Montana Day 11-12...Lone Pine

 Friday September 25, 2020

    There was only one thing on tap for the day, Lone Pine State Park.  The trails are plentiful and it’s a fifteen minute drive from the motel.  The weather guessers were claiming overcast followed by rain in the afternoon.

   The gate opened to the park at 8A and in I went.  There’s an overlook by the visitors center.  The morning light through the clouds made for interesting lighting.  This is one of those photos you take and can't really tell if it works or not until you look at it out of the glare.  Sometimes you do get lucky.

    Standing by a trail map, I did the mental math and chose a series of trails that would loop through the park and back, totaling about five and a half miles.  For the most part, the trails were simply rolling hills.  All the trails are well maintained and all junctures clearly marked.

    The visitor center was open when I worked my way back to the car.  I stopped in and had a nice chat with the woman inside.  She and her husband are retired and live in their RV.  When Covid-19 hit, they were in Arizona, camping in a state park.  The park closed, but they were allowed to stay since no one knew where else they could go.

     With continued uncertainty, they decided to stay here until the snow starts flying.  They’ve been living and working in the area for four months, the longest they’ve been anywhere in years.

     Before I left, I asked if the park had any use for two cans of bear spray.  She said definitely.  What the heck. I couldn’t take them on the plane anyway.

      The first splatters of rain didn’t hit until around 2P.  By then I had worked my way back to the motel and unloaded everything into the room, checked in for the morning’s flight and printed boarding passes.  Nothing says vacation's almost over quite like printing boarding passes.

    Lunch was at yet another of the city’s four breweries.  In the heart of downtown, you’ll find Kalispell Brewing.  They don’t have a kitchen, but the foot truck in the parking lot made an excellent turkey and mozzarella sandwich.  The beer, delicious.

      I watched the rain, sipped a wide variety of beer  and chilled.  The music on the PA was 70’s without the disco.  Not a bad way to wait out the rain. 

     With little hope of a sunset, I went out anyway.    

Day 12

Saturday September 26, 2020

    There’s nothing like a 3A wake-up call.  But, flights out of Kalispell aren’t plentiful.  I picked up two hours heading east and I did have to change planes somewhere.  Best to get it over with.

    Between my phone’s alarm and the hotel’s wake-up call service, I was up, packed and pulling out of the hotel’s parking lot by 4A.  One thing we take for granted in the south is the abundance of twenty-four hour gas stations.  The first one I pulled into was dark, even the pumps.

     The car rental company is off site and doesn’t open until 7A.  In the back of the airport lot, they have ten spots assigned.  You simply drop the car there.  In the glove compartment you leave the rental agreement, parking ticket and keys.  You also leave the doors unlocked.  I did ask and they swear they’ve never had one stolen.  

     The folks at the Delta check in desk asked the usual questions about my checked bag.  They also asked about bear spay.  You can’t take that on board for obvious reasons.  They’ll gladly accept the unused canisters, which they donate to the Forest Service.

     Apparently I was the first person with TSA Precheck of the day and had to wait for them to turn on the metal detector.  It was a breeze.  

     The first leg of the journey was uneventful.  I was seated on the right side of the plane, with the western horizon out the window.  

   The folks on the left side got to see the sunrise as we flew over Wyoming and into Salt lake City.  Not a bad shot considering it's on the phone, and shot across the aisle and two sleeping passengers.  

     The Salt Lake City airport was nice and relatively empty.  I was pleasantly surprised to find the electrical outlets built into the rows of seats were all functioning,  This seems to be a rarity elsewhere.

     The rest of the trip was uneventful, and in the end, there really is no place like home.

     Upon returning from the California trip in July, I called my HMO and easily scheduled a Covid-19 test.  I did the same when I got home from this trip.  The difference in a month was amazing.  This time, I had to have an actual doctor authorize the test.  In a very roundabout way, she told me the tests were for those showing symptoms.  When I told her I work in a small room with six other people, she okayed it.  The good news, it was negative.

David 9/30/2020

PS: Honest, this is the last big trip of the year.  I hope to squeeze in a couple of longer weekends in North Georgia for the foliage, but otherwise I'm home.  

     I'm still randomly checking in on the Grand Canyon lodging site in the hopes I can luck out with a cancellation for the Phantom Ranch in April.  I would love to hike all the way down again.

     Barring anything unexpected, June will hopefully be the Michigan trip that was cancelled this summer.  

Montana Day 10...Three Lakes...of Not

 Day 10

Thursday September 24, 2020

    The first plan for today was a place called Crater Lake.  I messaged a recent reviewer about the road to the trailhead.  Based on her response, I didn’t want to take a rental vehicle down that road.  

    Second plan was a place called Glacier Lake.  It’s the reason I came to Bigfork in the first place.  The trail to the lake is only a mile and a half(where have we heard this before). But, you can continue another 2.4 miles to Crescent Lake, and another 0.7 miles to Heart Lake.  

     The plan was to be up and out at first light.  I was indeed up well before dawn.  One look out the motel window and confirmation from multiple weather guessers told me I needed an alternate plan for the day.  The rain would be off and on all morning, with a gusting wind advisory through the day.  Not exactly ideal.

     So, a day for scenic hiking turned out to be a pretty great scenic drive.  A half mile south of the motel is Flathead Lake State Park.  This is where I shot sunset the night before.  It was worth a brief visit since the rain had temporarily stopped.  One side of the sky was trying to clear, the other remained dark and foreboding.  That blue sky wouldn't last very long.

     Hwy 35 South would take me to the lower end of the lake and connect with Hwy 93 north to Kalispell.  Easy.  Since I hadn’t read up on anything this way, it would be a complete adventure.  

    It didn’t take very long to find something interesting.  This Teepee is right along the highway.  It’s obviously being used, but I’d love to know what it’s original is.

    The wind and rain started picking up.  I kept finding places to pull over, complete with No Trespassing signs.  Finally, I pulled into the parking lot for the Raven Bar and Grill.  The wind was whipping up some pretty good waves for a lake.

    Just beyond the restaurant, there was another pull out parallel to the road.  I wasn’t used to seeing this much wave action and splashing on just a lake.  They definitely weren't kidding about the high wind advisory.

    The rain stopped, and I got out to shoot the shoreline.  Yes, the water is that color.  Back in the car, the waves crashing that rock were now splashing the side of the car.

    Next stop, Yellow Bay State Park.  There were only two people in the park. Myself and a woman doing yoga on the beach.  I let her be, took a few shots and moved on.

     A little further south was the turn off for Finley State Park.  Deer casually strolling about never gets old.  

     The clouds were breaking up to the west when I pulled into the lot.  The water was an amazing turquoise close to shore.  I mentioned it to a park staffer.  She’s lived in Montana all her life and still finds the colors amazing.

     An added bonus to the visit, a rainbow trying so hard to form over the lake.

     By the time I reached Polson and the turn back north, I was thinking lunch.  Due to Covid-19, motels are no longer offering breakfast.  A banana and protein bar only go so far.  Due to the pandemic, plenty of places are simply closed.   So, I reverted to my newer roadtrip rule and stopped at the first non-chain place.

     In this case, it brought me to Valhallas’s Kitchen, an interesting looking food truck.  On the menu, a Spaghetti Sandwich.  It’s a popular sandwich, thus already sold out.  Just imagine a standard meatball sandwich, with spaghetti, too.  I would have bought one out of curiosity alone.  Instead, I had a pretty decedent Philly Cheesesteak.  Not quite authentic, but quite tasty.

    Pulling into the town of Big Arm, I noticed a general store up a side road.  Sadly, it seemed long closed.

    That’s where you’ll find Big Arm State Park, right on the lake.  The water clarity is still amazing.  

    Passing through the town of Elmo, I couldn't miss this arrow by the side of the road. The Standing Arrow Powwow is an annual get together of the Kootenai Tribe on the Flathead Reservation.   Unfortunately, this year's events were cancelled due to Covid-19.  

    I stopped for gas at a country store in Rollins.  I only mention it because they also have a restaurant in an old caboose, currently closed.

    One last stop along the western shore of the lake.  I was actually surprised to see someone at the gate for West Shore State Park.  The nice thing about Montana(and a few other states) if you have Montana tags on your car, entrance is free. Yes, even if it's a rental.  

  

    By now you know there are a few things I can’t pass up.  One of them are the microbreweries.  Kalispell has four of them. I hit Bias Brewery a few days ago.  Today, I stopped into Sun Rift Brewery for a really good pint of stout before heading out to find the motel.  Perhaps it’s the Irish blood in me, but I much prefer a traditional stout over the ones with extra flavorings.  

   My home for the next two nights was in the My Place Hotel.  It’s a smaller chain in the vein of an Extended Stay America, only a little nicer.  The staff was great and they gave me room 204.

    My lodgings are usually booked through hotels.com.  I pick non-smoking and leave the rest to the individual place.  I’ve had tiny rooms where two people would be tripping over each other.  I’ve had rooms where I could have thrown a party.  I’ve also had wheelchair accessible rooms. 

    This was something new.  The room was certain a good size and even came with a small kitchen.  On the opposite wall was this…

    Outside the door is a button that acts as a sort of doorbell for those who wouldn’t hear a regular knock.  Out of curiosity I did press it.  Instead of a standard doorbell chime, it was a high pitched, loud buzz.  The buzz was accompanied by bright flashing lights.  These lights would also trigger when the phone rang.  Considering the expected early wake-up call two days later, I turned the system off.  

     I texted this photo to my friend Hugh.  He's had hearing issues all his life.  He had never seen this before, but liked the idea.

     The view from the room...

   With patched of blue sky and many layers of clouds, sunset would be a crapshoot.  So, I took a stroll around the hotel and neighboring grounds.