September 2021 – Welcome to Our World

2021-09-21 Avalanche

Hard Hitting Reporter (HHR) here. I understand that Joyce had scheduled a difficult hike to make up for the two days off. Let’s follow up.

HHR: What was the hike?

Joyce: It was the Avalanche Hike. This area of Glacier National Park was named by an exploration team in 1895. The exploration group saw and heard multiple avalanches roaring down the surrounding mountains, and agreed “that Avalanche Basin would be a most appropriate name for the place”. Everyone is quite excited.

HHR: Did you hear or see in Avalanches?

Jerry: No, we did not see any avalanches but we started off super early when it was still dark so we could get a parking place.

HHR: Was parking difficult?

Joyce: Yes, we got a place but had to whip in front of other cars and Debbie gave out some stink eyes.

Larry: We started out on an easy Trail of Cedars which has a boardwalk.

Debbie: At first, we frolicked along the boardwalk which was easy. It was nice and shady but then the boardwalk ended.

Joyce: Don’t forget the issue where all the bathrooms were closed for the season. Debbie was really giving out stink eyes then.

Debbie: To continue, the trail left the boardwalk and we began to climb.

HHR: Debbie did you fall again?

Debbie: No, I told you it was a one time thing. Why don’t you ask the others? There was mud on the trail and they had super big roots and rocks on the trail trying to grab me. I didn’t have any problems.

Larry: Let me step in here and say that no one fell. There were a lot of people on the trail. Sometimes too many and they scared off any bears with all the noise. They were loud talkers. We are not fans of loud talkers.

Jerry: Some people were running on the trail. We though that they were showing off.

Larry: We saw people carrying axes and shovels down the trail. They passed us going down the trail at a fast clip.

Joyce: I asked where they were going and they said that they were going to dig a pit toilet.

Jerry: I guess they saw the toilets were closed down the trail and were going to dig a new one.

Debbie: Larry was a little upset that an older man stopped him and said that he was really glad to see someone older like Larry on the trail.

Larry: I am sure that he meant someone in such excellent shape.

Debbie: No, he said a senior like you.

HHR: Let me cut in here and ask what you did to celebrate your successful hike?

Joyce: Well, we went to the Lake McDonald Lodge to picnic and then home to eat hot fudge sundaes.

Debbie: Wait, you had hot fudge sundaes?

Jerry: I think you were napping

Debbie: If I was napping it was because, we left so early. We hiked over 7 miles. and I was tired.

2021-09-19 and 20 Double Days

Today was the day to move to Colombia Falls. It rained most of the day. We stopped at the Izaak Walton Lodge. The lodge was built in the 1920s. Many of the rooms are railcars. We didn’t stay but it is very peaceful. we checked into Meadow Lake.

The next day it was still raining. Joyce was very sad but secretly Debbie and Larry were jumping up and down in their room. Joyce rousted everyone up and took them for a walk around the property which involved ping pong. Debbie was very impressed with changing leaves.

Joyce has promised a brisk hike tomorrow. Debbie and Larry are concerned

2021-09-18 Birthday Shout Out

Today is Debbie’s brother, Charlie’s Birthday. He is a faithful blog web fan. So a shout out to Charlie.

Debbie wanted to take the day off and eat Birthday cake but it was not to be. Joyce had plans for another hike. A shorter hike but nevertheless a hike. It must not have been super exciting as Debbie could not remember it and only took three pictures.

2021-09-17 Debbie’s Kryptonite

Today was a hike rated moderate. The hike was the Aster waterfall and the Aster Overlook at Two Medicine. We arrived early to get the all important parking place. HHR: Hold on here, Debbie, just what did this trail involve.?

Jerry: I can take that question. Well, it went through an area where moose like to roam and had beaver ponds. It, of course, had a waterfall that we always look for.

HHR: What made it moderate?

Joyce: Well it started out flat and kept going up. It had switchbacks, rocks and roots?

HHR: Rocks and root? What is the big deal with that?

Larry: It is Debbie’s kryptonite. Roots and rocks.

HHR: Roots and rocks? Really? How difficult can that be?

Debbie: Okay, okay – I always said that I would trip over roots and rocks and I did so there.

HHR: Oh no, did you fall? I am shocked that someone like you would fall.

Larry: Joyce and I were behind her and saw her slowly go down on her hands and knees. I think that she may have said some inappropriate words.

Joyce: We got her up and dusted her off. She was fine.

Larry: I told her to pick up her feet and I think she might have said some more inappropriate words.

Debbie: I thank you for your concern, HHR, but sense some skepticism. We did go all the way to the end of the trail. It was a hard trail.

Larry: After we got in the car, we saw two moose.

Joyce: One moose ran to the lake right by a man that didn’t even know that the moose was there until the moose ran by.

HHR: Do you think that Debbie’s fall and the noise she made upset the environmental balance at Two Medicines?

Debbie: No but I would like to suggest that the HHR take a hike.

2021-09-16 Blackfeet Nation

Today, we left for East Glacier. (That’s a name of a town). We were ready to leave Babb, Montana. We noticed that we had been staying at what may or may not have been a biker’s hotel. Every night the motel did seem to have several large motorcycles in the parking lot especially around Debbie and Larry’s room. We nicknamed them the Wild Hogs. (Get it like the movies).

The Blackfeet Nation issues mandates outside the park such as mask mandates. We think that we have been staying on Blackfeet land.

We were excited to go to East Glacier because everyone got a bedroom and it had internet inside. At the biker place, Debbie spent time on the office porch in her coat using the internet. Internet was somewhat lacking but we were close to the park entrance.

We passed through the Blackfeet Nation headquarters in Browning, Montana on our way to East Glacier. Once we dropped our stuff at East Glacier we proceeded on to Running Eagle Falls. Educational Moment: Running Eagle was a female Pikuni warrior in the 1700s. Traditionally, only men fasted and went on vision quests. Running Eagle went on a vision quest and ‘found her medicine’ above the falls and became an influential and legendary leader of her people.

Blackfeet were named based on their black shoes that were colored by ashes.

Travel Tip: Wear a coat if you have to sit on the porch to get internet connection.

2021-09-15 Windy Hike

After yesterday and the long hike, we decided to take at easy. We hiked the Beaver Hike which was just outside of the park. It was a very windy hike and also deserted. We walked a loop through trees and high grass just like the area where we saw the three bears the time before. We only saw one other couple on the hike.

The other couple blew a whistle. This upset Debbie because Larry carries a whistle and she thinks it is a warning for bears. Of course, it wasn’t obvious so Debbie kept searching for bears until the other three explained the whistle dynamics.

They visited the historic ranger station from the 1910’s (actually just set on the porch). The original ranger’s wife from the 1910’s told stories of a mountain lion in the attic, skunks in the basement and black bears that would shred the laundry hanging on the the line. After reading those stories, Debbie was ready to get in the car.

Travel Tip: Know who has the whistle.

2021-09-13 One of Three

We started out at 8:30 this morning. Unfortunately, there was no parking. We continued on to Logan’s Pass but it was fogged in. Of course because of the fog parking places were available in the fog, We found a foggy parking place but then what is the point? You go for the views. Logan’s Pass has already closed for the season but you can hike from there of course not in the fog.

So we hiked to one waterfall, Baring Falls, on the three waterfall hike. We hiked to Sun Point for a great view of St. Mary’s Lake. We almost didn’t go and would have missed a great view.

The group has started playing a game while they hike. It’s called the Granddaughter Game. Debbie is an introvert and knows it. One of her granddaughters has been helping Debbie with this. Every time they go walking Debbie’s granddaughter speaks to people. Introverts prefer not to speak that much. Anyway when they play the game on the trail, they speak to everybody that goes by. We are the friendliest group on the trail. Big shout out to our mentor.

We finished the night eating at Frog’s with the choice of burrito or taco. Everything else on the menu was sold out for the season. It makes decision making easy.

2021-09-14 Lost?

Our hard hitting reporter is back today.

HHR: I am here to find out if you completed the St. Mary’s waterfall hike. Were you able to get a parking place or did Debbie hold everyone up by sleeping in again?

Debbie: I didn’t sleep in yesterday. I was ready when Joyce said to get up. We left at 7:00 A.M. this morning.

Joyce: I did tell them that they could sleep late yesterday but did mention that we might not get a parking place. Just saying.

HHR: So you did get a parking place at St. Mary’s?

Larry: Yes, we did. We started out to St. Mary’s Falls and I was worried that it was all down hill.

Jerry: I noticed that too.

Debbie: We made it to St. Mary’s Falls.

Joyce: We felt so good that we decided to go on to Virginia Falls

Larry: There were more waterfalls along the way.

HHR: Can you tell us what went wrong on your way back?

Debbie: Nothing went wrong. Larry just wanted to walk couple of miles further than everyone else.

Jerry: Well, it was very steep coming back. Debbie and I went a little faster than Larry and Joyce. Debbie did shoot past the parking lot turnoff and I had to call her back.

Debbie: I watched for Joyce to make sure that she turned but didn’t see Larry. I though he was with Joyce.

HHR: So when exactly did the three of you determine that Larry was missing.

Jerry: I think the first clue was 30 minutes later when we were sitting in the car without Larry.

HHR: What did you do when you do?

Debbie: Well, I hiked back down the steepest part of the trail (color me very sad) and tried to call. Of course, we had no reception. I called and called until he answered. I knew there was a problem because I heard crunching like someone walking. I yelled “Turn around turn around – You missed the turn”. Then the phone went dead.

HHR: Larry, what happened?

Larry: Well, Debbie yelled at me over the phone and then it went dead. I wondered because I hadn’t seen anyone I knew for the last 30 minutes. Anyway, I turned around otherwise I would have walked all the way to St. Mary’s.

HHR: Didn’t you notice that you had walked a long way?

Larry: No, I enjoy hiking up hill so much that I just didn’t think about the time passing.

Debbie: I kept sitting at the turnoff sign, pacing up and down the trail and trying to call. I did get some weird looks from other hikers. I finally got through on the phone again and found out he had turned around. I think he almost made it back to the first waterfall yesterday.

HHR: And Joyce / Jerry what were you doing during this nerve racking time? Were you helping?

Joyce: Well, I was sitting in the car in the shade reading but Jerry was playing a game.

Jerry: I had complete confidence in Debbie’s tracking ability. I was relaxing.

Debbie: Larry came back after another 30 minutes or so and we climbed the hill (third or fourth time for me). Hike closed.

Here is a fun fact: In Montana, burgers by law have to be well done (at least that is what they told us maybe it was a way to cook our burgers how they wanted0.

We drove back thru the park at dusk and saw 3 black bears by the side of the road.

Travel Tip: Know where your hikers are ?

2021-09-12 Many Glaciers

Good golly it’s still dark outside and we’re leaving for a hike. Soon we will be leaving at four in the morning for a hike or worse camping out and then hiking.

We drove to Many Glacier for the 8:30 boat ride on the Glacier Park Boat. The boat ride involved a boat ride on Swift Current Lake, a 1/4 hike to another boat ( try to trot that with a group following you) and then a boat ride on Lake Josephine. Now you are ready to hike.

At this point, the group split. Jerry went for the Grinnell Hike while the other three went to Grinnell Lake. Jerry’s hike was 3 plus miles. Unfortunately, Jerry did not make it to the end.

HHR: Jerry, what happened?

Jerry: Well, I was almost there. It had been a grueling uphill 3 miles. I asked someone coming down how much further? They told me it would be another 1/2 mile and that the hard part was still to come. There were no bathrooms and still uphill. I knew the other three were frolicking around and just thought “I don’t need to go there”.

Larry: We weren’t really frolicking. Yes, we ate our lunch at the Many Glacier Hotel lobby while waiting for Jerry but I had a very hard time staying awake.

Joyce: Yes, and it was not easy to find the pit toilet on the trail. We had to spend a few minutes looking.

Debbie: I had a wildlife incident. I had nuts in my backpack and a chipmunk smelled it. He kept stalking me. He tried to get to me from the right and the left. When I sat on a tree root, he tried to get under my legs to lunge at my backpack.

Larry: The lake we saw was awesome. It was turquoise blue. Remember though, I did get lost in the parking lot. Debbie had to come and find me.

The day ended sitting in the parking lot of one of the three open restaurants, “The Rising Sun” waiting for our order to be called.

2021-09-11 Transition Day

Here we sit in the Bozeman airport trying to change our rental car. Our original rental has 59,000 miles, comes from Florida has been giving us some issues. There is the suspicion that the car does not like us.

It is a 4 hour drive to St. Mary’s which is located outside the eastern gate of Glacier National Park. Since today is mainly a transition day, we have arranged for the Hard Hitting Reporter (HHR) to ask some questions.
HHR: First let me say that no one told me about this vacation. Let’s start out with an easy question to get you back in the swing of working with a real reporter.

Debbie: I told you that we should not have invited her.

HHR: I am going to treat this as an antagonistic interview. I have seen several pictures of desserts on this trip. Tell me what has been your favorite dessert on this trip?

Larry: The land of deliciousness – the blizzard

Joyce: Blizzard

Jerry: Blizzard

Debbie: Blizzard but I got a small not a medium size.

HHR: Debbie, not that I doubt you but is it true that you carry around a large bag of peanut better M&Ms in your backpack even on hikes? Doesn’t that indicate favoritism toward the M&M?

Debbie: Well, yes I do but that is not a dessert. They are little balls of power. You can’t carry a blizzard on a hike. Who has been telling you about the M&Ms? Joyce? Jerry? I know it is not Larry because he is always asking for some M&Ms.

HHR: What has been your favorite thing about the trip thus far?

Joyce: I’ll go first. It is so lovely to have the HHR back. My favorite thing was the geysers. I loved having a seat and nice view.

Jerry: I liked the buffalo.

Larry: I liked the geometric features Yellowstone.

Debbie: I liked the colorful hot pools and of course the mud pits.

HHR: Debbie, you do strike me as someone that would like the mud pits. What was your least favorite thing?

Joyce: Bradley Lake. It was a lot of walking for a view through the trees.

Larry: Dust on the trail.

Jerry: Some of the porta pottys were less than desirable.

Debbie: Some of our fellow tourists would fail my good tourist test.

HHR: I know that you have hiked a lot. What has been your most difficult hike?

Joyce: It was a hike in Norway in 2019.

Debbie: Jerry, Larry and I all agree it was the hike in Norway in 2018. Joyce wasn’t there. Click here to read about that hike (Pulpit Rock) on 09/13. HHR, I think that we have answered enough questions today.

We ended the day at the Red Eagle Lodge. We discovered that all the restaurants that were still open for the season opened to a crowd at 4 P.M.