(June 11 – 16, 2019) After leaving the Yellowstone North Entrance, I immediately arrived in the State of Montana. No sales taxes, wide straight roads, and flat agricultural prairies! There are about 1 million people living in Montana. Summer is beautiful. Winter might be brutal. Montana welcomed me with a warm and cozy embrace.
Glacier National Park is called “The Crown of the Continent”. It is a name well deserved. There are beautiful lakes, flowers, waterfalls and glaciers in the park. I visited both East and West Glacier National Park.
One day, I met a couple on the trail. They flew with their bicycles from Switzerland to Vancouver, Canada. Since then, they have been bicycling to the parks. Their plan is to bike all the way to Boston by November and fly back to Switzerland.
Hiking on a trail, I met a mother and a daughter group. I asked about a patch on her (mom) backpack. She had walked for 47 days on the Camino de Santiago starting from France ending in Spain, Pilgrimage Journey. Her husband is blind so they took a support dog with them. For the dog’s rest, they took a day off hiking after every five days. She highly recommended me to do it. I envied her and her daughter hiking together in the Glacier. When I hike alone, I often miss my mom. Sometimes, I speak to my mom in the air.
The “Going to the Sun Road” (East – West Glacier) wasn’t open for the cars yet. I arrived a week earlier for the shuttles and the “Sun Road”. After visiting Eastern Glacier Park, I drove all the way around to the south to arrive at the Western Glacier Park. When weekends come, they run “Hiker-Biker Shuttle Buses” and open the “Sun Road” to highest peak (Logan Pass) only for bikers and hikers. There were many locals visiting for bike-rides to the top (Logan Pass). It is the best way to see the park. I took my folding bike (John calls it a “Clown Bike”) and rode 10 miles up the hill. Then, I walked up with my bike another 6 miles. Coming down the hill was awesome but I got rained on. It seems this joy ride gave me a bug. Two days later, I started getting sick. I have been trying to sleep a lot after taking “Flu/Cold zzz” medication. It is not fun to be sick while on the road camping and hiking.