The first night we spent in Lolo National Forest, on what I can only figure to be a Jeep trail. Driving Sven up steep gravel roads is all in good fun, but when we came to a very old looking tressel we decided we should probably not drive over and decided to camp. We drank wine, ate Macaroni and Chili stew, and thoroughly enjoyed to cold nights of western Montana.
I will try and set the scene, but the "town" we stopped in was a small community beside the highway that consisted of little more than a few run down looking houses, a couple broken down school busses, and of course what every mountain community needs, an interesting looking bar. We decided to keep to ourselves for fear of the reception outsiders may receive, but that did not keep us from exploring the old bridge where we were parked. In the morning we were both a little freaked out to find a sapling outfitted with a white dress, so we decided it may be time to move north into Glacier.
I would certainly say that the beauty of Glacier is close to rivaling Yosemite, and I think that had we explored the backcountry it would be even closer, but the threat that comes with grizzly country and our lack of a bear canister kept us from truly exploring the park. We did however have our fair share of scenery but tour busses full of camera clad tourists and massive RVs were a constant reminded of how civilized the wilderness has become. Regardless of the company we were amazed by the clearness of the blue glacier fed streams and I could have sat for hours in awe.
Despite crowding we were still able to have encounters with the wildlife. The night we spent near glacier was in the National Forrest surrounding the park. We spent the night camped near some travelers from Colorado and we sat around the fire, drank wine and chatted well into the night. In our state we did not properly secure all of our food and decided to just go to bed. This is when our night of the grizzlies began. We had heard rustling outside of the van, but neither of us thought anything of it. We woke to possibly the worst grizzly encounter in park history; our flour tortillas were missing!!! We couldn't get out of the area quick enough.
Moving South we started to make our way to Yellowstone. After camping like cowboys for a night outside of Butte, Montana, we made our way to the northeastern corner of Wyoming to the active volcano they call Yellowstone National Park. It certainly didn't smell as sulfury as I imagined, but inside of the park is like nothing I had seen previously. Tectonic activity was at every turn; geysers spouted steam everywhere and the mineral rich area made the most spectacular boiling pools of water and colors I have ever seen.
The only problem was that we went on a Friday, and the park was packed. It seems like so many people want to go to these parks just to take pictures to show other people rather than appreciating what was right in front of their noses, but I could understand why to a degree when we sat and saw Old Faithful shoot steaming water 80 feet into the air. It was truly spectacular.
Due to the occupancy limits of the park we could not spend the night, so we drove through the Tetons and made it to Jackson Hole Wyoming. We made it Miss Graham! There was no real lodging vacant in the town, so we decided to head into Idaho and begin our journey back to Seattle.
We found a drive in movie theatre, bought a few beers and watched Hercules, and after brief technical difficulties with the headlights we retired to our Walmart home. We are now moving across Idaho, and will probably make it to Boise before the day is out. Thanks for reading and the next time you will probably hear from us will be when we make it back to Seattle.
