Long Day Alone

    The day started early from the Trapper Hotel, as I had big plans for seeing everything. I did not use my breakfast coupon as I just wanted to get on the road and go back to explore Theodore Roosevelt National Park and reach Glacier by evening. So, I headed in and toured the north side of the park. It was gorgeous. Lots of little turn offs with small hikes that looked out over the valley. 

    After taking in the north section of the park, I headed towards Glacier, taking highway 2 instead of the quicker interstate. The views were much like the day before...open land with oil drilling and farms, and it didn't change much when I crossed into Montana. One of the oil refineries flames made me think of the Eye of Sauron from Lord of the Rings, and gave my trip a sense of adventure, once again with Sean Astin making an imagined appearance (He played in Goonies (April trip) and played in The Lord of the Rings trilogy (this trip)). As I headed west across Montana, there were more buttes; heart butte this time. Of course, all my adventures do need to have some form of dinosaur, right? 

        About midday, I made it to the Glacier National Park area, and began looking for a place to set up camp for the next couple of nights. Eventually, I found a relatively new campground near the east entrance of the park, and set up camp. There was a small hiking trail around the tent areas of the campground, and so I explored a bit before heading into the park itself. 

    The sky cleared up a little as I headed to the park to check it out as the sun was setting. I was so excited to finally make it to the place I had attempted to go to in April. It was gorgeous. As I drove along, there were waterfalls, mountains, and lakes. I couldn't help but stop and take tons of photos as well as just taking small video clips of the sounds of nature. At the entrance, I had seen a notice about the road being closed due to road conditions. So, I decided I would go as far as I could, and then turn around, hoping to catch a marvelous sunset on the return. 

    I stopped at trail heads, looked at the little pamphlet/map the park had given me upon entrance, and planned what I would do tomorrow. If they were short enough, I would walk the hikes when I stopped. Some of the walks were to waterfalls, while some were overlooks of the lakes and mountains. The scenery simply took my breath away. 

    As I made my way back out of the park from where the road was closed, I mentally made plans to paddleboard the lake, hike up one of the trails overlooking the lakes, and see many more waterfalls. There was just so much to see and do, and I was thankful I had gotten my tent site for 2 nights. Of course, I also needed to drive Going to the Sun Road. Many people had told me that. So, I got back to camp, ate some dinner, and headed to bed for the night. After all, tomorrow was going to be a big day of sight seeing.