Bozemen, MT the Big Sky state....yeeehaw! I don't know if I totally believe that fully, cuz South Dakota's sky was pretty astonishing. But, to Montana's credit they do have Glacier National Park! Out of all my travels this has to be the MOST beautiful place I've ever seen!!! That is a true bold statement. Because I've been to the beautiful red rocks of Sedona the huge Smokey Mountains and you can't forget our beloved Yosemite. Glacier National Park is truly a mystical treasure. You know the movie Lord of the Rings it opens in an aeriel view of these crazy mountains, dramatic mist that you could only find in CG (computer graphics). Well, Glacier has it. As you can see in the picture above it's breathtaking! Granted I arrived just at the perfect time. It had just rained hence all the fog/mist. Glacier was about 6 hours North of Bozemen. Again, I was rushed to get there so I can set up my tent before dark (like Yellowstone). You'd think I'd learned my lesson. Nope. So, I arrived at the entrance and ask were the free camping was. The ranger had told me that the whole park is surrounded by Indian Reservations and there is no Federal Land. Bummer. :-( She seemed I like she knew what we was talking about). I especially didn't want to sneak on some rez and pitch a tent. So I drove into the park on The Sun Road (http://www.google.com/images?q=sun%20road%2C%20glacier&oe=utf-8&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=og&sa=N&hl=en&tab=wi) which is the main road thru the park. I ended up at the Avalanche Camp site, had to pay 20 bucks for one night!!! Outrageous! BUT, I do have to say that this was the nicest hosted campsite I'd been too. It's was super lush and well layed out. It was as close to nature to back country camping I'd seen. So it was almost 9pm and the sun hadn't gone down. Weird! I was like this is crazy business.
The next day I woke up about 11am which is a miracle. You know what I mean if you've ever been camping. You start hearing all the other campers rise about 7am banging pots/ pans, opening and closing car doors. So, it's really hard to "sleep-in." But I'm telling you the layout of the campsite was good. After that restful sleep I drove out of Avalanche campsite and started my drive to the visitor center to get tips and where to go camping for the day. About 5miles out I see two guys walking along side of the road and I was like "wait! I think I know them?" I flipped a U-e, stopped and yelled out the window "Wade!" He turns. It's my couch surfing host from Sioux Falls, SD! I knew he was going to be traveling thru but we didn't coordinate any meet up. I ask them what they're doing for the day and if I can join them. They were planning on doing Avalanche Lake. Which is supposed to be the most beautiful hike in the park. It's not very difficult 4miles. I was like hella yeah! Someone to talk to! Hang out with! Yes! We had a blast and it was cool to hang out with Wade again. He works at a company in Sioux Falls who are in charge of helping place and acclimate refugees to the US. Cuz apparently Sioux Falls is a huge hub for refugees. Which in my opinion is pretty F'd in the sense those SD winters would be a bit of a shock to those people who are from tropical climates. Anyway, we spent about 4-5 hours together and then we parted ways. My next thought is where I was going to sleep for the night.
This is a reoccurring worry of mine during this whole entire trip. I realized not having a plan to have a place to lay my head def causes me much much much worry. I guess I value having a safe place, somewhere to come home too. The next couple of hours was fiddling around I decided to stay in the primitive camp (Cut Bank) about 20miles out just cuz 1. it's cheaper and 2. I usually like the kind of people who stay there (more chill). It was nothing special and the people there were super quiet and it was super infested with mosquito's! I set up camp and went to bed as soon as I could. Woke up and then headed to the farthest West point of park to check out the scene. On our way there at Logan's Pass there was snow. So, of course I had to let Shiya out and get some "snow-time" in. I cruised into West Point which is the more popular area of the park. It's like an actual town w/ shops and restaurants on a very cutsie street. I had to go in every shop and get some souvenirs. By the time I was about to go on a hike. I was looking at the lake and was thinking awwww... wouldn't it be nice to just sun-bathe on the beach and just read a book. Yes! I think I'm going to do that. I checked into the Apgar camping site (motor home city) to park our car and then head to the beach. As we were walking, I saw "Huckleyberry Ice Cream!" Wha!? I've been seeing all this huckleberry nonsense all over Wyoming and Montana. I gotta try some. Got a scoop and headed over to the beach. Spent the rest of the day just soaking up the sun and then headed to camp to get a good nights sleep.
The plan was to drive to 3hrs to Standpoint browse around and spend the night in Cour d' Alene, Idaho with some couch surfers. Standpoint and Cour d' Alene are super yuppie lake communities. It definitely, had a Huntington Beach/ So Cal feel. It was really nice and very cute. The couch surfers I stayed with were a couple that both work at the ski resort during the winter and also do some back country skiing. I was super fascinated by this. I had heard of back country skiing but I thought it was only for the few crazies. You know the ones you seen in those Warren Miller films. But these two were just normal looking kids, just like me. I inquired about this more and was really curious about the logistics and REALLY how safe is it?! They told me that a normal day would be 4hrs of hiking in 3+feet of snow in their ski boots to ski about 10min down. WHAT!$%! Who the F would do that! They described to me it's like nothing else -you won't want to go down a groomed run ever again. They also pressed the point that IT IS very dangerous. They usually go with 4+ more people that they totally trust. There is usually a test guy that goes down first to check for avalanches and to rough up the snow and get a feel for it. I told them how would I go about getting into this. They just told me that you have to get the right gear and become friends with someone who does it. Thinking back at my gear, I still have straight skis (10 +years old) Guh! I'd haveta invest in some Alpine Touring skis were talkn about $700+ for boots, bindings and new skis. Well maybe I don't want to do that. :-) At least right now. But sounds fun, huh?
The next stop Seattle! A friend of mind suggested to take HWY2 because it's more beautiful and East Washington is super ugly. Of course this suggestion would take an extra two hours on mountain roads. I made an executive decision that I'll take I-90 and bare the ugliness. I mean, how ugly could East Washington be? It can't be uglier then Indiana or Central New Mexico?! Boy, I was sooo wrong! Desert! Dry! Barron! Nothingness. I'm sure Spokane is a nice city but I didn't stop to find out (shrugs). Getting into Seattle, I again didn't have a place to stay my couch surfer bailed on me so I was yet again without bed. I figured it's Washington worse case scenario I'll just find a campsite and camp it up in Seattle. LOL. Fate must be on my side cuz I just happened to just randomly call my girlfriend Christina to see how she's doing. She told me that I could totally stay with her friend Nate. Praise Jesus! Yes! I had meet Nate before when he came to visit her so I knew he was legit. He totally took me in and had the weekend off. So he told me anything that I want to do that he's down. He had been living in Seattle two years and hadn't done any of the touristy things and was going to move to Boston in a few weeks anyway. He was game to take me around before he leaves for B-town anyway. Score! We ended up doing the Space Needle, Pikes Place w/ the Fish Toss, Experience Music Project, Science Fiction Museum. I liked Seattle. Very cool city, it's a combination of hipster/ intellectual. Not my scene but had a good time. I should of done more outdoorsy stuff but like I had mentioned in my Facebook my battery is running low.
Ultimately my observation of this trip is that there are soooo many good people out there. So many people just willing to help me out a fellow traveler. I truly believe in karma. You put good out into the world and it'll come back to you. This is a true testament to this whole crazy experience. I also would like to thank my girl Shiya for sharing this with me. We also have become a lot closer as Mommy and Daughter. We trust each other more and can almost read each others minds. I'm just happy we got to experience this together. I really don't think I could of done this with out her. Mama loves you Shiya!
Next: Portland and my trip down Cali!
The next day I woke up about 11am which is a miracle. You know what I mean if you've ever been camping. You start hearing all the other campers rise about 7am banging pots/ pans, opening and closing car doors. So, it's really hard to "sleep-in." But I'm telling you the layout of the campsite was good. After that restful sleep I drove out of Avalanche campsite and started my drive to the visitor center to get tips and where to go camping for the day. About 5miles out I see two guys walking along side of the road and I was like "wait! I think I know them?" I flipped a U-e, stopped and yelled out the window "Wade!" He turns. It's my couch surfing host from Sioux Falls, SD! I knew he was going to be traveling thru but we didn't coordinate any meet up. I ask them what they're doing for the day and if I can join them. They were planning on doing Avalanche Lake. Which is supposed to be the most beautiful hike in the park. It's not very difficult 4miles. I was like hella yeah! Someone to talk to! Hang out with! Yes! We had a blast and it was cool to hang out with Wade again. He works at a company in Sioux Falls who are in charge of helping place and acclimate refugees to the US. Cuz apparently Sioux Falls is a huge hub for refugees. Which in my opinion is pretty F'd in the sense those SD winters would be a bit of a shock to those people who are from tropical climates. Anyway, we spent about 4-5 hours together and then we parted ways. My next thought is where I was going to sleep for the night.
This is a reoccurring worry of mine during this whole entire trip. I realized not having a plan to have a place to lay my head def causes me much much much worry. I guess I value having a safe place, somewhere to come home too. The next couple of hours was fiddling around I decided to stay in the primitive camp (Cut Bank) about 20miles out just cuz 1. it's cheaper and 2. I usually like the kind of people who stay there (more chill). It was nothing special and the people there were super quiet and it was super infested with mosquito's! I set up camp and went to bed as soon as I could. Woke up and then headed to the farthest West point of park to check out the scene. On our way there at Logan's Pass there was snow. So, of course I had to let Shiya out and get some "snow-time" in. I cruised into West Point which is the more popular area of the park. It's like an actual town w/ shops and restaurants on a very cutsie street. I had to go in every shop and get some souvenirs. By the time I was about to go on a hike. I was looking at the lake and was thinking awwww... wouldn't it be nice to just sun-bathe on the beach and just read a book. Yes! I think I'm going to do that. I checked into the Apgar camping site (motor home city) to park our car and then head to the beach. As we were walking, I saw "Huckleyberry Ice Cream!" Wha!? I've been seeing all this huckleberry nonsense all over Wyoming and Montana. I gotta try some. Got a scoop and headed over to the beach. Spent the rest of the day just soaking up the sun and then headed to camp to get a good nights sleep.
The plan was to drive to 3hrs to Standpoint browse around and spend the night in Cour d' Alene, Idaho with some couch surfers. Standpoint and Cour d' Alene are super yuppie lake communities. It definitely, had a Huntington Beach/ So Cal feel. It was really nice and very cute. The couch surfers I stayed with were a couple that both work at the ski resort during the winter and also do some back country skiing. I was super fascinated by this. I had heard of back country skiing but I thought it was only for the few crazies. You know the ones you seen in those Warren Miller films. But these two were just normal looking kids, just like me. I inquired about this more and was really curious about the logistics and REALLY how safe is it?! They told me that a normal day would be 4hrs of hiking in 3+feet of snow in their ski boots to ski about 10min down. WHAT!$%! Who the F would do that! They described to me it's like nothing else -you won't want to go down a groomed run ever again. They also pressed the point that IT IS very dangerous. They usually go with 4+ more people that they totally trust. There is usually a test guy that goes down first to check for avalanches and to rough up the snow and get a feel for it. I told them how would I go about getting into this. They just told me that you have to get the right gear and become friends with someone who does it. Thinking back at my gear, I still have straight skis (10 +years old) Guh! I'd haveta invest in some Alpine Touring skis were talkn about $700+ for boots, bindings and new skis. Well maybe I don't want to do that. :-) At least right now. But sounds fun, huh?
The next stop Seattle! A friend of mind suggested to take HWY2 because it's more beautiful and East Washington is super ugly. Of course this suggestion would take an extra two hours on mountain roads. I made an executive decision that I'll take I-90 and bare the ugliness. I mean, how ugly could East Washington be? It can't be uglier then Indiana or Central New Mexico?! Boy, I was sooo wrong! Desert! Dry! Barron! Nothingness. I'm sure Spokane is a nice city but I didn't stop to find out (shrugs). Getting into Seattle, I again didn't have a place to stay my couch surfer bailed on me so I was yet again without bed. I figured it's Washington worse case scenario I'll just find a campsite and camp it up in Seattle. LOL. Fate must be on my side cuz I just happened to just randomly call my girlfriend Christina to see how she's doing. She told me that I could totally stay with her friend Nate. Praise Jesus! Yes! I had meet Nate before when he came to visit her so I knew he was legit. He totally took me in and had the weekend off. So he told me anything that I want to do that he's down. He had been living in Seattle two years and hadn't done any of the touristy things and was going to move to Boston in a few weeks anyway. He was game to take me around before he leaves for B-town anyway. Score! We ended up doing the Space Needle, Pikes Place w/ the Fish Toss, Experience Music Project, Science Fiction Museum. I liked Seattle. Very cool city, it's a combination of hipster/ intellectual. Not my scene but had a good time. I should of done more outdoorsy stuff but like I had mentioned in my Facebook my battery is running low.
Ultimately my observation of this trip is that there are soooo many good people out there. So many people just willing to help me out a fellow traveler. I truly believe in karma. You put good out into the world and it'll come back to you. This is a true testament to this whole crazy experience. I also would like to thank my girl Shiya for sharing this with me. We also have become a lot closer as Mommy and Daughter. We trust each other more and can almost read each others minds. I'm just happy we got to experience this together. I really don't think I could of done this with out her. Mama loves you Shiya!
Next: Portland and my trip down Cali!
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