Wandering Holyokes

Glacier Odds Without Ends

We know you have heard of odds and ends. Those strange little pieces of things that accumulate from seemingly nowhere. This blog post will be about the kinds of odd experiences we have accumulated on this Montana trip. They may be jumbled and out of order. They are definitely random. And some of them have no good end. We hope you enjoy them anyway. 

First up: Let’s talk about food. We might be a bit obsessed with it. In this rural place, food is sometimes elusive if you are particular about what you want. So cravings for things take on a life of their own. And sometimes it leads to cooking. Or a three hour drive to find jalapeño peppers; a required ingredient to make “Texas Caviar”.  It may also lead to a certain someone needing to have his eyes rinsed out with contact lens solution because he rubbed them after cutting up said jalapeños. Other times it may lead to surprising the entire KOA crew with warm homemade doughnuts from Terry’s Nana’s recipe. 

When you do not have a doughnut cutter with you, you end up making doughnut balls. Still yummy. We have been asked for an encore. 

We have tried several new things while here. Our new friends from Texas have given us elk sausage, and made a yummy chili with venison. We are enjoying a favorite from past years as the flathead cherries are now ripe. Soooo sweet. However, one of the biggest cravings that hit us was for carrot cake made by Johnson’s Restaurant. When we were here before, Glen and our friend Kim both loved it and would each surprise the other with a piece quite often. This summer we kept checking in with the Johnsons, and they never had carrot cake on the menu. Finally we asked them to make us a whole cake. They said it takes seventy-two hours to make. The final result weighed about eight pounds and was worth the wait. We kept a chunk of it for Glen to ration out over a week or so, and shared the rest with friends. 

With all that good food, we have to keep moving. We have done several hikes since the last post, but they fit the theme of not having ends. We have wanted to try some new trails, but were working our fitness levels up gradually. So we chose some trails knowing we would not be going all the way to the attraction at the end of the trails. We enjoyed them anyway and want to share some of them with you. 

The Rose Creek Trail goes to Otokomi Lake, about five miles up the trail. We climbed about three miles up before turning back. It was the steepest trail we had played on to that point, and our hips were letting us know it had been a while since they were worked in that way. But the hike was great, even without reaching the lake at the end.

A beautiful triple falls on Rose Creek.

The wildflowers were out in full force. When contrasted with last year’s burn area, they seemed even more colorful. 

After a work break of a few days, we tackled part of the Grinnel Glacier/ Grinnel Lake trail. Again, we did not go to the glacier, but we did go to the lake. As we often tell people that are looking for hike suggestions, you really cannot go too wrong even if you choose to do a smaller piece of a trail. 

The view from the lake is spectacular. Above the lake, waterfalls are cascading down from Grinnel Glacier above. 

Glen in the photo for scale…

And a final view from further away on Lake Josephine as we hiked back to the trailhead. The snowfield above the glacier is known as the salamander. Can you see it? 

Now for a real test of the recuperating bodies. We decide to up the distance and hike part of the Gunsight Pass trail. While our competitive natures try to convince us that we could do the whole hike across the pass, over the continental divide and down the other side, we stay strong and decide to pass on that almost twenty mile adventure. We have to leave something to look forward to, right? 

We decide to do an out and back hike instead, going up to Gunsight Lake, enjoying a picnic lunch, and hiking back out the way we came. We saw some fresh moose tracks, some geese and ducks, but no other wildlife this trip. With a little bit of detouring along the way, and some exploring at the lake to find a good picnic spot, it ended up being 13.9 miles. Enough to test the bodies, and also let us know that it was wise to wait on the longer distances. It was hot, but worth every step. Well, Terry could have done without the final mile which climbs about 1000 feet. She tried to tell Glen that usually when she reached 13.1 there would be a medal, a cold drink, and some food. Glen said this finish chute was just extra long, all uphill, and sometimes you can’t get the blingy medal. That parking lot finish line was a welcome sight. You can enjoy our hike without suffering the climb.

Looking at Blackfoot Mountain.

Refreshing Deadwood Falls along the way. We like streams. They are great for wetting hats and giving off cool breezes.

Proof that we were not alone on the trail. The moose is at least a size ten. 

Pretty sure this is Jackson Glacier. 

The trail.

The view looking toward Gunsight Lake.

One of the suspension bridges we crossed. Bouncy, so thankfully not being chased by bad guys like in the movies. We do not cross them with much grace. 

Our picnic spot. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches become food fit for royalty in this setting. 

We walked through fields of butterflies. Celia would not have known where to turn to catch one there were so many. The black and white ones are speedy and do not like to pose. But this beauty did not mind having a picture taken. 

We truly do appreciate the chance to explore this amazing park.

The rest of our time when we are not working or hiking, we are helping others to find great things to do here, or watching or hearing about the crazy things that occur in a campground. So far we have had a fire in the campground dump that required the fire department to come. As Glen was assisting in keeping the fire from spreading while waiting for the fire department, the owner’s Dad backed into our car. We had a man capsize one of the kayaks with his camper keys and need to have the door to his camper drilled open, had a motorhome parked off to the side of the driveway with seized up brakes for a few days waiting to figure out how to remove it, had a lady leave her purse behind and then call the police saying we would not return it, had another camper with water pouring out of it with no way to get inside and stop it….and much, much, more. There is never a dull moment, but it is always “A GREAT day at the KOA!”

Until next time,

Glen and Terry