July 9: Off the road again

July 9, 2013:  Off the road again...

 

The sun is coming up.  I can feel the pull.  I have been sleeping by mom's shoulder all night, but the pull is there.  Dad just got up and he is putting his front paws in water then on his face.  I will go sit on the perch next to him and supervise.  First I must knock a few things off so that I can fit.  The pull is there.  I must chase away the evil spirits of the morning.  It is my calling.  I must protect my mom.  I must make myself as heavy as possible and pounce on her, thus chasing the spirits away.  What does 'oof' mean?  Wait!  By the chairs!  I must be fast and I must be loud - across my domain to the chairs!  Wait, back to mom.  Quick!  What does 'oof' mean?  Wait, the chairs again!  Fast!  Oh, on to cousin Crew!  Pounce hard and fast.  Quick, they are at the stairs.  Attack!  Back to the chairs.  Back to mom with the magnificent flying leap and pounce!  What does 'oof' mean!  I must chase away the evil spirits of the morning because I am the great and powerful Thunder Paws!

This morning, we pack our lunches and head for the west end of Glacier NP.  Ok, wait, we don't just pack our lunches... We have heard stories of grizzly attacks in the park.  Given that, Spouse assumes that we will be eaten.  We bought bear spray (a good thing).  He notifies the office at the RV park that if we are not back by tonite, to alert the news stations and feed Rudy!  We must take the GPS because we must assume we will get lost.  Note:  every trail is clearly marked...  But for him... just in case...  Crew makes sure Spouse wears his hearing aids.  Spouse is getting pretty hearing challenged...

The west end is the road less traveled.  Most of it is a dirt road winding through a forest that was burnt years ago.  We go by the tiny town of Polebridge.  On our way back, we stopped at their bakery... deadly!  Here we are miles from anywhere, and from what I hear, there is regularly a line out the door in the early mornings. 

 We pass an occasional deer, then turn up to go to Bowman Lake.  It is a one lane road so it is a challenge when a car is coming the other way.  We wind our way through the forest to a beautiful glacial lake.  The erosion of glaciers brings silt into the water which turns it into a beautiful aqua color.  With the glacial mountains in the background, it makes for a stunning scene. 

We take a hike along the lake making noise to ward off bears.  It is a soft trail with beautiful wildflowers and other flora along the way.  As nice as the trail was, there were no WOW moments, so we turned back after about 3 miles.  We then decided to take the dirt road 15 miles north up to Kintla Lake.  The road follows the north fork of the Flathead River and winds through stands of forests and stunning meadows.  All the while, the glacial peaks watch over us.  It takes us about an hour to get to the lake.  There is a small campground there and another scenic glacial lake feeding a fast running stream. 

 Most of the hiking trails on this side of the park are quite long.  I originally wanted to hike to a lookout post near Bowman Lake.  It was nearly a mile to the cutoff trail, then another 4.9 miles up the mountains.  Spouse did not feel he could do a round trip hike of 10+ miles.  He has had plantar fasciitis and does not want to risk having a relapse by overdoing it.  So we are limited.  I probably could have gotten Double-O-Crew to go, but we  wouldn't have been fair to Spouse so I have adjusted my expectations.  Somehow, I will survive!

We were a bit quicker on the way back, and took another back road that brought us back to Hannah.  Kind of boring... more forests, streams, rocky mountains and deer.  Ho hum!