On the second day of our Montana road trip, we had a quick breakfast at the lodge and stopped at a nearby grocery store to pick up lunch. Cell phone reception is spotty, so we knew we had to rely on an old fashioned map and our own good sense.
We visited the area in October. The trees were starting to yellow, but mostly evergreens were in view. Our travels took us through the small towns of Columbia Falls, Hungry Horse, Martin City, and Coram.
Highway 2 travels along the outskirts of Glacier National Park from West Glacier to East Glacier. The roads were well maintained and not too scary as we passed through the hills. It’s a 28-mile trek from West Glacier to our first stop.
Some of the areas are not well marked. We were lucky to find this spot and made a quick turn onto the road that led us to a parking lot and rest area. We got out to explore some of the paths. A train trellis can be seen in the middle photo above and the photo on the right. We learned how the goats like to stop in the spring to get nourishment from the wet seeps that hide in the rocks. The goats visit the band of rocks along the Flathead River mostly in May and June, but can be seen from April through August. Glacier is heavily populated with bears, and we didn’t want to meet any up close, so we ate our lunch in the car, with the windows rolled up!
A short jaunt lead us to Bear Creek River Access. Some fishermen were trying their luck at this spot, but they weren’t getting any bites. We sat a short time to admire God’s creations.
Next, we stopped at the Roosevelt Memorial Obelisk, which was built at Marias Pass on the Continental Divide in 1931. To learn more, click on the pink text highlighted above.
We continued on Highway 2 to East Glacier, then headed north/northwest on Highway 49 and drove through to the Two Medicine Entrance Station.
After seeing this sign, we took a little walk around the man made trails, where there were plenty of other people making noise to hopefully scare off any bears!
More time was spent admiring the scenery! The rocks look more colorful here. No bears or wildlife approached us.
We headed back the way we came.
That evening Hubby enjoyed a Montana pork chop, and I had a delicious piece of salmon at Abruzzo Italian Kitchen in downtown Whitefish.
When we got back to the lodge, we went outside and sat on the patio by the river, and there is where we saw a little deer chomping on the neighbor’s lawn. Such a nice ending to a great day.
I thank you God for this most amazing day,
for the leaping greenly spirits of trees,
and for the blue dream of sky and for everything which is natural,
which is infinite, which is yes. ~E. E. Cummings
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