After some debate, we decided to drive "the road" again. It couldn't hurt and we weren't doing anything else anyway. Besides, you never know how different the weather will be inside the park. We swung by Two Medicine since it was on the way. I finally got my pic of cows on the road. For real, you have to go pretty dang slow and be very careful not to hit one. They don't care! It's as if they look right at you and dare you. Just call 'em honey badgers. See that red truck? That's a ranger honking his horn at them to make them move off the road. He has a big boy horn. We tried that the other day and our little Subaru horn sounded like a bicycle in comparison. It was pretty sad, which made us laugh.
Doesn't it look like he's saying, "Whatchoo lookin' at Willis?" (I know, showing my age, right?) On to Two Medicine - it didn't look very different from the other day.
The cloud formations over the mountains are so cool. Even though we've driven "the road" I don't even know how many times, we see something different every time. Of course I haven't gone back and compared the shots from each day either. Whether blue sky and white fluffy clouds or gray sky and storm clouds, it's all gorgeous.
The front was sweeping in before our eyes. We were hoping, once again, to do the Hidden Lake hike at Logan's Pass. It just wasn't meant to be. All of a sudden we were surrounded in clouds.
Then the rain started. At this point we were half way through the park. (The temp was 41 at Logan's Pass.) We could either turn around and head back to East Glacier or forge ahead and take a chance that maybe Lake MacDonald on the western side had different weather. It's so fascinating how much the conditions change from one part of the park to another. The further west we drove, the clearer it got. And the temperature continued to climb. By the time we reached Lake MacDonald it was pretty clear and 60 degrees. A doe crossed the road right in front of us. Isn't she beautiful?
At least we got to see more of the lake than before. After we played around with different shots it was time to hit the road again. Decision time ... do we go out of the park and take the highway around the south back to the motel (which would've been significantly faster), or backtrack "the road" one last time and see if things had changed enough so we could do the Hidden Lake hike. Bob had his heart set on this hike and had been talking about it all week. He couldn't resist. The boy took a left and drove the 50 mile road back across the park again. Believe it or not, conditions HAD changed. Clouds had blown through and views that were white on the way were now much more visible. Hope was restored. We may be able to do that hike yet ... (You know there's a story coming when you see these three dots ...)
Before we left Lake MacDonald my stomach started cramping a bit. It's usually worse when traveling anyway so it wasn't much of a surprise. By the time we got to Logan's Pass I was sweating bullets. I jumped out of the car and ran to the bathroom. When I came out Bob was suiting up. Boots, gloves, beanie, etc. Imagine his disappointment when I told him I just couldn't go on a hike right then. My tummy needed time to calm down. I convinced him to go ahead without me. I would be fine waiting in the car. I could see the internal struggle he was having but the desire was too strong and it finally won. He left.
I uploaded pics to my iPad and started journaling. About 30 minutes passed and the white, dense fog started rolling in again. I look around and cross my fingers he's actually able to see the lake. Another 15 minutes pass and it starts raining. He's only been gone 45 minutes. Not nearly enough time to hike nearly 2 miles there and back. The longer the clock ticks, the worse it gets. The steady rain becomes a downpour. Visibility is really bad. This was the view from the car ...
My heart sinks. There's no escaping that he's getting drenched. It's about 40 degrees by now. I know he is hauling butt back to the car. And I am thanking the gods that be for my upset stomach at that point. Holy cow am I glad I didn't go. He got back to the car, a drowned rat, about an hour and ten minutes after he left. About 25 minutes after the rain started. First words out of his mouth, "You made the right decision." What? Can you say that again?
Bless his pea picking little heart. He said there was a grizzly up there he stopped to take a picture of. The damn lens didn't cooperate and he lost a few precious minutes fiddling with it. Finally he gave up and got to the overlook, pulled the camera out again, snapped one shot and the rain came. He barely saw the lake at all and booked all the way back down. If I had gone it would've taken us a lot longer, he wouldn't have seen the lake at all and we'd both have gotten even more drenched. So again, thankful I stayed in the car.
Once more, the closer we got to the exit the clearer it looked. It's just crazy how the park seems to make its own weather. The roads were dry, visibility was good even though it was still cloudy and the temperature warmed right up. Amazing.
We'd read that Luna's got good reviews for dinner. We were starving since we had a big breakfast and snacked for lunch. The reviews were right. It's another hole in the wall place with good food. Bob enjoyed his salmon burger and I woofed down a piping hot bowl of chili. Of course their homemade huckleberry pie was a must for dessert.
Back at the room a hot shower was first on the list. Uploading and editing pics and journaling rounded out the rest of the evening. The weather isn't supposed to be great tomorrow either. We'll see how it goes. I'm sure we'll find something to do.
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