GSA 2019 MT Part 2 Glacier National Park

Zion, Bryce, North Rim of the Grand Canyon, Capitol Reef, Arches, Canyonlands, Grand Tetons and Yellowstone. Glacier National Park is our 9th national park of the summer! With switching campgrounds, we knew we wouldn't have a full day for sightseeing on Sunday, so we opted for a boat tour on Lake McDonald.

Lake McDonald, Glacier National Park

The tours are done with wooden boats that have been in service since the late 1930's. (Don't worry, they meet all current safety standards.) The tour offered beautiful views of the mountains from the lake. 

Hanging Lights inside Lake McDonald Lodge

The boat tour leaves from Lake McDonald Lodge. The swiss chalet type lodge was built in 1913. It is rustic with no TV's available.

Monday we did the Going to the Sun road, one of the most famous drives there is. 50 miles long, it runs from the west to east entrances of the park (or east to west, depending on where you start). 

One of the many curves on Going to the Sun Road

Edge of the road on the left with a spectacular view!

Another view

River in the valley between the mountains 

Flowers near Logan Pass

Close up of flowers

One of the remaining glaciers 

BEARS. We thought, that if we were to see bears anywhere, it would be at Glacier National Park. Next to our campground was a general store. The manager there not only sold bear spray, but advised campers such as us good places to go where we might see bears. (You know where this story is going, right?) So we bought bear spray. We were up early and late, when bears are the most active, in order to see them. We searched near huckleberry bushes, which were in season and supposedly are a favorite snack of bears. We manged to see some incredible views with early morning fog, but NO bears. 

Early morning fog over the meadow

Moon over the campground trees

We had to go to the MN Zoo to see bears!

Wild horses in the middle of the road as we left Glacier National Park

Doing the most popular part of the park, we did not cross the border into Waterton. We're tentatively planning a trip to Banff next summer so may catch the rest of the park on our way there. Again, a plug for our wonderful national parks and the beauty they provide us. And do we have a favorite? No, they are each unique and beautiful in their own ways, and it's hard to make a comparison, let alone choose a favorite. 

Once we were done at Glacier, it was time to head towards Minot, MD for my 50th high school reunion. The class of 69 partied hard for three days, catching up with classmates and reminiscing. 

Band on Friday Night (former classmates) 

Our class had a unique senior year, with a flood and a teachers strike that had us out of school for the month of April that year. (The governor had to approve us graduating because of all the lost days.) Then it was on to Minneapolis to spend time with kids and grandkids before heading east to see the rest of the family in MD. We still have some time to explore this fall before getting to FL on Nov. 1st, so our adventures may not be done yet. 

GSA 2109 Montana Part I

Our next stop was the Fairmont RV Park in Anaconda, MT. This would be our base for exploring the neighboring city of Butte and the rest of the area around it. We had no idea of the mining history of Butte and Anaconda. 

Mines were known as 1 mile high and 1 mile deep

Butte was known for its mining of copper and Anaconda, for the smelter plant it had for processing the waste from the copper mines. Railroad cars transferred the waste from Butte to Anaconda. 

View of the Smelter from the road, it can be seen from 20 miles away

The brick smokestack was built in 1918 as part of the Washoe Smelter. When the smelter itself was built at the turn of the century, it was the largest nonferrous metallurgical plant in the world. The stack is still the largest free standing masonry structure. The facility was shut down in 1980. Anacondans saved the stack from demolition in 1985. It stands as a monument to the thousands of men and women who worked at the smelter, as a symbol of the complex industrial history of this one company city, and as a towering remembrance to the people of Montana of the power of the Anaconda Co. in the state's history. 

Butte was once known as the "richest hill on earth". Originally prospectors came there looking for gold. But what they found was rich deposits of iron and manganese and also copper. With the advent of electricity, pioneers Marcus Daly and W.A. Clark opened mines to provide copper for the increasing electrical industry. In 1882 the district produce over nine million pounds of copper.

These towers dot the landscape of Butte

One of the mines

Hardhats required for our tour at the World Museum of Mining

A tour at the World Museum of Mining gave us a chance to see an abandoned mine. The temperature changed quickly as we descended. We got a first hand look at the conditions the miners endured. 

We also attended the Butte Folk Festival, held every year in July. For the second year in a row(!) we met up with good (college) friends Jan and Jim F. Montana has it's share of natural hot springs, and we were fortunate to have one next to our campground. We made good use of it while we were there. 

From Anaconda we went to Polson, MT to stay at the Polson Motorcoach & RV Resort. This had been on our bucket list of places to stay as we had heard many great things about it. It did not disappoint us. The location is near the beautiful Flathead Lake in MT. This is a place I could come back to every year!

Flathead Lake in MT 

Polson is a small resort town without a whole lot of things to do, but there is the Miracle of America Museum. It was started by a gentleman who decided that certain things, like military items, needed to be preserved for future generations to see. Thousands of artifacts are housed in multiple buildings. 

Aliens?

While in Polson, we also drove around the area, going up to Whitefish, MT. There I revisited the Great Northern train station that I had been at years ago on a ski trip to Big Mountain, MT. 

Today's waiting room at the train station 

Our goal for the rest of our time was to get to Glacier National Park. Since Polson was an hour and a half away, we decided to move the RV closer to the park so we didn't have the extra driving at the beginning and ending of our day trips to Glacier. We were able to find a spot at North American RV Park near the west entrance of the park.