Day 1: Into the Myst(ic)

The plan: kick the road trip off with a ten and a half hour drive to Glacier National Park to camp for the night. The outcome: oh goodness.

Day 1 – July 10

All week friends and family asked me if I was ready, excited, and/or scared. If you know me at all, you know that the answer is all of the above.

As is normal with all of my trips, I pack the day before and then get minimal sleep the night before. Nothing ever changes. Well, almost. The plan was to get up at 4 a.m. and hit the open road by five, stopping off at a few roadside attractions on the way to Glacier National Park 680 miles away on the western edge of Montana.

Here’s what happened: I was tired. I didn’t fuel up the day prior. My bed was terribly comfortable. I changed the alarm setting at four to wake me up at six. Before you freak out, I woke up at six. No worries. This is the lovely weather that hailed the beginning of this adventure.

Beautiful, I know. That didn’t stop my enthusiasm.

With everything packed, Pleiades (my Subaru) fueled up, and zero caffeine to speak of, I began my journey toward Portland then headed east along the Columbia River Gorge.

Things were fairly uneventful. I drove straight through to Spokane, WA and fueled up. Nothing remarkable to note, except that this was my first visit there.

Lunchtime came and went, but around 2:30 p.m. I realized I had not eaten anything worthy of being called a “meal,” unless you count peanut butter cheddar crackers (you know I’ve got Lance in my pants) and watermelon Pop Tarts as a complete breakfast. I stopped off in Kellogg, ID (go Wildcats?) to explore the quaint town (complete with completely ripped up historic uptown streets) and grab some grub.

Hill Street Depot turned out to be the right choice on this overcast, comfortably chilly day. Seated across from the Silver Valley Veterans Memorial, the Depot has a great local feel with delightful staff. The town was still covered in American flags and adornments from Independence Day. I’m sure that no one wants to be the first to take theirs down and be deemed “unpatriotic.” As for grub, I struck gold (silver?) with a North Idaho cheesesteak sandwich topped with sweet peppers and provolone and an Epic Los Locos Mexican-style lager (the best I’ve ever had). The road was calling, though. I stopped in next door at The Bean for some draft cold brew coffee to fuel my journey.

The scenery leading up and into Glacier was amazing, but as I got closer, the rains began. No problem, I thought to myself. I could always sleep in the car if it’s coming down too hard to set up the tent. Little did I know what I was getting myself into. Or rather, what I couldn’t get myself into.

Rolling up to the Western Glacier gate, I was greeted by a friendly Park Ranger (is there any other kind?) and asked him about camp sites, since most of them seemed to be full. He recommended I go along Going-to-the-Sun Road and check out a few specific sites. Lo-and-behold, the first couple he directed me to were full. I pushed into this amazing display of nature.

The roads were more challenging than those I faced in Washington’s Olympic National Park last fall. Rocky ledges on one side and steep canyon walls on the other, add pedestrians, other drivers, rain, myst, and hail and you’ve got one of the toughest and most rewarding drives I’ve ever completed.

I found myself stopping along designated turn-offs every ten minutes or so because the views were astounding.

Snow bridges. Waterfalls. Clouds passing closely overhead. This was quickly becoming my new favorite park. And yet, still no open campgrounds were to be found.

The weather began to clear up around Saint Mary Lake towards the eastern end of the park, at least for a little while.

Things weren’t looking promising for a place to lay my head. I’d already spent seven hours on the road. The drive through the park took almost two hours. The final two camp grounds on this road, Rising Sun and Saint Mary, were full. Okay. I’ll stop at the hotel on the edge of the park.

No vacancy.

Awesome. With a thunderstorm brewing to the east, I started to worry. The weather report for the next day wasn’t looking good, either. Let’s be honest, I saw more than I thought I would already. How crowded would the sites be on the next day? What if I just kept heading to my next destination? Well…why not?

I had a reservation for a hotel in Great Falls, MT for tonight (July 11). What if I just head there? I could be in by eleven and just rest and explore things over here.

The thunderstorm hit.

As if the roads weren’t treacherous enough, free range cattle crossed the roads without prior thought, as well as deer and other wildlife. Winding roads coming down from Glacier slowed my driving further. Apart from an outstanding lightshow, no harm came to me (or the cattle). At what I thought was 11 p.m., I pulled into Great Falls. Not remembering where the Mountain time zone began, I realized as I settled in that it was midnight. I had not eaten a meal since Kellogg because I planned on heating up an MRE at camp. Luckily, I have enough jerky and granola bars to sustain me.

Even though I was on the road for sixteen (!) hours, including stops, I wasn’t as tired as I thought I would be. Could I have kept on driving? Highly unlikely. Having a goal after Glacier is what helped me keep going. I’m beyond excited to show you the amazing gem in Great Falls tonight. Keep an eye out on my Instagram. Comment here or Tweet me with recommendations on where to stay or eat. I’ll be in Great Falls until tomorrow morning when I embark towards South Dakota and the greatest rest stop in all the land: Wall Drug.

Until then, cheers.
RF

Day 1 Stats:

Miles traveled: 868 (approx.)

States visited:

1. Oregon
2. Washington
3. Idaho
4. Montana