Before Heading South

Our week began with some hot weather that reminded us that it was Summer. We decided to forgo hiking for a day or two, so I pulled out my smoker and seasoned a chicken. I want to smoke a brisket but am not paying $75 for a piece of meat, so I settled on a $10 bird. When we lived in the apartment in Houston, city ordinances did not allow me to use the smoker. I bought an electric grill and had to make do with grilling steaks or ribs. But one of my joys of travel is that I can pull out the smoker and enjoy the food and the challenge of creating a perfectly smoked BBQ. The weather in the last few months has made smoking more difficult. Too cold or windy, the smoker uses many pellets, and the results are not always predictable. If the weather is too hot and dry, there is usually a burn ban. So, on those occasions when the stars align, and the weather gods cooperate, I do my best to BBQ something. Today it is a chicken. This bird is going to get a lot of love.

We are midway through our 2023 trip, so it is time to get serious with the planning for 2024. I know I call what we do "Wandering," which is true for day-to-day travel. But unfortunately, the last few years have complicated travel in a rig like ours. More people than ever are booking campgrounds and filling our National Parks. (More about the latter later.)  We are forced to plan our stops three to six months out for the routine stuff and up to a year out for the popular places like National or State Parks. So, I am forced to temper my wanderlust with some old-fashioned week-to-week planning.

 

To accomplish this, I use the setup pictured above. We begin with the most challenging part, deciding on the direction. This is a big continent, and there are exciting places everywhere. Short of throwing a dart at a map, we do our best to cover as much ground as possible while having long enough stays to make the travel enjoyable. I have gone through 5-6 scenarios for next year, and the winner is … (drum roll) The Midwest to the Northwest and back through the SW to Texas. This route is heavily influenced by our hope to see the Grands in Seattle and visit close friends in the Midwest and NW. Once the hard choices are made, the week-to-week planning begins. I will save you the boring details but know that it involves reading countless reviews of campgrounds and roads and then emailing, calling, or booking sites online, ensuring that we are not traveling through an area that will not be compatible with Koko. I would love to be able to book the whole year at a time and be done with this part of the process. But every campground has rules about when you can book, so this process will stretch out over the next 6 months. Fortunately, we now have the greater part of the first half of 2024 reserved. The one big exception is the second week of April. The Total Eclipse is making campgrounds careful, hoping to maximize their income for this event. Many are setting up waiting lists for bookings. But this is just another challenge for life on the road. In the end, it is worth it.

We took a day to enjoy the Koocanusa Scenic Byway along the Kootenai River. During the last Century, the US and Canada worked with the Native people of the Upper Reaches of the Columbia River Basin to build hydroelectric power and flood control dams. One of the dams constructed was outside of Libby, Montana, called Libby Dam. It created a lake along the Kootenai River that stretches back into Alberta, Canada. The lake is named after the three nations involved, The Kootenai-USA-Canada. Hence the name Koocanusa. The dam is hailed as a monument to international and Native American cooperation. It is a highlight of the Columbia River Treaty of 1961.

 

Despite all the diplomatic success of the project, there was one little problem. The East side of the dam was excavated into a mountain, and the highway had to be moved higher up the side. During excavation, a layer of loose, sedimentary rocks was exposed between the layers of harder limestone-type rock. On January 31, 1961, water penetrated this layer, and a massive section of rock slipped and destroyed everything below. Fortunately, this was on the weekend, and no workers were injured. Still, it did require the work of geologists and engineers to design a way to hold the rock in place while construction on the highway and dam continued. The picture shows the anchoring system and monitoring sensors that protect the dam and those who travel the highway below. The slide was named after the response of the Dam planners when the event occurred. It is called the Dirty Shame Slide.

Downstream from the dam is one of the most beautiful spots we have seen on this trip. It is a series of cascades on the Kootenai River called Kootenai Falls. The crystal-clear water tumbles over layer upon layer of hard rock. The sunlight danced in the swirling waters reflecting the deep green of the surrounding forest and azure skies overhead. The falls created a symphony of joyful music that filled the air. Many people say they are soaked in the moment. However, I went through over 100 images, trying to capture the moment's magic. The magic eluded my camera lens, but it lingers in my soul when I see the photos, close my eyes, and replay that music again and again.

On the way back to Nakai after visiting the falls, this beautiful little thistle caught my eye. My camera lens has always been attracted to thistles. It must be my Scottish roots showing. Many see them as a nuisance. I remember a neighbor who would go after any thistle that dared to grow in her yard or any of her neighbor's yards with a butcher knife. But I love the color and texture of the plants. This was my first time seeing a plant with two different color blooms. These hardy survivors are not too concerned about gaining respect from others. They have a job to do, and they pump all their energy into producing the next generation of thistles. They adapt wherever they find themselves and exist in every climate and ecosystem we have seen over the last year. While the thistle does not care much, I deeply respect and appreciate their efforts to bring some color and variety to our lives.

Due to overcrowding and the limited-timed entry tickets, we had to take a tour bus to get into Glacier National Park. Not the best way to see the park because the time at each stop is limited to 10 – 15 minutes. Our first stop was at Lake McDonald. The scenery was stunning. But I was more fascinated by the water of the lake and the pebbles that covered the beach. The pebbles have washed down from the surrounding mountains over the eons. Their color depends on their origin in the multilayered mountains. Their shape is due to spending hundreds of years rolling down the mountain streams. Their presence in this place is due to a glacier that was thousands of feet thick and melted in this place millions of years ago. But all of that was secondary to how the light filtered through the water and brought these pebbles to life.

 

I can only imagine the story that each pebble has to tell. How many were tossed by a child's hand into the water? They were locked in ice and felt the ground rumble as massive forces shifted the earth around them. Many were part of a nest for a fish or a bed for land animals. What will their future story be? Undoubtedly, their story will continue. Will some travel hundreds of miles in a child’s pocket, only to become a memory-laden treasure of a trip to the Glaciers? Some end up being cast aside when the next generation inherits their grandfather’s treasure. Indeed, each pebble in that lake has precious stories to share and stories that have yet to be written. These pebbles and their stories are fascinating!

Any trip to Glacier National Park demands at least one glacier picture, and this is it! Sadly, the glaciers are disappearing very quickly. But one of the few can be seen from the Going to the Sun Road, Jackson Glacier. It is one of the 25 remaining glaciers in the park, and 125 years ago was part of a much larger glacier that filled the entire valley. But it has lost most of its volume due to natural and human-caused global warming. Scientists believe that many, if not all, of the glaciers will disappear entirely by 2030. They will be replaced by snowfields coming and going with the season, but the glaciers will not return until the next ice age. These magnificent creations of nature gave form and character to the Northern part of the US and Canada. They formed deep valleys and massive gorges. They shaped the mountains that filled the skyline. They created much of the fertile soil of the Willamette Valley and others that feed millions of people. They provide a year-round source of water for the mountain streams. They would likely have disappeared regardless of what we have done to the world’s weather. They have disappeared and reappeared many times over the eons. But your grandchildren and their children will never know, except in pictures, what an actual glacier looks like. This makes me sad.

While enjoying the Hidden Lakes Meadow scenery, this Columbian Ground Squirrel popped up on a rock next to the trail. These ground squirrels are everywhere. Half a dozen lived in the nooks and crannies around our campsite. They came out searching for dropped morsels and tormenting each other if they got too close to the wrong doorway to their underground homes. This one came out to see what the tourists were doing that day. He (or she) could no doubt feel the foot traffic overhead and thought we might be dropping some crumbs or being suckers for major-league cuteness. He posed and preened for me as I snapped away. Like any other professional model, he would pause long enough for the shot and then move on to the next routine. We developed quite a rhythm while he gave us his best side. It is very easy to see why these critters are so numerous. They understand people and have adapted to life among them. They have also developed a fine sense of when to leave and would do so without even a flick of their short tail. I blink, and they are gone. Thank you for a bit of fun on a day with more than its share of frustration.

While at Hidden Lakes Trail, we got to experience the thousands of people who descend on this park each year. If you look closely at the trail leading up to the hidden lake, you will see a small sample of the hundreds on the trail. There were dozens of clumps of 10-20 people strung out up the hill. Our tour bus had to drive by this stop on the way up the mountain pass because the parking lot was packed. We were able to get in on the way down, and the driver did not have to circle endlessly through the parking lot. Throngs of people crowded into the Visitor Center, the Restrooms, and the shuttles that provided transportation who were exploring the park because they did not score a timed daily visitor pass. Our tour guide said the park releases 400 passes a few months before a particular date. When those are gone, the park releases another 400 24 hours before the gates open for the day. Often these are snapped up within minutes. This does not count the bicycles, walk-ins, and people, like us, on one of the hundreds of tours that take place each day. Tens of thousands of visitors would be in the park each day. Among these will be people who do not care about rules and will toss baby wipes and even used diapers beside the rock they used to change their child. Juice boxes and wrappers of all descriptions are thrown at, but not quite in the trash cans. A few will ignore the signs and walk across the ground that is to be protected from foot traffic. Some will approach bears and elk even after being warned.

 

All-in-all, these parks are being loved to death. Well, it is not quite love that is hurting the parks. The increased presence of people has caused more dangerous encounters with wildlife, and the Grizzlies are making their presence known through attacks on park visitors. Some people also succumb to the cuteness attacks by some creatures, teaching them that people are food sources. This increases the chances that they will be harmed by the close contact. All of this makes me very sad. Everyone should have the opportunity to see these natural wonders. Still, those who cannot control themselves or respect the parks or their natural inhabitants have no business in them. We may need a nationwide passport system for all the parks that would ban those who cannot visit them with respect. I know this is draconian, but we need to better protect our parks from us!

Last year we did the show in Medora, ND, and had a great time. So, this year we bought tickets for "Escape to Margaritaville" by Jimmy Buffet at a nearby Summer playhouse. This show was a hoot! I couldn’t take pictures of the show, so this is the best shot I could get, Marlene, waiting for the show to start. The show was one huge pun based on Jimmy Buffet's song, Margaritaville. Anyone who knows the song could hear the echoes throughout the so-called storyline. But like a good whodunit, I didn’t see the “payoff” coming until it blew past me like a roaring freight train! It was a Summer stock playhouse, and the performers were primarily young people getting started. Some could sing well, while others struggled to get the songs out. But the Bigfork Summer Playhouse provided a good night's entertainment and scholarships for young actors and production people. We were told that six of their former scholarship recipients are performing on Broadway. Thank you for a fun evening. By the way, Bigfork refers to the name of the town. It is next to Hungry Horse, which would make sense. I would want a big fork if I were as hungry as a horse. (Sorry, the show put me in a pun-full mood.)

This mountain sits at the Marias Pass between East Glacier and West Glacier. It is an upside-down mountain. The layers are out of chronological order. I have heard these situations labeled as an unconformity, as they have in the Big Bend Area of Texas. But I like the idea of them being upside down. The layer of lighter-colored shale near the top of the mountain is younger than the older rock above it. The dating comes from the fossils found in the layers. These are remnants of ancient sea floors that covered this part of the continent and have been pushed up by the same tectonic forces that created the Rocky Mountains. Scientists believe the unconformity happened when a younger layer of mud from an ancient sea was squeezed under a thrust fault of metamorphosized rock that is 100 million years older. This is common in areas where the earth's crust folds and cracks, erodes, and reforms due to the pressures of tectonic shifts in the deeper parts of the crust. I am amazed at how the earth has evolved and how geologists and geophysicists work to understand the complex forces at play. Things are not as they seem to the untrained eye.

 

That is why we need educated people (you and me) striving to understand the work of higher-educated people in our culture. If the world was about "common sense," then education would be pointless. But life is far more complex than we want to admit. We need to constantly observe, make informed guesses, and then test and re-test those guesses, allowing new, more plausible ideas to change our minds. Yep, that is what education is all about. And I am not only talking about science!

We woke up early on our drive day and ate breakfast at the Campground Restaurant. It was a complimentary, hotel-style hot breakfast that was actually pretty good. We ate a pizza at the place the night before, and it could have been better. After breakfast, we did the final prep for the move and drove 111 miles to Missoula, MT. The drive followed Flathead Lake, which offered some beautiful and interesting scenery. I was particularly interested in the vast mounds of earth that the glaciers scraped out of the valley and left at the southern tip of the lake after it melted. After climbing and descending several mountain passes, we arrived at our campsite at Missoula KOA in Missoula, MT, just after 1:00 PM. After getting set up, we relaxed and then discovered that a Thai Fusion Food Truck would be on site this evening. That sounded much better than our leftovers, so we had a Thai Chicken Wrap. The rest of the night was spent looking at our list and deciding what we wanted to do with our three full days in Missoula.

 

Now that we are heading South after four months of heading North, I am excited to see the road ahead. Much of the Pacific Coast was beautiful, but each place was like the other. The Olympic Peninsula and the area west of the cascades were the same. Once we got through Snoqualmie Pass, the drier eastern part of the state gave us some variety. But we were soon in the foothills and the mountains of the Northern Rockies. Over the next few weeks, we will visit these mountains and then hit the great desert as we head to Death Valley in late August and Las Vegas in September. I enjoy the changing landscape and the variety of places and people that we encounter along the way. Glad you are along for the ride.

 

I look forward to sharing the last half of our 2023 travels with you as we wander through Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, and then back into Texas.

 

Enjoy the ride!

 

Bob