Day4: Thurs 8/2, Logan SP, MT to East Glacier, MT.

  West Glacier, Montana, United States
Friday, August 3, 2007

Day4: Thurs 8/2, Logan SP, MT to East Glacier, MT.
Miles: 168

Summary
-Ashes on our tent - Wild Fires threaten Glacier National Park
-Frank Lloyd Wright in Whitefish, MT
-Gallery Stroll in Whitefish, MT
-Elusive Internet Access


Details:
Ashes on our tent - Wild Fires threaten Glacier National Park
Last night we gave back one of the three hours we'd been given when we drove to California.
Entering Montana put us into Mountain Time.
So we had no real feel for local time as we got going in the morning.

We ended up hitting the road at 10:00 AM, early for us lately.
We opted not to make breakfast in camp but to find it on the road.

Rocky Mtns covered with smoke from fires

Mountains barely visible through the haze

The Montana 'Big Sky' was incredibly hazy.
The mountains could be seen as hulking shadows due to the thick haze.
Visibility was down to only a few miles.

We noticed ashes on our tent fly when we broke camp.
There are wild fires all over the place.
The Skyland fire (19,000 acres and only 5% contained) is just south of US-2 and Glacier National Park.
Fire fighting operations are sometimes closing US-2 south of the park.

We plan to spend the next four nights between West Glacier and East Glacier.
The action on US-2 is discouraging us from venturing into the southern areas of the park but there should be plenty elsewhere even if the view is murky.




Frank Lloyd Wright in Whitefish, MT

Frank Lloyd Wright building

FLWright - shot 2

We passed through Kalispell and stopped in Whitefish to see Montana's only Frank Lloyd Wright building.

One of his last creations, it has lost many of the features that made it special such as a roof top garden and indoor/outdoor planter.

Whitefish did have a trendy down town and a wonderful old Tudor style train station from the Great Northern era.
The Station is still in use for Amtrack and also houses a neat little local history museum.

We arrived in West Glacier in good time about 3:00 PM but Chere began to get a migraine.  Rapid administration of pharmaceuticals, a shower and a nap and she was soon up and about.


Gallery Stroll in Whitefish, MT
A quick supper and back to Whitefish for a First Thursday gallery stroll. 

Some of the paintings were very good, western landscapes and such; but not knowing any of the 'gallaristas' made mingling less enjoyable than when we do the same thing back home.


Elusive Internet Access
While returning to West Glacier we took the opportunity to lurk in parking lots and side streets stalking the elusive wireless internet connection. 
We had no luck.
This got us back to West Glacier in time to catch a ranger lecture at the McDonald Lodge, a magnificent timber structure from the era of the Railroad Hotels.
 
We'd been plotting our Glacier Park strategy all the while and went to bed with plans for an early start in the morning.