Sunday 12 Sep 21 Bearly Survived
12Sep21
I got up around 7 and took Wiggin on his morning potty break. I got on the road around 7:30 and drove to the town of Bigfork Montana. Definitely a nice tourist town during the travel season but since it was the Sunday following Labor Day there wasn't anything open, I mean Nothing! I got back on the highway heading North towards Glacier National Park.
I drove on to Columbia Falls and finally found a small cafe called Carolyn's Cafe for breakfast. It was small, no bar and there were a lot of people waiting. I got on the list to wait for my table. I noticed a young lady who appeared to be by herself as well. The hostess called out her name Nicole and sure enough she was alone. I thought seriously about asking if she would share her table with me but I was too timid. When I did get my table which could seat 4 I told the hostess I was willing to share the table.
A few minutes later a lady named Cynthia, about my age came and sat down at my table. We had a great conversation. She was married but had been separated from her husband for quite some time. She said that she traveled full-time and most of the time she slept in her car. If you follow my blog you know that I often sleep in my car or a rental car. Since I have done it for so long I happen to notice other people sleeping in their cars. Especially at Walmart Supercenters.
After breakfast I continued on to Glacier NP. Once in the park I drove until I came to Lake McDonald Lodge. Once I found a parking spot I grabbed Wiggin and walked to the other side of the lodge to the south shore of Lake McDonald. I let Wiggin wade in the water but he wasn't all that interested. I had been to that very spot several years ago when Zack and I were on a road trip. After a few minutes I walked back to the car and proceeded east on Going to the Sun Highway. It was cloudy which made for some great photos along the way. It was amazing how many people were in the park. Traffic was bad and finding parking spots at the view points was challenging. I drove all the way through the park past Saint Mary's Lake. Once out of the park I headed north on highway 89.
I drove past the spot where Zack and I had remote camped on our road trip. The spot had once been a campground or RV park. I remember finding several power boxes for the individual camping spots. The campground was just east of Lower Saint Mary Lake's east shore. I had also found some Huckleberries a little north of our camp and when I came to the area I pulled over, grabbed Wiggin and went to see if there were any berries. Sadly it was definitely past season because there wasn't a single berry. I walked on down to the shore of the lake and sat down on a log someone had placed there. Wiggin went out in the water and after a while I noticed he was fixated on something north of our location. I saw something in the water and first thought it was some ducks but after closer examination I realized it was a sow bear and her two cubs. I thought I even notice a hump on her back, one of the main characteristics of a grizzly bear. Wiggin wasn't on a leash and I was afraid he would take off and charge the bears at any moment. I should have grabbed him immediately but I really wanted to take some photos. I quickly snapped off a couple of shots then grabbed Wiggin and headed back to the car. Once I got Wiggin in the car I drove down a lane to where a travel trailer was parked. I sat there for about 15 minutes hoping the bear would come that way. After that I drove south to some other trailer sights but I never saw the bear again.
I got back on the highway and continued to Two Sisters Cafe. Zack and I had eaten there a couple of times and I remember it being really good. It was pretty busy but it didn't take long to get a table. I ordered the bison sirloin steak. I was a bit skeptical and asked the server if it was actually bison. He seemed pretty upset that I would even ask such a question.
As I was sitting there I was shocked to see Nicole from this morning come in. She was still alone and she was shortly seated a couple of tables away from me. My dinner was very good but I made sure to save room for a piece of their famous huckleberry pie alamode with huckleberry ice cream. When the server brought it I couldn't help myself and asked him if they were really huckleberries. He got a big chuckle out of that.
On my way out I stopped and asked Nicole if she was following me. She was a bit puzzled at first but finally realized she had seen me earlier at Carolyn's during breakfast. We talked for a couple of minutes. She had flown in from North Carolina to tour the park and was flying back home in a couple of days. A very nice young lady.
I got back on the road headed for Great Falls Montana. Shortly I came to a very large herd of bison. I assume that is where my dinner came from. Along the way there was a storm off to the east. At one point it was a full semi circle and I stopped and took some photos. I drove and found a Walmart in Great Falls where I spent the night.