The park is glorious — I will soon run out of adjectives. The vistas are intense and dramatic any time of day. They can even be vertigo-inducing when riding the edge of the narrow road going east. I would not tire of riding along Going-to-the-Sun Road but for the jam of other tourists who challenge anyone’s patience jockeying for parking spots at pull-offs.
This morning we explored Whitefish, which is very upscale (you should see their Safeway Grocery Store — never seen so much applied architecture). But lots of nice little shops in their down town area. One thing we’ve noticed in all of MT’s towns (Bozeman, Missoula included) is that parking is always insufficient, and if you find a place, it’s due to pure luck as opposed to design.
Whitefish has a city beach on Whitefish Lake — literally a white-sand beach, and a small walking trail that skirts a slow moving river flowing from the lake. The days are heating up, and walking into the sun without sunscreen is tan-inducing.
We had lunch at the Buffalo Café (another recommendation) during which Tom treated us to the information that technically, the north American buffalo is not a buffalo at all, but a bison — you can imagine our shock! Frank had the Bison Pie (not a pie) for lunch and pronounced it excellent.
Right next door was a little Bookstore called the Bookworm. There I found out-of-print editions of Montanan writer A.B. Guthrie Jr.’s series on the west, including The Big Sky and The Way West, which my mother introduced me to (she actually introduced me to many many books, starting with the poetry of A.A. Milne).
We decided to drive up to Logan Pass late in the afternoon. Logan Pass parking is always full and closed in the middle of the day, but our late approach worked. The views are terrific and the hike moderately difficult going uphill, with many steps, as they confine you to a boardwalk to preserve the terrain. As we drove the main road on return, we observed some unexpected dazzle, the sun glistening off of a glacier —
I am convinced that much of the haze we see is more a condition of the park, rather than the result of fires. Yosemite had the very same problem during Frank’s and my trip in 2012. To many people, too many cars, and only so much valley to contain it all.
We also observed a bride and groom being photographed in the late light with the “vertigo valley” (my term — not an official name) behind them. We have not observed much wildlife, though we are prepared with bear spray which Tom insisted I purchase.
The days ahead promise more heat — reaching 100 by Thursday. But we will be in Yellowstone by then.
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