(F)unemployment: East Glacier

Thursday June 14th, 2012: Chinook, MT

Going to the Sun Road, East Glacier National Park

Can't Go Over It...Can't Go Under It...Better Go Around It.

We headed back into the main west entrance of the park to return the bear-proof canister at the backcountry office and consulted with one of the rangers about where to go next.  She confirmed that even though they strive to have the Going-to-the-Sun Road (GTTS Road) open by June 15th each year, this year they were probably opening the road 4-7 days late.  So, while we had considered waiting an extra day on the west side of the park to do the scenic drive if possible, it didn't look like the plowing finale was going to match our schedule.  Luckily, the backcountry ranger had some time to chat about alternatives.  (Note: It didn't end up opening until June 19th this year...good thing we didn't wait!)

The ranger recommended exploring the east side of the park, potentially Grinell Glacier if we had crampons.  I'm not personally prepared with the gear or knowledge of how to mountaineer, so the ranger told us about a very scenic and snow-free waterfall circuit near Saint Mary Lake. To get to the east side of the park we decided to drive US Highway 2 around the southern park boundary and up through the town of Two Medicine, which is an area of the park that used to be way more popular before the GTTS thru-road opened.  

We went on to Saint Mary Lake after Two Medicine and tried our darndest to skirt around the GTTS road closed sign on the eastern closure.  No luck.  Instead, we ended up turning around and going back down toward the Rising Sun campground.

Rising Sun Campground

We set up the tent in record time.  Site #16, actually.  Yeah, we're pretty good at that. Then, Jason very kindly identified the multiplying chaos in the area known as "the car".  He suggested it was getting a "bit unruly", which is the understatement of the century.  Being parked in the campsite gave plenty of space and time to organize the 95% of what was unruly, which was my stuff.  Sometimes there's just no clever way to contain things when you're moving cross-country in a Civic! Amidst the organizational process we rediscovered Jason's candied ginger (delicious), three days' worth of aluminum foil balls accumulating from a variety of Hot Sandwiches at Polebridge and the last of the watermelon, formerly intended for human consumption.  It was no longer of this world.   So sad! 

Classic Red Bus Jammers

While I cleaned and organized, Jason took my Green Eggs and Ham-like reluctance for tuna and transformed it into dinner.  It was really delicious with olive oil, a little cayenne pepper and rice/quinoa pasta.   It might become a new backpacking staple.  After dinner, even though we had missed the 9pm ranger program at the campground, we did not miss our 10pm bedtime.  I read thirty more pages in Mockingjay, and promptly passed out.  

I woke up today, scheming about wanting to wash my hair.  It has only been three days since my last shower, which really isn't that scandalous, but the rain really adds a sticky layer of desperation to a short haircut.  So, I snuck into the restroom and used my new gift from Emily, which is a backcountry kitchen sink, and I dunked my head in the fifty-degree water (the campground restrooms only had cold water).  Now, I was awake and much more presentable.  Oh, hobo showers...how I enjoy the rush of frigid water and curiosity of wondering if I'm going to get crazy looks from strangers. 

Saint Mary Lake dock

The rest of the morning I finished Mockingjay (that's my third book in two and a half months...a personal record for the decade), ate some non-moldy oatmeal and met the campground host, Peter.  He, was a chatty cathy who used to live in Euclid, Ohio and had heart surgery at the Cleveland Clinic.  He's a summer volunteer at Glacier NP when he is not living in Florida, and his Social Security Number is...just kidding.  Chatty Cathy recommends camping in Chgrin when I get home.  Check. 

Other highlights from the day include absolutely BREATHTAKING views along the 6.2 mile out-and-back Virgina Falls hike.  We saw two deer, a bear track, a disturbing number of out-of-shape Americans and some sick vistas.  You almost have to be there to understand the scope of the views. It's just too hard to capture in a photo!

Beargrass: neither a grass, nor liked by bears.

We stopped by the St. Mary's boat dock to say a quick hello to Graham, the High Trails alumnus working up on the boats.  He had just finished burying electric for the new ticket office when we arrived.  It was a great visit, even though it was quick.  He recommended the spot where we ended up getting first lunch, and positively identified bear grass, which is this asparagus-looking stalk we've been seeing all over the place with white blossoms on top.  Thanks Graham! 

Me and Graham

We swung through the Saint Mary's Visitor Center to watch the Glacier National Park video before taking the self-guided diner tour around town. The first stop was Graham's recommendation: Johnson's Cafe and Campground.  Our poor waiter was on this fifth day on the job, but he said we were only his sixth or seven table!  I got some soup, and it came with a three huge slices of bread and half a stick of butter.  Jason ordered a veggie burger with some clever name (Campground Carl?) and the newbie wrote it down as a similarly named kids' menu item.  

Got butter?

The cook came out giggling when she realized what he had done and let us know that it'd be a few extra minutes since she had just made Jason the children's chicken nugget meal before realizing the mistake.  Oops!  The charm and anxiety in his apology made up for it.  The huckleberry shake helped. 

Lunch number two was a cup of coffee and a bite of rhubarb/peach pie. This vacation was starting to turn into a tour-de pies, a tasty sequel to the gelato-themed Italy trip.  I'm not terribly disappointed by this!  We took the early afternoon to start on what would have been our longest leg of the journey planned for one day: about thirteen hours.  Getting a head start today let us avoid the interstate and keep driving along US Highway Two.  Roadside attractions include:

Oh, Montana...

• A Penguin: marking the coldest spot in the country.  A dude in a pickup truck laughed at us for taking a self-timer photo montage.
• A Buffalo Run: which has much more historical significance than you'd think based on its placement behind the Sears shopping plaza.  It's one of the hills where the local Plains Indians would herd bison to their demise in the pre-horse days.  Good job preserving American Indian culture everybody.  It was here that Jason tried to be like the Guy on a Buffalo and jumped on the statue bison by the street.  Pretty awesome.

Now we're in the camping real estate market outside of Malta, Montana.  Here's hoping something materializes!  Tomorrow may be a hike, but at least a drive through Theodore Roosevelt National Park, a destination I didn't really know existed until I saw it on the map last week.