When we got around to East Glacier, the highway we had to take was scenic but really windy with lots of loose gravel. We did see both a cow and a horse standing right beside the road (not together). We drove through Two Medicine and stopped for groceries in St. Mary, then on to Babb, where we headed into Many Glacier. It took us about two hours to get there, and we were picking up rain as we went. By the time we got to the Many Glacier Hotel, which is the trailhead, it was pouring. We went in to take a look at the hotel and decided hiking was out. We sat in the car for awhile, trying to decide if we should wait it out. We toyed with the idea of going on to Yellowstone, but it would have been nearly 3:00 before we could get on the road. We opted to head back to our campsite and see if it was raining there. At this point we were about 10 miles from Canada, but Lisa forgot her passport so we had to skip that.
We stopped in East Glacier at the Glacier Park Lodge and ate our picnic lunch. Luckily it stopped raining for awhile and we walked around and took pictures of the really nice gardens. On the way back, we stopped at Goat Lick, where mountain goats come a lot. I think it was too late in the summer and in the day and we didn't see any. The drive all the way from Many Glacier took over two hours and most of the view was blocked by very low clouds. We did drive right through the part where the forest burned.
It was still raining when we got to Apgar so we did a lot of souvenir shopping at Apgar and West Glacier instead of our Avalanche hike. Lisa bought some huckleberry grizzly gummy bears, as huckleberries are very common here. We drove into the park further to see Lake Macdonald Lodge, which had a nice terrace out back. As I was taking a picture of the hotel, a mouse ran between my feet. I didn't see it, but Lisa did and she screamed. I jumped because I thought I was going to get hit by a car or something!
It was only drizzling so we headed back to camp to make dinner. Dinner tonight was chicken tetrazzini, which I had never made camping, but Lisa gave it a good rating.
The air is very damp and cool tonight so we can see our breath, but at least no rain. Our chairs and our tent are very wet. An RV has moved in next door that had a generator running for a long time. Just as I was plotting how to sabotage it, they shut if off. There was no ranger program tonight and since we spent the whole day driving, not hiking, we walked down to Apgar Village to finish our shopping for Glacier items. I bought a sweatshirt and Lisa bought a vase that reminds her of mountains. We walked back with our ice cream cones and even though it wasn't fully dark, the fog and moist air made it a little eerie.
The campground is not full tonight. I guess people stay away because of rain. Most of the license plates we see are Montana, Idaho, Washington, and Alberta, so people mostly come from nearby. We did pick up Maine and Vermont today, but have been stuck with the last ten or so for a couple days. Tonight the temps should be in the upper 40s but we will hope for no rain. Tomorrow, off to Yellowstone and our first showers since Monday morning! We didn't get to do much hiking in Glacier, but we saw a lot of the park.
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