The Final Week and Long Drive

Photo: Sunrift Gorge

Just so this is complete, we'll tell you about our last week in Montana and our drive home. We don't have a lot of photos from that time period, so we'll share some of the ones we didn't get to tease you with before.

On our last days off, we decided to try to hike to Hidden Lake, which is a pretty tame hike but one of the "famous" ones. We hadn't done it before because it had been snowcovered for most of the time we were there. This hike begins from Logan Pass and we can't take the RV there so we needed to catch a shuttle. This is where the adventure began.

There were some mechanical issues with the larger shuttle buses, so the company had brought some of the smaller buses to the east side of the park. We went to the visitor center and prepared to take a shuttle, knowing it may be a longer wait than usual. That was okay because the hike was a short one. We were pleasantly surprised to find a shuttle waiting at the curb with only two other people aboard. We climb on and carry on a pleasant conversation with the couple onboard (a pastor and his wife that were staying at the KOA). The bus fills up, but no driver has come onboard yet. We wait....go ask the rangers who say that the driver is on break and that one should come in 10-15 minutes. We wait...another shuttle arrives. We ask that driver if we can get on his shuttle, but he states that he will be going to lunch and won't be leaving for 35 minutes. We stay put. We wait...and still no driver. In the meantime, the other shuttle fills up with people. We wait...and the OTHER driver is done lunch and takes his shuttle up the mountain. At this point we ask again. Still no answer on where a driver is or when this shuttle will move. We all give up and change plans. Some carpooled with each other, some decide to do something else. We decide to go to lunch.

While eating a great lunch at the park cafe, we decide that we don't think anyone had rented the van that the KOA has for people to use. We head to the campground and ask if we can use the van. We head up the mountain (45 minute trip) and get to Logan Pass. Parking lot is full. Circle, curse, circle, curse...circle...decide to give up and go back down the mountain. Hidden Lake will have to stay hidden from the Holyoke clan.

We drive to the Many Glacier section of the park and decide to pick up a few souvenirs we had been eyeing all summer. After a successful shopping trip we head back to the campground for the evening.

Our last day off we decide to spend with our friends, Dan and Rena. We drove to the west side of the park, did a bit of shopping, went out to eat together and just talked about the summer and what was coming up in the future for all of us. We will really miss them, and hope to connect again in the future. They cooked us a great steak dinner for a farewell treat, too!

The drive home was four long days. St. Mary to Minot, ND.....Minot to Marquette, MI....Marquette to Ogdensberg, NY via Ontario....and Ogdensberg to home. We were all ready to be up and moving by the time we got home! I don't think I would make a good long-haul trucker.

Now we need to get some photos printed, but that will have to wait just a bit while we get Paul off to college and get our classrooms ready. Here are a few more to give you a taste of Glacier. Enjoy.







This is the ranger station at Goat Haunt, and you can see the border patrol checking passports. No line of cars here, but as you can see it is used by lots of hikers and people on the tour boats.


This is the view from Granite Park Chalet where we had lunch on one of our hikes. You can see the trail off to the left.
One of the many wildflower fields we encountered while hiking.
We hope to see you all in person, soon. Thanks for taking the time to share in our summer vacation. We loved it, and the answer to everyone..."Yes, we would do this type of thing again in a heartbeat." We hope to do it at another national park area to allow us the chance to explore somewhere else. Yosemite is high on our list of places to visit in more depth, but we are also open to other opportunities as well. Who knows where we will wander next!
The Holyokes