Horace Greely once said “Go West young man, go west.” So, off we went. First it was Curt, Vanna, and Benny - soon joined by Charlie Potts on the way
through the congestion of Chicago, past the Wisconsin Dells, into the windswept
prairies of Minnesota, North Dakota and on into Western Montana where we met
Peter and Richard at the Grouse Mountain Lodge in Whitefish, Montana.
Having gone west on several occasions over the years, I can attest to the beauty and draw of places
like Colorado Springs, San Francisco, Klamath Falls, Eureka, the Black Hills, Devil’s
Tower, Santa Fe, Sedona… the list goes
on. However, the majesty of Northwestern
Montana and the Waterton-Glacier National Peace
Park is a destination not to be missed
by anyone who wants to say that they have seen the best of America . Not only is the Park breathtakingly scenic,
but there are many wonderful man-made attractions such as the Red Busses,
various golf courses, hiking trails, boating options, bicycling paths, and best
of all, wonderful old lodges where one can spend time resting and relaxing in
grand style, having high tea while overlooking a lake, enjoying a libation
while recounting the day or being served a beautiful meal in an elegant dining
room.
Our group enjoyed the Park at the pace of a bicycle, which
provides more opportunities to capture the scenic wonders in one’s mind and in
one’s camera. We all have a significant
quantity of pictures to share with anyone who might show the least bit of
interest. One can hardly be bored by
photographs of such magnificent scenery be they flora, fauna, geology,
hydrology or glaciology. In addition,
there are stories to go along with many of the photographs that include
interesting places where we relaxed for lunch or stopped for Huckleberry this
or Huckleberry that. There were stores and diners that were nothing like what we
have in our Eastern cities. Variety was limited…we couldn’t have anything our
hearts desired. We could have what they had to sell. Amazingly, we survived! And, I might add, we survived very
comfortably.
The Going to the Sun
Road was the most spectacular piece of road we had the pleasure of
encountering. We did ‘go to the sun’ as we drove west to east
in the morning. Interestingly, it had
only one switchback from the west end at Apgar Village to the Logan Pass. The only curves in the road were due to
staying with the topography as the 6% grade continued from beginning to end.
It was easy for us to understand why the Blackfeet Indian
Reservation was adjacent to the Park as the Native Americans, too, loved this area for generations before America
existed. We enjoyed a lunch on their
reservation near Browning, their “capital city.” It was bustling with activity as the
Blackfeet went about their day. Waterton-Glacier National Peace
Park is not to be missed,
and seeing it with friends at a slow pace is most special.