Saturday, September 10, 2011

Glacier- Part II- In Which Teddy Forgets A Lot


Because that happened like 2 months ago. Holy carp.

After my stint on the west side, I drove around to the east side. Since the Going-To-The-Sun Road was closed, there was only one way. Around the park. Highway 2, if I recall. To the east of the park is an Indian Reservation, I forget what nation or tribe. Anyway, I made my way through narrow twisted roads on the sides of cliffs holycraphavethesepeopleneverevenheardofasafetyrailthisisthescariestthingI'veeverdoneAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

But I digress.

I spent a few days/nights at Many Glacier, so called originally because of all of the glaciers there were in the area. Now- not so many.

The campground was situated in a fairly thickly treed area (probably Douglas fir and spruce, but I didn't really check) but no matter where you were all you had to do was look up and HOLYCARPMOUNTAIN(S). Pretty baller. A very short walk away from my site (the drive was longer because I had to go around and around to get out of the campground) was the Swiftcurrent Motor Inn, where Many Glacier ranger programs met for walks, talks, etc. It had a gift shop and a restaurant, the former having huckleberry softserve ice cream and the latter having pretty darn good food.


For the food, it was up and down. The dinners I got were great. The breakfasts.... not so much. I really don't know why. One dinner was fettuccine with red sauce. Which, besides tastily being the first hot non-Ramen-or-oatmeal-or-canned-soup food I'd had in almost a week, was BLASPHEMY. Spaghetti gets red sauce, fettuccine white, and linguine the happy middle ground of either. "It's still hot food in your stomach." Mother still knows best.

My favorite hike here was on July 4th- the Iceberg Lake Hike. While most people were setting off fireworks and drinking, I was hiking. On a mountain. The ranger was a former science teacher, and was one of the more entertaining ones for me to actually listen to, and one of the more informative. He covered scientific stuff, not just the ranger-public nature stuff. Not that many of his audience seemed like they really cared. It was a great day for wildlife. I saw 2 moose (perhaps the same one twice), 2 bears, a golden eagle, mountain goats, and bighorn sheep.

He could only take us on part of the trail- snow covered the last portion and he couldn't take us due to park policy. But we could hike it ourselves. Most everyone turned back at the sight of snow (some of these people had sandals and/or shorts). But two intrepid explorers continues on- myself and a wonderful British woman named Christine. She was on a 2 week vacation from across the pond to see Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier. We had delightful conversations about the US, Britain, differences between our languages, between
dialects, and various other things. I mentioned how I would like to see what British history books say about the Revolutionary War (War of Independence), to which she thought for a second and said she really didn't know- our independence is a lot less important to them than their own national history, such as the monarchs and so forth. I smiled at that. Take that, over-inflated American ego!

Lunch was taken at the side of Iceberg Lake. Which was frozen. Completely. I was eating tuna salad crackers sitting on a rock in the middle of a snow field next to a frozen lake- on July 4th. In America. Mind = BLOWN.

Later that night, after dinner (the unholy pasta) I was sitting on the porch of the inn reading. Or playing Pokemon. I was playing Pokemon. In the bed of a truck in the parking lot was the cutest dog I had ever seen. Literally. I am not a dog person. I wanted this dog. He never made a sound. Just had a face that said "Are you my person? Why is my person?" SO CUTE.

Turns out he belonged to the people next to me whose conversation I was listening to because they were funny. The lady got Harley (that's his name) out of the truck. Btw, he's a Siberian Husky-wolf mix. WAT. And he was so welled trained that she walked him around on an 'invisible leash'. GOOD DOG. BEST FRIEND.

This will make sense to very few people.


After Many Glacier, I headed down to Two Medicine. Which was a campground with 25 sites. One pit toilet. No potable water. Definitely no electricity. And accessible only via a 5 mile gravel road through Indian Reservation territory during which you likely had to wait for horses that stood in the middle of the road every chance they got. Which was every time I drove through except for when I left. Which means 4/5 times.

I went on a 12 miler with 3 rangers and 6 other people. Everyone was an avid outdoorsy person, some younger and more fit than others. We hiked to Medicine Grizzly Lake.

It was GORGEOUS. I didn't take my camera (remember my policy for being outside?) but it was so pretty. Goodness.

I had gotten up from Many Glacier at ~6am to make sure I got down to Two Medicine in time for the hike at 8. So when we got back I set up my tent after paying for a site for 2 nights. I smelled bad. As in I literally had not showered for a week bad. Noticeable only when laying in the tent. Worse was when I took off my socks/shoes. Disgusting.

I was settled in for a nice quiet night. It was. There was only 2 other tents in the place, and I never saw anyone.

The next day I drove back up to St. Mary (which I had driven through but skipped) to see the park from that side, driving and walking around a bit. I got back tired and feet hurting, ready for another peaceful night.

Not. To. Be.

Some dysfunctional family came in and set up camp. Yelling and swearing the whole time. Right next to me. 23 open spots, and you had to pick the one spot next to me. FML. But then they moved one over. Mother, father/grandfather (couldn't really tell how old everyone was in realtion to one another), 2 mid-late teen guys, small girl, smaller boy. One of the teens came out of the toilet smoking right before I went in.

None of them seemed to be enjoying themselves (much less a particularly enjoyable person) and I was like, "Then why are you here?"

The next morning, got up early (sensing a trend here) and stopped at Luna's for huckleberry pancakes. #gooddecision

Drove back to Missoula, and that's where some picture posts come in.

Pic Post #7

Sorry for the hiatus- for a while I couldn't write, and then when I could I didn't want to (blame video games and the internet).

These are from after Missoula to Seattle.


Mount Rainier. This NP is for hikers/climbers. RVs are a Bad Idea here. Also it rains a lot.
I did a lot of pensive hiking here. In snow. Or rain. Sometimes both. Want to go back for more.


This is the Coolest Place EVAR. If you ever visit anywhere before you die- GO HERE.


Dinner in the hotel. Fresh sourdough boule and a white peach, both from the marketplace.


The Space Needle- didn't go up it. Apparently a good decision, as it's expensive.


Exhibit in the Pacific Science Museum.
This is Volume 21 of the 23 volume Encyclopedia Genetica- it lists letter by letter (nucleotides) the entire genetic sequence of the 23 human chromosomes.
This is the smallest chromosome/volume. It has 1,717 pages. See those little specks? Those are letters. In like size 6 font. The largest volume has over 14,000 pages.

Can you say wow? I can. And did.

Saturday, July 9, 2011

Glacier- Part I - Lists!

Where do I start? Oh yeah.

I drove to Glacier NP last Thursday, with no mishaps other than the occasional dusting of rain.

Got into the park and acquired huckleberry jam. #bestpb&jsever
Found out that most of the backcountry campsites were...under snow. That ruled out that option. They're serious about backcountry there. You have to apply for a permit and everything.

Spent 3 nights at the Sprague Creek campsite.
After getting there, paying for my site, and pitching my tent, I decided to spend some quality alone time in my tent.

After a while, I left to go to the bathroom.

Upon physically exiting my tent I was accosted by a large Indian man who, with a fairly decent accent, asked me to help him set up his tent.
I then realized it was July 4th weekend when he said he couldn't get a hotel and had to buy a tent, apparently one large enough to house his entire family. All... I don't know, like 8 of them?
This thing was like a castle. Made of fabric. Designed for 10 people. #theymakethose?

The directions were sewn onto the bag it came in (the INside of the bag) and were very... unintuitive. Probably the first time that word's been used not describing video game levels.

After about an hour, many Indians running around, arguing, sometimes in English, sometimes in ... whatever language that was, I have no idea, usually a combination of both in the same sentence, like my handwriting is both print and cursive, it was set up and everyone was on the same page.

And I finally got to go to the bathroom.
Getting back, they were driving off in their HUGE white SUV, stopping to ask my name, the man giving me his and his card. Ashish Patel, General Manager of Holiday Inn Suites in Lolo, MT.

"If you are ever in Lolo, my friend-- look me up."

After they drove away, I got into my car and had a 5-minute laughing fit over the inanity of it all.

-Next day-

Got up early~ish (like 8:30- actually sleeping in for me this trip xD) and went to a group ranger-led hike. I'd decided to plan out my time doing ranger programs rather than hiking solo, like in Yellowstone, for a few reasons.
1) They were already listed and planned out and stuff.
B) They have more bears in the park. As in, GLAC (the shorthand) is a fraction of Yellowstone's size, but has a resident population of ~300 grizzlies. ~750 or so for the surrounding area w/ GLAC. And 2-3 times that amount of black bears.
3) They have mountain lions, something Yellowstone doesn't.
The signage for warning against animal encounters and solo hiking were more prevalent and vehement than Yellowstone.

So I went on group hikes.

And hated it. Partially.

Because almost everyone there were people who probably were staying in RVs, campers, or hotels during park visits. They were the kind of people that bought brand new boots just for that hike, not wearing them beforehand. The kind of people that used two ski poles for hiking sticks. That wore a giant bucket hat for the sun (not the worst idea, pretty practical actually, but looks stupid and almost everyone but me had one). The kind of people that wore fanny packs or carried nothing but a single water bottle for a 6-8 mile hike with 500-1000 foot elevation gains. The kind of people who only were wearing a tshirt and shorts (a few with sandals- no socks though) at 8 in the morning (when it was still 40F, max) because "it'll warm up". The people whose idea of camping is with fully cooked meals and air conditioning.
Not everyone on these things, grant you. But most of them.

They were ..... tourists.

Then again, I am fulfilling my role as a human in being a hypocrite, as technically I'm a tourist, but... no. Not like these people.

Additionally, people hike so slow. You won't get anywhere if your steps are only 1 1/2 feet at a time.

I was also the only person on these hikes with a backpack larger than a grade school book bag. Not to mention with an external frame. Even on a 12-miler. "Old school" as one ranger put it- though she was thinking of the ones that have the metal frame, not plastic like John's.

Btw bro there's a broken support but it was broken before the trip and before I got it from Alexander. Mother Dearest knows about it. #notmyfault
Speaking of that, Madre, the fixative stuff has cracked but the frame is still holding it solidly in place like you said it would.

Avalanche Lake was a pretty place to hike to though. 3 1/2 hour hike up (with the group), 1 hour hike back down (without). That trail was like a highway, even discounting the ranger group. It was ridiculous.

Ranger-led hikes are slower because
1) they don't out pace anyone if they can help it (and they can)
2) they stop to give talks every 15 minutes or so. These can range from 5 minutes to 20.
3) SO MANY PEOPLE IN THE GROUP

IMO, the faster you get up an uphill section of trail the better. Going super slow wastes energy, hurts your joints more, and takes so much longer.

All this ranting aside, I met some really nice people, like Ron, a microbiologist from Florida, and his wife Julie, who were (staying in a heated cabin thing and took a helicopter tour- something the park doesn't like but can't do anything against because, as it discovered several years ago, it doesn't own the air space above the land) a delight to converse with.

In the mid-late afternoons, after lunch, I had a tendency to read/play Pokemon sitting in my car, and mid-thingy go into a nap. I stayed in the car because
1) it wasn't windy
2) it was cozily warm
3) no mosquitoes.
And no, apparently #1 didn't cancel out #3.

After 3 nights, I packed up and headed to the northeast side of the park (Sunday), via Route 2 around the bottom of the park as the only road going across it (Going-to-the-Sun Road) was closed due to 50-70 foot drifts of snow.

Final note: on my hikes I mused internally rather than vocally, as I am wont to do when I am alone (and sometimes lonely). [Ok Go: "you don't have to be alone to be lonely"]

Something my thoughts stumbled across were that there were 3 kinds of people who went out to parks like this.

1) Those who have hands solely to operate digital cameras, who were only there to take pictures of things.

2) Those who came out to "see it sometime before I die" so they can tell people about it.

3) Those of us who come out to breathe the land, to know it, to live it.

See what I did there?

Pic Post #6

Scenes from Missoula: Part 2

This is what Canadians look like outside their natural environment. From left: Olivia, Tatyaana, and Meghan. Awesome Nerds and Nerdfighters all.


The Wednesday lunch festival, June-August. Every. Wednesday.



Dinner, July 7. Corned Beef and Cabbage Boxty [potato pancake] with Soda Bread; Hungarian Mushroom soup; small Guinness. The Guinness only got half empty (full?). Not pictured: Sprite.

Sodas consumed: 5 (one in Glacier).

This a "good dinner" enough for you, Padres?

I've always heard the last line as "until we meet again, may God hold you in the palm of his hand". Interesting.


Dinner: July 8. 12-inch~ish pizza. Fresh tomato and Basil from the MacKenzie River Pizza Co. (That's water.)


I ate it all.

Pic Post #5

Scenes from Glacier National Park.

Montana has friendly construction signs!


See Jackson Glacier? Neither can I. The glacier is actually underneath the snow drift.


A Stellar's Jay!!!


Avalanche Gorge/Creek, swollen from snow-melt.


Avalanche Lake. 3, count them, 3 waterfalls from snow-melt!

Friday, July 8, 2011

Pic Post #4

Scenes from Missoula: Part 1

Hank Green makes the BEST face. This is one for the record books.


Harry Potter (Year 4) and Harry Potter (Year 7). Very lively and active live performance (music sounds better live too!).


THIS GUY. This is the crazy creepy guy at the concert with with "several million $" jacket.


LETTUCE OM NOM NOM


Best vet place or best vet place?

Pic Post #3

Scenes from Yellowstone:


OMG GRIZZLY BEARS. Mama with 2 cubs.


Met this little chap on the Fairy Falls hike (the only one where I had my camera). #SOCUTE


BISON!!!! Bison bison!


Old Faithful. NPS estimation: 2:01pm +/- 10 minutes. Actual time: 2:16pm. Not bad for predicting volcanic phenomenons.