Wild West day 37

Continuing on our way to Yellowstone. We hit I-90 at Livingston and caught it west to Gallantin where we took a shortcut over to US Hwy 191.  I believe it was at Four Corners we "dieseled up" and the place we stopped actually had pumping service.  A youngish guy, probably in his 20s came out to pump and while pumping I made a comment on how hazy the sky was today.  We could see the mountains in the distance very well yesterday, but today they were pretty hidden.  He told me it was smoke from the Washington State forest fire.  It had just now drifted its way over lower southwest Montana.  It reminded me of the Los Angeles basin smog back in the 60s.

From Four Corners, we headed on down toward West Yellowstone.  Now we had a decision to make...do we camp near West Yellowstone or do we keep going back down to Ashton and crash Rosie's party again.  Let me tell you, Rosie was tempting, but we decided to stay at the Rainbow Point campground on Hebgen Lake and hit Yellowstone tomorrow.  No picture here, but I do have a story.

The road into the campground was not paved and had many water filled potholes and puddles from an afternoon rain shower.  Inside the park the speed limit was 15 MPH and any faster was really bone jarring.  We arrived there well on into the evening after trying another campground closer to West Yellowstone that was full.  The campground host there told us to try Rainbow Point and we lucked out, there was a spot.  Not far from the loop our site was in was the lake.  We had to cross the main road to get there.  It was nearing dust on the way back from our walk to the lake.  A family in a mid-sized motorhome pulled up and stopped to ask if we knew where any open sites were.  We had already crossed the road, so I turned back to speak with him.  As I walked across what one would consider the lane going the opposite way as the guy I saw a huge motorhome barreling down on us.  He must have been doing 50 MPH.  I held my breath, waiting for the crash I knew was coming.  I was sure he was going to rear-end the fellow in the first RV.  Zoom!  The big RV tore passed the one with the family who had stopped.  I did not know it, but luckily the guy had stopped with just barely enough room on the right for the idiot to get through.  I'm sure his hurry was in trying to find an open spot before someone else got it.  What he obviously did not know or maybe did not care was that not 5 minutes before, several kids were puttering around the area on bicycles.  There is no way he could have stopped or avoided them.  The thought almost made me ill.

But, all's well that ends well...I guess.

Wild West day 36

Our next stop is the Many Pines campground as we make our way through Great Falls and down to Yellowstone.

Time for a good book.

As much of this blog is being written well after our trip due to lack of Internet service along the way, I'm plugging in this story here, though it may have actually occurred another day.

Ever since we started our trip, I've worn a spare key to the RV around my neck, which is no small matter as it is a big fob with the key built in...not very comfortable in bed.  I wore it because the key is unusual, being a Mercedes key, and I was concerned if we got locked out or lost the key it would be very difficult and expensive to get a replacement out here.

We stopped at a rest stop briefly and as we pulled in, we noticed another Winnebago just like ours, so I pulled up beside it.  There was an elderly man with his dog out beside it.  It was hot outside and he had left the engine running to keep it cool, I assumed.  As we pulled up, I rolled down my window and asked the man how he liked his motorhome.  It was then my paranoid insistence in wearing the spare key around my neck became a wise choice.  The man and his dog were locked out...with the engine still running.  The Mercedes van that the motorhome is built on has a "safety" measure where if the engine is left running for several minutes, it will automatically lock the doors.  Surprise!  For giggles, we tried my key, but unfortunately, it would not open his RV.  He had already called a locksmith who was on the way, but it was 30-40 miles away.  It was going to be expensive, no doubt.  To make the situation even more sad, the man told me he and his wife had bought the new motorhome the previous year (about the same time we bought ours), planning on seeing the country.  But, his wife died shortly afterwards, before they got to travel in it.  This trip was his way of fulfilling their dreams.

Wild West day 35

We got an earlier that usual start this morning.  Lots to see.  Heading out of the campground, we made a left and hit the Going-To-The-Sun Road driving along the east shore of Lake McDonald, although the lake was not very visible due to the trees.  Beyond the lake we began climbing and the clouds covering the mountains were a site to see.

But, alas, we had to turn back.  The park restricts vehicles over 21' in length beyond the Avalanche Campground area due to sharp turns and overhangs.  Drat!  But, I knew this going in.  My plan is to go up the road as far as they allow on this side, then go back down, circle the park and come in from the other side.

Just before we reached the turn-around area, we encountered a traffic jam.  As traffic slowly filtered through the obstacle, we finally reached it, the cause of the jam.  Some idgit in a RoadTrek apparently tried to turn around in the middle of the road instead of going on up to the turn-around area and got hung up.  I'd bet he was embarrassed or should have been anyway.  He had backed off the pavement and got the rear-end stuck in the ditch.

So, we turned around at the appointed place (they had a good turn-around area) and headed back down. The van was still there, but I could see a wrecker coming down the road.  Hope the guy had good roadside service.

As we headed back down toward the Apgar area, we had a good view of the stream filling Lake McDonald.  I'm not sure of the name, but it might be McDonald Creek or River.  Joyce stayed in the RV, but I just had to get out.

McDonald Falls

Out of the park and looping around the south side on US Hwy 2, we stopped at a river access for lunch and a nap.  It's the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. Some fellow was there trying his luck, but I didn't see any evidence of it.

 

After my nap, we continued on Hwy 2 and wore our eyes out.

We hit State Hwy 49 at East Glacier Park and took it for a shortcut.  There were signs limiting vehicle length to 21' again, but since it wasn't actually in the park, we decided to look the other way.

Even Ditto was impressed.

Then on into the park as far as we could go.

Wanna see more?

Enough is enough, so we headed out US Hwy 89 to a campground at Valier, Mt. about 10 miles east off Hwy 89.  Amazing how quickly the landscape changes.

It bored Ditto

The side trip was worth it.  The Lake Francis City Park was a nice stop and we had had a big day.

Wild West day 34

Continuing on our way toward Glacier National Park, we drove along beside the Mission Mountain Range.  A ways off, but still massive and beautiful.

We made it to Apgar campground in Glacier National Park, the main campground on the west entrance to the park.  Traveling without reservations as we almost always do (hate schedules), we arrived not knowing if we'd find a campsite.  After all, it was the height tourist season for the park.  But, we found an open handicapped site and grabbed it.  We were right next to the toilet building (no showers here).  The park was close quartered and as mentioned, being the height of the season, quite crowded.  But, I forgot to take a picture so you'll have to take my word for it.

Wild West day 33

We left Craters of the Moon pretty much as we'd found it and backtracked to my favorite town, Arco, to catch US Hwy 93 going north.  We followed 93 along the Bitterroot Mountains and camped in another National Forest campground beside the Bitterroot River just south of Conner, Mt.  Many of the campers there were trout fishermen hoping for supper.

I would have like to try my luck at fishing, too, but no tackle and no license.

Wild West day 32

After a great visit, we left Ashton this morning.  Since we had altered our original itinerary to visit Ashton while Tom, Jr. was there, we are backtracking to get up to Glacier National Park.  But, who really wants to backtrack.  So, we're making a big loop and heading west a little ways before we head north.  First stop is Craters of the Moon National Monument.  But, not until my brush with the law in Arco, Id. first.

We're puttering along on US Hwy 20 from Idaho Falls when we come into the little sleepy town of Arco.  There is nothing going on.  Hardly a soul on the street.  I have my GPS on, but as typical I have the nagging gal on it muted.  I approached a light (the only one in town) in the straight through lane when I realized I should turn left at the light.  I quickly checked my mirror and, as I said earlier, there was no one in sight, so I jerked it over to the left turn lane as I entered the intersection and made the left turn.  There was actually less traffic than is shown in the below photo.  The red line shows my approximate path fro right to left.

Almost immediately, I see a cop car turning in behind me.  He flipped on his lights so I pulled over...license, registration..."do you know why I stopped you?"  The guy must have been lonesome.  But, I had to sit there and listen to a 40 something dufus lecture me, a 70 something dufus, on how dangerous a maneuver I had made and that they'd already had six deaths this year...blah, blah, blah. I wanted to ask him if those six deaths had been suicides or if they had had a plague or something, but I bit my tongue and listened intently with my most sincere face showing.  It worked.  He just warned me and let us go on our happy way.

Now, where were we?  Oh yes, making a left turn, obviously improperly, and following US 20 to Craters of the Moon.  The park was less than 20 miles from Arco, so we were there in short order.  We found a campsite and nailed it down then went for a tour of the park.

Here's our campsite.

The park is not all that large, so we were able to tour it before dark.  It's an interesting place.  Even the NASA astronauts thought so, too.  So much so, they used it to simulate walking on the moon.

Those are people walking up that big ash pile.

I sure would hate to have to walk across this stuff.

Wild West day 31

Ashton