "disinfect" or "city-fy" the water from the Glaciers in Glacier... It was only one step from distilled anyway.
The "Going to the Sun" highway is pretty amazing... and pretty maintenance intensive! There were several crews working on various parts. There was a sign at the East Entrance that road construction may cause "up to 4 hour delays". Fortunately, I only was delayed 15 minutes by a crew working on repairing a guadrail that had apparently fallen off the road (down about 1000 feet straight down!).
Going around some of those turns, ones rectum kinda grabs the seat...
If I see that documentary listed, I'll definitely watch it!
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - laarree - 08-15-2008
Wow. Thanks for posting these photos. The park photos in particular are lovely--
makes me wish I was there. I was never really sure what a marmot looked like
(despite the fact that I have some jackets by Marmot) -- now I know. :-)
Re: Road Trip to Glacier and North Dakota Pics (LONG and MASSIVE BANDWIDTH!) + Cute Critters! - decocritter - 08-15-2008
Beautiful Country.