Another day in the car. It's amazing where it can lead you. Little-traveled two-lane highways through national forests, through reservations and open range, glimpses of the peaks of your destination on the horizon for hours, it seems, teasing you to dare to get closer. The effort is ultimately rewarded with, literally, 12 miles of bad road, a glacial valley, and our first-ever view of, not one, but two grizzlies foraging on the slope above the road.
Lakeside room with a balcony. The interminable howling August wind stirs me to imagine it in mid-winter, in a blizzard. It must be quite frightening. Of course, it must be frightening anyway, even without so much as a gentle breeze, since this lodge is reputed to have been the inspiration for The Shining. Kinda creepy, n'est-ce pas?
Dawn arrived with one of the most amazing displays of sunrise color I have ever seen, viewed directly from the room's balcony. The opposing mountain faces were set on fire by the first rays of sun. This event marked one of the rare occasions where I was thankful to have awakened with the day. 6.10am, 40 degrees. (A noter: This holiday has already set me on a streak for the most consecutive days for me to function before 6.30am. Oddly enough, this behavior cannot be replicated during the work week when I still and always struggle to get up before 7am, quite laughable since I have to leave for work by 7.10 or 7.15am. On holiday, however, every second is precious and must be savored!).
At the boat dock, we're placed on the wait list for the 8.30am ranger-led "Glacier Express" boat ride to the Grinnell Glacier trail. No luck; everyone shows. We get tickets for the next day. I quickly make another day hike plan -- to the lower Grinnell Lake, a fairly flat, mostly lakeside trail past Swiftcurrent and Josephine lakes. As we near the trailhead, Ricky approaches a couple walking away to invite them to hike with us. They too had been on the Glacier Express wait list. Dan and Sara joined us in all of our bear safety silliness. Ricky with the spray; we walked along, clapping and singing and chatting a little louder than usual. We spied fairly fresh bear markings on a trailside tree. We caught the ranger-led, Grinnell Lake nature hike. We were amazed by the beauty of the lakes and creeks and falls and trees and flowers and valley.
It was all amazing and then even more so when we spotted a moose in Lake Josephine, grazing on aquatic plants, immersing her entire head and neck in the water. We named her Josephine, but Sara noted that those who know her best call her simply "Josie." Following a delightful late lunch with Dan and Sara, we retreat to our room for a much-needed siesta.
