Many Glacier, etcetera

Is it Thursday already?  I remember back in my workaday life when I would wake up on Thursdays thinking it should be Saturday already.....now time seems to fly by.  The days of the week have become just a reference points for me, but no longer have the same meaning, because, as you know, every day feels like Saturday to me now.

Thursday was the beginning of our third day in St. Mary on the east side of Glacier National Park.  We had been all the way up to Logan Summit twice, and even done a hike.  Our blog friends, Howard and Linda (RV Dreams Journal) had suggested we do a short hike off the Many Glacier road to Red Rock Falls before we left the area, so that was our plan first thing Thursday morning, and we actually got in the car round 9 am to drive the 8 miles back up to Babb, and then 12 mile into Many Glacier.  Of course, another beautiful, stunning drive.

We arrived at the trailhead around 9:30 and began the 1.3 mile hike up to the falls within 10 minutes.  Somehow I forgot to bring my phone/camera so TLE did all the photography honors for this adventure.  

The trail has a little uphill right at the beginning, but levels off to the point you don't really notice the slight grade.  We crossed a stream a few times.....not doubt the overflow from Red Rock Lake.  We use Leki hiking poles which we love for uphill and downhill stretches......they allow you to use your upper body to take some strain off your legs on the uphill, and off your knees on the downhill.  I find when I hike for distances, whether, or not I am wearing a pack, that my hands start to swell a little.  Using poles, even while on the flat, keeps my hands somewhat elevated and no swelling!

We reached the falls in about 30 minutes....we were hoping to see some Moose, but unless we just stumbled upon them feeding at the right time it would mean we would need to find a place to sit for about an hour, or more, and we didn't have that much time as we needed to checkout of Johnson's before Noon.  We spent about 20 minutes taking pictures, and a little more time taking pictures for some hikers of their family with the falls in the background, then started our hike back.

TLE's pano of Red Rock Lake....great reflection in the mirror like water, huh?

We arrived back at Johnson's just as Howard and Linda were leaving, so we got to say "until next time's" again.  They are headed east toward North Dakota, and we southwest.  Within 30 minutes we were ready to roll...we decided to drive back into town to the store where we had originally unloaded the 'Bird to put it back in, and allow TLE to pick up some milk and 1/2 and 1/2.....a bonus was she found some more Snappy Tom's Tomato Cocktail juice for me.....yay!

  

Red Rock Falls

Highway 89 out of St. Mary starts with a climb and does not let up until you top out at 6,100' after 10 miles, but our total driving distance to Browning, MT was only 32 miles for the day....another grueling driving day, huh?  The coach performed well, and the temps stayed well under 200 degrees.  I had found a small park in RVParkReviews.com called Sleeping Wolf RV Park just on the outskirts of Browning, which is in the middle of the Blackfeet Indian Nation land.  It is not a glamorous type park, and the $25/night price reflects that......water and 50 amp electric only, and only 10 long pull through sites.......when we arrived we were the only ones in the "park", which is really more like high desert scrub.  Browning is a good place for us to leave the coach Friday while we drive into Great Falls, MT and back to take care of some personal business.

It was around 1 pm, so I took care of a few insurance e-mails, then took a nap (I woke up at 5:30 Thursday), then around 6 we drove into Browning to see if we could find a place to eat dinner, but the "picking" were pretty slim, so we decided to drive over to East Glacier Park about 12 miles distant to eat at a Mexican restaurant called Serranos which Yelp gives 4 stars.....unfortunately when we arrived around 6:30 there was a 45+ minute wait for a table.....they are, obviously, very popular!  So, instead we walked down the street about a block to East Glacier Village Cafe, and were seated in about 5 minutes.  We discovered they had a marvelous selection of micro brews for $3.75 per bottle.....nothing on tap, but they had one of my recent favorites, Summer Shandy by Leinenkugel of Chippewa Falls, WI fame.  Yelp gives them 4 stars and I would agree......the food and service were excellent!

The Shandy is on the left...TLE had Moose Drool Amber Ale, which I will try next time......very, very good.

East Glacier Park is where we are headed next to spend a few days site seeing, and doing some more hiking.  I know, another long driving day at 12 miles......lol!

We arrived back "home" around 8:30 and settled in to watch the 2 hour finale of "Hell's Kitchen"......in case you are a fan, and haven't seen who won, I will just whisper it quietly.....stop reading if you don't want to know........."Janelle".

We found out today that our friends, Chris and Cherie (Technomadia), should have their rebuilt Detroit Diesel 8V71 back in their '61 GM bus conversion in a few days, and be back on the road....they have been in Billings for over 6 weeks now I believe.....so we are very, very happy for them.  We may yet cross paths again before you know it! 

Thanks for stopping by!