On the Road - Day 41

3:30 a.m., Pat looked out the windows to see stars, but only saw a fuzzy few. The mountains are short today, they have their heads in the clouds. Began the day with a bit of rain. We both slept better than the last two nights. Left St. Mary's heading south and found the first hill was topped with the bristly "toothpick" remains of trees. When we crested another ridge, all I could see were burnt timbers with a few patches of green. The next hilltop afforded more of the same view - the burned area completely covered the mountain side. Because there was no new growth, I am guessing that the fire was quite recent. Shocking.

Whoa, came to a quick stop at a curve as two horses were in the road. A pack of several more loose horses were on our left, around the bend, even a little one. They skedaddled right quick. Hope others take care when driving past them.

Drove through Browning on Rt. 89 and skirted the south end of Glacier National Park. Browning is the center of Blackfeet Territory, tribal business and administration-wise. It is in the midst of very nice rolling plains. We passed the Blackfeet Bison Reserve, and saw a few grazing. Beyond the Blackfeet Territory we entered the Lewis & Clark National Forest. Crossed the Continental Divide at Marias Pass - 5,216 feet.

Saw trains throughout the day. New to us are the open-sided tunnels built against hills so that trains are not hit by falling rocks (or snow) from the steep slopes above them. After seeing the splendid beauty of British Columbia and Alberta, feeling a bit jaded with the countryside of Montana. The beauty here feels different, more subtle in comparison.


Just before West Glacier, we viewed a number of rafts daring the rapids down the Middle Fork of the Flathead River. It was fun to watch and not get wet! We ate lunch in the RV here, on a cliff overlooking the river.









We had A & W rootbeer freezes in Columbia Falls (Vance forgot his Visa here and had to go back and retrieve it. Only a thirty mile round trip!)













Rocky Mountain "Hi" Campground, laundry, dinner at Los Caporales, groceries at Super 1 in Kalispell. At long last, we are out of the mountains, and again have phone service. Touched base with family and friend.

Ended at Rocky Mountain "Hi" Campground, 825 Helena Flats Road, Kalispell, Montana 59001
Odometer 61,537.2 (174.1*) Total: 3481.8
*Includes 30 mile round trip (from Kalispell) to pick up my Visa card which I left in Columbia Falls, MT