Day 11 - Olympic National Park
We finished day 10 by taking the Edmonds-Kingston car ferry across Puget Sound to get to the Olympic Peninsula. It was a fun, pleasent, and short trip. Kingston was a small seaside town that looks like a lot of fun for the 60+ crowd. We ate and left for Port Angeles where we would spend the night at a KOA. Our early arrival time allowed us to make s'mores for the first time on our trip. The fire felt great with the cool North Pacific air.
Olympic National Park was interesting but we really only had a chance to scratch the surface. It's really 3 parks in one. The Olympic mountains rise up 7 thousand feet into the air just miles from the coast creating a ton of rain right along the coast. So in Olympic NP, you have a mountain environment, one of the world's only temperate rain forests, and the Pacific coast. Unfortunately we began the day kind of late (almost noon), and we had to cut out the mountains (as we've had no shortage of mountains so far on this trip). Our first stop was to the small Indian community of La Push. It was in this small sea side community that we got our first glimpse of the endless beauty of the Pacific Ocean. 70 foot "sea stacks" (large stone hills) shoot out of the Ocean all along the northern Washington coast and provided a fantastic scenery. The walk to the beach was through a small patch of rain forest. What makes a temperate rain forest a rain forest (besides the rain... duh) is the patches of moss, everywhere, on stones, on the branches of the sitka and spruce, on the path; and the ferns that blanket the undergrowth. The beach was kind of crappy, the sand was nice but there was a lot of dead trees lying everywhere and a lot of bugs. The sea stacks were nice but that was about it. From there we headed to the Hoh rain forest. The Hoh rain forest was essentially a bigger version of the rain forest we walked through earlier to get to the beach. The trees were bigger and there was a lot more moss. We got a very good look at a large bull elk wandering in the forest as well.
Day 12 - Oregon
After Olympic, we drove down the Washington coast to Willapa Bay, the site of our next KOA. An interesting phenomenon throughout our trip has been the mystery of waking up in new places. We always arrive at our campgrounds past sunset, so we never know what the scenery looks like around our camp. Thus, every morning is a surprise. It was quite a surprise when we woke up the next morning just a few hundred feet from the ocean. Apparently, clamming is a very popular activity in Willapa Bay. We hate clams and the beach was crappy so we left as soon as possible.
Before passing the Oregon border we stopped in the tiny town of Naselle, WA. We stopped at Edgells Inn Restaurant & Lounge and tried the cheeseburger and macaroni soup. It was delicious and I highly recommend any travelers in the area stop there (if they can find it). We meet a lot of people on the road and it's usually a mixed bag. Some small towns suck, and some are great. Naselle was very friendly, so a thumbs up there.
From Naselle we headed to the Oregon border and into Portland (which is just miles from the border). Portland was surprisingly nice. Everything we had heard led us to believe that Portland would be a complete shit hole, and from the highway it looked like that would be case (see the video in a few days), but once we entered the city, we were very pleasenly surprised. A few notes on Portland: Portland is super liberal. Even in the rich areas of town, it wasn't uncommon to see people with multiple piercings and green peace t-shirts. Portland looks like a nice place to live but only OK to visit. There aren't very many things to do if you enjoy sight-seeing. However, if you're a shopper, Portland is a very nice place to visit. Unfortunately we only got to spend a little bit of time in Portland because we had to be in Sacramento by the evening of Day 13 (and we didn't really budget much time ahead of time to begin with because we thought it would be shitty).
From Portland we headed south to Eugene, OR, home of the Oregon Ducks. Eugene was a total bust. The University of Oregon campus was ugly and super tiny. The Stadium was a long walk from campus and the downtown looked like crap. The silver lining of Eugene: good Mexican food. We ate our first Mexican food of the trip and it was very good. From there we headed down to Wilderville to spend the night.
Day 13 - Redwood National Park to Sacramento
We left early from Wilderville and headed toward Redwood National Park. If you're someone who says, "A tree is a tree" or "Once you've seen one tree you've seen them all," I think you need to visit Redwood National Park. These trees are incredible. The tallest tree in the park (380 feet) is inaccessable by normal means but you can easily see 340 foot behemuths from the road. Many of the trees are easily wider than a car. We drove down an 8 mile unpaved (wild you might say) road through the forest with trees often only inches from the car. It was an incredible drive. When we got to our destination we took a short walk through one of the many trails and were transported back in time to the Jurassic era when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. Giant trees erupt from the ground 20 feet from each other and ferns and moss cover the undergrowth. After filming some exciting footage we had to travel back to the future (zing!). We were on a mission to get to Sacramento at a reasonable hour to meet up with our cousins. We asked a forest ranger what the fastest way to get there would be and he recommended a route down the coast and cutting up when the mountains were a bit thinner. Instead we got in the car and chose to follow our navigation system's instructions... What a terrible mistake. Never, ever drive US-299 unless you absolutely have to. It was 150 miles of somewhat busy mountain roads. We averaged about 35 mph. In other words, it was sheer hell. From there we headed down I-5 to Sacramento to meet up with our cousin Charles.
-The Guys
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Monday, August 6, 2007
The return to civilization...
After a couple of hours drive from our hotel in Waterville, Washington, we made it to Leavenworth. The town is a small faux bavarian town located in the middle of the mountains in nortern Washington. The city looked nice, but wasn't very big. While the town has a german look to it, it wasn't above allowing merchants from other countries such as Australia set up shop. We didn't see much in Leavenworth, but we did get a chance to go into an authentic german clothing store, where we saw some sexy duds like liederhosen!
After we left Leavenworth, we drove an hour down the road to Rosyln. This was one of my favorite stops on our long journey. This small mining town of probably less than two thousand people was special for one reason... it was the setting for the tv show "Northern Exposure!" We had lunch at "The Brick," a local bar. The place was great because it was probably over a hundred years old. They had what looked like a stream flowing beneath the bar. When we asked what it was for, we were informed it was a spitoon! Where else are you going to find crazy spitoons like that but in Roslyn, WA?
After we left Rosyln, we were on our way back to civilization. First stop, Tacoma! Most people who are reading this are probably asking why anybody would voluntarily go to Tacoma. The reason is simple... Heath Ledger! Specifically, Heath Ledger as some lame character in the movie "10 Things I Hate About You," which was filmed at Stadium High School in Tacoma. We wanted to visit another famous set, so we drove to the high school and it really was impressive. I would have enjoyed going to school there. Ater seeing the school, we drove downtown and found it was nothing special, but we were glad to have seen it nonetheless.
After leaving Tacoma, we were on a mission to get to Seattle. We got there pretty late in the evening and we needed to find a cheap place to stay, so Ryan used our navigation system to find us a spot. We ended up at the "Hillside Motel." We knew something was up when they made us sign a waiver that said we wouldn't engage in gambling, prostitution, or graffiti. The door to our room had a gun shot hole that had been boarded up, so we knew were were in for a treat. We went to bed not knowing whether or not we'd encounter any prostitutes, but awoke to the sound of the motel owner pacing back and forth in the parking lot speaking Korean. Sadly, that was as exciting as it got.
The next day we did all we could to see the city. We ate fresh donuts at the Pike Place Market, and then walked down to Pioneer Square to buy cookies from "Cow Chip Cookies." We then took the underground tour which left from Pioneer Square. The underground tour was basically an informative tour/history lesson which delved into the city's early history. Ryan and I both thoroughly enjoyed it. After taking the tour, we went to the Seattle Center to check out the Space Needle, Science Fiction Museum, and the Experience Music Project. The Space Needle was nothing special (just a high observation tower), but we felt that we needed to go since its a Seattle landmark. The Science Fiction Museum was great. We saw probably the least fearsome security guards ever (they were standing around talking "Star Trek" for an hour). The Experience Music Project was pretty decent though. The musuem had an exhibit which detailed the history of the guitar. Another cool thing about the EMP was the area upstairs which allowed people to learn to play instruments like the bass, guitar, keyboard, and drums. Overall, Seattle was a decent city.
The last thing I want to note about Seattle is "Dick's" Burgers, which is basically the Seattle version of California's "In-N-Out" Burger. Dick's is nothing more than an overpriced burger joint that doesn't allow substitutions or modifications of what's on the menu AND they have the nerve to not give free refills. This is America! Unless the pop comes from the can, every place should give free refills. But I guess I was just pissed about having to buy a seperate pop for Ryan (normally we just share).
-The Guys
After we left Leavenworth, we drove an hour down the road to Rosyln. This was one of my favorite stops on our long journey. This small mining town of probably less than two thousand people was special for one reason... it was the setting for the tv show "Northern Exposure!" We had lunch at "The Brick," a local bar. The place was great because it was probably over a hundred years old. They had what looked like a stream flowing beneath the bar. When we asked what it was for, we were informed it was a spitoon! Where else are you going to find crazy spitoons like that but in Roslyn, WA?
After we left Rosyln, we were on our way back to civilization. First stop, Tacoma! Most people who are reading this are probably asking why anybody would voluntarily go to Tacoma. The reason is simple... Heath Ledger! Specifically, Heath Ledger as some lame character in the movie "10 Things I Hate About You," which was filmed at Stadium High School in Tacoma. We wanted to visit another famous set, so we drove to the high school and it really was impressive. I would have enjoyed going to school there. Ater seeing the school, we drove downtown and found it was nothing special, but we were glad to have seen it nonetheless.
After leaving Tacoma, we were on a mission to get to Seattle. We got there pretty late in the evening and we needed to find a cheap place to stay, so Ryan used our navigation system to find us a spot. We ended up at the "Hillside Motel." We knew something was up when they made us sign a waiver that said we wouldn't engage in gambling, prostitution, or graffiti. The door to our room had a gun shot hole that had been boarded up, so we knew were were in for a treat. We went to bed not knowing whether or not we'd encounter any prostitutes, but awoke to the sound of the motel owner pacing back and forth in the parking lot speaking Korean. Sadly, that was as exciting as it got.
The next day we did all we could to see the city. We ate fresh donuts at the Pike Place Market, and then walked down to Pioneer Square to buy cookies from "Cow Chip Cookies." We then took the underground tour which left from Pioneer Square. The underground tour was basically an informative tour/history lesson which delved into the city's early history. Ryan and I both thoroughly enjoyed it. After taking the tour, we went to the Seattle Center to check out the Space Needle, Science Fiction Museum, and the Experience Music Project. The Space Needle was nothing special (just a high observation tower), but we felt that we needed to go since its a Seattle landmark. The Science Fiction Museum was great. We saw probably the least fearsome security guards ever (they were standing around talking "Star Trek" for an hour). The Experience Music Project was pretty decent though. The musuem had an exhibit which detailed the history of the guitar. Another cool thing about the EMP was the area upstairs which allowed people to learn to play instruments like the bass, guitar, keyboard, and drums. Overall, Seattle was a decent city.
The last thing I want to note about Seattle is "Dick's" Burgers, which is basically the Seattle version of California's "In-N-Out" Burger. Dick's is nothing more than an overpriced burger joint that doesn't allow substitutions or modifications of what's on the menu AND they have the nerve to not give free refills. This is America! Unless the pop comes from the can, every place should give free refills. But I guess I was just pissed about having to buy a seperate pop for Ryan (normally we just share).
-The Guys
Friday, August 3, 2007
Madison and the Wisconsin Dells
Day 2 - Madison, WI and the Wisconsin Dells
Be sure to turn up your volume when watching this clip. The audio is pretty terrible. Sorry about that. Won't happen again!
Be sure to turn up your volume when watching this clip. The audio is pretty terrible. Sorry about that. Won't happen again!
Leaving Montana to move on to Washington...
We woke up late on Day 7 from our campground in West Glacier. After a leisurely shower, we got back on the road and drove towards Washington state. It was to be a long day of driving.
Our first quick stop was in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. The town is located on a large lake, just one hour east of Spokane, Washington. Coeur D'Alene ( pronounced "kour-de-lane") looked like a nice vacation spot... if you're from Idaho. It was pretty much the same thing as Traverse City, Michigan, so if you've been there, there really isn't much of a reason to go to Coeur D'Alene.
We then drove to Spokane, Washington so we could visit Gonzaga University. We had seen a clip of the university on YouTube before and it looked like an incredibly scenic place. We were unprepared for how crappy the place looked. Spokane looked like Pontiac, Michigan and Gonzaga University looked like Hope College in Hope, Michigan, but uglier. So much for Spokane and Gonzaga University.
After we left Spokane, we drove down a country road in an attempt to get to Leavenworth, Washington, which is supposed to be a touristy faux-bavarian town. We stopped to eat at a small diner in Wilbur, Washington. The town of Wilbur can't have more than 1000 people. However, that whole line about small towns having big hospitality is a load of crap. The people who worked there didn't seem to be very hospitable at all. The food was over-priced and it under-delivered on taste. Needless to say, we were happy to leave Wilbur, Washington.
By this point, it was pretty late, so we decided we needed to pick up the pace to get to our campsite as soon as possible. But while driving to our KOA site, we drove through the small town of Waterville, Washington, which had the scariest looking hotel I have ever seen. We decided to stop in and check out the rates. The place was very affordable, so we decided to stay there for the night. We were pretty scared that we might not make it through the night, but things turned out nicely. The hotel was built in 1901 and it shows. There was a common bathroom that the whole floor had to share and all around us were vintage electronics and stuffed dead animals. It was truly a bizarre experience staying at the Waterville Hotel.
-The Guys
Our first quick stop was in Coeur D'Alene, Idaho. The town is located on a large lake, just one hour east of Spokane, Washington. Coeur D'Alene ( pronounced "kour-de-lane") looked like a nice vacation spot... if you're from Idaho. It was pretty much the same thing as Traverse City, Michigan, so if you've been there, there really isn't much of a reason to go to Coeur D'Alene.
We then drove to Spokane, Washington so we could visit Gonzaga University. We had seen a clip of the university on YouTube before and it looked like an incredibly scenic place. We were unprepared for how crappy the place looked. Spokane looked like Pontiac, Michigan and Gonzaga University looked like Hope College in Hope, Michigan, but uglier. So much for Spokane and Gonzaga University.
After we left Spokane, we drove down a country road in an attempt to get to Leavenworth, Washington, which is supposed to be a touristy faux-bavarian town. We stopped to eat at a small diner in Wilbur, Washington. The town of Wilbur can't have more than 1000 people. However, that whole line about small towns having big hospitality is a load of crap. The people who worked there didn't seem to be very hospitable at all. The food was over-priced and it under-delivered on taste. Needless to say, we were happy to leave Wilbur, Washington.
By this point, it was pretty late, so we decided we needed to pick up the pace to get to our campsite as soon as possible. But while driving to our KOA site, we drove through the small town of Waterville, Washington, which had the scariest looking hotel I have ever seen. We decided to stop in and check out the rates. The place was very affordable, so we decided to stay there for the night. We were pretty scared that we might not make it through the night, but things turned out nicely. The hotel was built in 1901 and it shows. There was a common bathroom that the whole floor had to share and all around us were vintage electronics and stuffed dead animals. It was truly a bizarre experience staying at the Waterville Hotel.
-The Guys
Thursday, August 2, 2007
Yellowstone and Glacier National Parks...
Road Trip - Day 5
Ryan and I left the KOA in Buffalo, Wyoming, still sleepy, yet excited to see the wonders that Yellowstone National Park might present. Our trip to Yellowstone might have been even more impressive than the park itself. We drove through Bighorn Mountain, up its serpentine road, past free grazing cattle. At one point, I decided to run into the field and chase after the cattle. It was a little unnerving as every cow in the whole field got up and looked right at me. It was as if I was staring death in the face. After moo-ing at the cows for several minutes, I got bored and Ryan and I got back on the road. We passed some "purple" mountains (mountains covered with dead trees) and then came upon Yellowstone's east entrance.
The road was under construction, so Ryan and I were forced to wait on the side of the road for twenty minutes. We used that time as an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the Yellowstone map. There are plenty of things to see and do in Yellowstone. Sadly, Ryan and I didn't get to do too much. We drove on a mountain road into the park, past Yellowstone Lake (which is HUGE) and into the gas station. While at the gas station, we were fortunate enough to meet a fellow Michigander who happened to work at the park. She told us that we could guarantee that we'd see grizzly bears if we were to hike 4 miles on the Pelican Bay trail. Ryan almost convinced me to go on the trail, but my better judgment prevailed.
Instead we did the safe thing and visited Old Faithful. On the plus side, we got to the geyser just as it was about to erupt, so at least we didn't have to sit there like idiots waiting for it to go off. After the Old Faithful went off (whee!), we walked along the boardwalk to see several other nearby geysers. Ryan threw a stick into one geyser and some crazy chemical reaction occured and the thing almost blew up. After nearly destroying some ancient geyser, we decided to get the hell out of there and move on down the road.
Our next stop was the "Paint Pots," which basically consisted of some boiling mud. After sitting in awe of some bubbling dirt, we decided to move on yet again. We wanted to go to Grand Prysmatic pool, which was supposed to be a beautiful deep blue pool that is ringed in orange. While this description proved true, the path was about 20 feet away from the pool and the path ran at the same level as the pool, so we had a terrible view. Thanks Yellowstone!
Fearing that we were about to waste the rest of our day seeing fairly boring natural wonders, we decided to speed through the park to an area where the Buffalo roam and the Elk wander around too. We got there just as the sun was setting and were able to see some Buffalo up close; several were literally grazing about two feet away from our car as we crept along in our car. I think Buffalo are pretty much the coolest thing one can see in Yellowstone, and luckly, they're pretty easy to spot. The Elk were ok too, but basically, they're just giant deer. Sadly we were unable to spot any Moose, but hopefully we'll be able to find some in Glacier National Park.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Road Trip - Day 6
We left Yellowstone this morning and drove through the park up towards Glacier National Park. We saw Mammoth Springs, which look like giant marshmallows, but smell more like crap (it's the sulfer). On the way out of the park there was a big traffic jam and Ryan got out of the car to take a look at what the hold up was. He got to see a grizzly bear from 50 feet away while I slept in the car.
The drive from Yellowstone to Glacier is long, about 8 hours. For the most part, Montanta is a beautiful place with mountains everywhere. Unfortunately, about 3 hours outside Glacier we began to smell smoke. Within 30 minutes everything was hazy and it seemed like we were driving through pea soup. It turns out there is a massive 1000 acre forest fire just below Glacier. All was not lost however, because the last 30 minutes on the drive up to the east side of Glacier was probably some of the best driving i've ever done. As we passed through the Indian reservation, the smoke thinned and the mountains jutted up through the sky like jagged teeth on an angry dog. While that sounds terrible, what I mean to communicate, is that this site was breath-taking and totally badass. It was unlike anything Ryan and I had ever seen before. Seriously... go to Google images and see for yourself. It was unreal.
Lastly, I want to give props to the bulgarian dude who made us our dinner at the St. Mary's KOA outside of the east gate of Glacier National Park. He cooked us up a BBQ cheeseburger and that was probably the highlight of my trip thus far. Seriously, I'm calling the guy up to get the recipe.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Road Trip - Day 7
Ryan and I entered Glacier National Park, not knowing exactly what to expect. The park was about 10 million times more epic than Yellowstone. While Glacier Park connotes that the park is filled with glaciers, I believe it was named so due to the fact that it was created by slow moving slabs of ice that formed one of the most scenic mountainscapes in the world. THe mountains do not have the soft edges that most mountains have. Instead, each summit was sharp and jagged. This created a very unique landscape. Ryan and I had never been to Glacier before, so we weren't exactly sure what to do while we were there. While driving on the "Going to the Sun" road, we saw some snow about 100 feet below the road. We pulled our car off on the shoulder, and climbed down a steep grassy grade and crossed over loose rocks to get to the snow. We took a few pictures, and then proceeded to pee our names in the snow. After we finished, Ryan decided that we should climb up a sheer cliff face, rather than waste time walking around and going back the way we came. Ryan convinced me that his idea was a good one because it would shave off precious minutes, which could be used later to do other cool stuff in the park. As usual, Ryan's idea was terrible. We managed to climb up the cliff face, using nothing but our feeble muscles, and while we nearly fell off five or six times because the rocks gave way beneath our feet, we managed to climb to the top without dying. Glacier, zero. Dudes, one.
Our next stop at the park was "Logan's Pass." For some reason, this place smelled putrid. We never figured out why, but the fact remains that it is a very smelly place. While waiting around to use the bathroom, we encountered the friendliest squirrel in the park. He was fearless, running up to people, pulling on their pant leg, begging for food. Clearly, he had lost his wild ways. After wasting 10 minutes starring at a squirrel, we decided to go hiking. The ranger recommended that we try the "Hidden Lake" trail. We started walking, and within minutes I was winded. Man, am I ever out of shape. Anyway, we kept on moving and after a few more minutes we came across some beautiful scenery. The hike entailed walking up a boardwalk, up into the mountains, past bighorn sheep and mountain goats. We passed within five feet of a mother mountain goat and her calf(?). We got to the lookout point above hidden lake after roughly an hour and a half of hiking. Ryan decided it would be a good idea to walk another mile and half down to the lake. Once again, this proved to be a terrible idea. While I must admit that the lake was probably one of the most beautiful spots I've ever spent fifteen minutes at, the walk back up was sheer hell. But I can't complain. I probably burned a ton of calories, so now I'll look at least a little bit more buff for the ladies. Glacier, zero. Dudes, two.
After leaving the Hidden Lake trail, we slowly crawled back into our car, dusty and withered, and we drove down the rest of the "Going to the Sun" road. This is probably one of the most scenic drives in America, so if you ever get an opportunity to make the trip, I highly suggest you do. Unfortunately, the forest fire somewhat hindered our efforts to get a clear view of the landscape, but I can't complain. A hazy view of Glacier National Park is better than no view!
Prepare for some truly amazing footage in the coming days!
-The Guys
Ryan and I left the KOA in Buffalo, Wyoming, still sleepy, yet excited to see the wonders that Yellowstone National Park might present. Our trip to Yellowstone might have been even more impressive than the park itself. We drove through Bighorn Mountain, up its serpentine road, past free grazing cattle. At one point, I decided to run into the field and chase after the cattle. It was a little unnerving as every cow in the whole field got up and looked right at me. It was as if I was staring death in the face. After moo-ing at the cows for several minutes, I got bored and Ryan and I got back on the road. We passed some "purple" mountains (mountains covered with dead trees) and then came upon Yellowstone's east entrance.
The road was under construction, so Ryan and I were forced to wait on the side of the road for twenty minutes. We used that time as an opportunity to familiarize ourselves with the Yellowstone map. There are plenty of things to see and do in Yellowstone. Sadly, Ryan and I didn't get to do too much. We drove on a mountain road into the park, past Yellowstone Lake (which is HUGE) and into the gas station. While at the gas station, we were fortunate enough to meet a fellow Michigander who happened to work at the park. She told us that we could guarantee that we'd see grizzly bears if we were to hike 4 miles on the Pelican Bay trail. Ryan almost convinced me to go on the trail, but my better judgment prevailed.
Instead we did the safe thing and visited Old Faithful. On the plus side, we got to the geyser just as it was about to erupt, so at least we didn't have to sit there like idiots waiting for it to go off. After the Old Faithful went off (whee!), we walked along the boardwalk to see several other nearby geysers. Ryan threw a stick into one geyser and some crazy chemical reaction occured and the thing almost blew up. After nearly destroying some ancient geyser, we decided to get the hell out of there and move on down the road.
Our next stop was the "Paint Pots," which basically consisted of some boiling mud. After sitting in awe of some bubbling dirt, we decided to move on yet again. We wanted to go to Grand Prysmatic pool, which was supposed to be a beautiful deep blue pool that is ringed in orange. While this description proved true, the path was about 20 feet away from the pool and the path ran at the same level as the pool, so we had a terrible view. Thanks Yellowstone!
Fearing that we were about to waste the rest of our day seeing fairly boring natural wonders, we decided to speed through the park to an area where the Buffalo roam and the Elk wander around too. We got there just as the sun was setting and were able to see some Buffalo up close; several were literally grazing about two feet away from our car as we crept along in our car. I think Buffalo are pretty much the coolest thing one can see in Yellowstone, and luckly, they're pretty easy to spot. The Elk were ok too, but basically, they're just giant deer. Sadly we were unable to spot any Moose, but hopefully we'll be able to find some in Glacier National Park.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Road Trip - Day 6
We left Yellowstone this morning and drove through the park up towards Glacier National Park. We saw Mammoth Springs, which look like giant marshmallows, but smell more like crap (it's the sulfer). On the way out of the park there was a big traffic jam and Ryan got out of the car to take a look at what the hold up was. He got to see a grizzly bear from 50 feet away while I slept in the car.
The drive from Yellowstone to Glacier is long, about 8 hours. For the most part, Montanta is a beautiful place with mountains everywhere. Unfortunately, about 3 hours outside Glacier we began to smell smoke. Within 30 minutes everything was hazy and it seemed like we were driving through pea soup. It turns out there is a massive 1000 acre forest fire just below Glacier. All was not lost however, because the last 30 minutes on the drive up to the east side of Glacier was probably some of the best driving i've ever done. As we passed through the Indian reservation, the smoke thinned and the mountains jutted up through the sky like jagged teeth on an angry dog. While that sounds terrible, what I mean to communicate, is that this site was breath-taking and totally badass. It was unlike anything Ryan and I had ever seen before. Seriously... go to Google images and see for yourself. It was unreal.
Lastly, I want to give props to the bulgarian dude who made us our dinner at the St. Mary's KOA outside of the east gate of Glacier National Park. He cooked us up a BBQ cheeseburger and that was probably the highlight of my trip thus far. Seriously, I'm calling the guy up to get the recipe.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Road Trip - Day 7
Ryan and I entered Glacier National Park, not knowing exactly what to expect. The park was about 10 million times more epic than Yellowstone. While Glacier Park connotes that the park is filled with glaciers, I believe it was named so due to the fact that it was created by slow moving slabs of ice that formed one of the most scenic mountainscapes in the world. THe mountains do not have the soft edges that most mountains have. Instead, each summit was sharp and jagged. This created a very unique landscape. Ryan and I had never been to Glacier before, so we weren't exactly sure what to do while we were there. While driving on the "Going to the Sun" road, we saw some snow about 100 feet below the road. We pulled our car off on the shoulder, and climbed down a steep grassy grade and crossed over loose rocks to get to the snow. We took a few pictures, and then proceeded to pee our names in the snow. After we finished, Ryan decided that we should climb up a sheer cliff face, rather than waste time walking around and going back the way we came. Ryan convinced me that his idea was a good one because it would shave off precious minutes, which could be used later to do other cool stuff in the park. As usual, Ryan's idea was terrible. We managed to climb up the cliff face, using nothing but our feeble muscles, and while we nearly fell off five or six times because the rocks gave way beneath our feet, we managed to climb to the top without dying. Glacier, zero. Dudes, one.
Our next stop at the park was "Logan's Pass." For some reason, this place smelled putrid. We never figured out why, but the fact remains that it is a very smelly place. While waiting around to use the bathroom, we encountered the friendliest squirrel in the park. He was fearless, running up to people, pulling on their pant leg, begging for food. Clearly, he had lost his wild ways. After wasting 10 minutes starring at a squirrel, we decided to go hiking. The ranger recommended that we try the "Hidden Lake" trail. We started walking, and within minutes I was winded. Man, am I ever out of shape. Anyway, we kept on moving and after a few more minutes we came across some beautiful scenery. The hike entailed walking up a boardwalk, up into the mountains, past bighorn sheep and mountain goats. We passed within five feet of a mother mountain goat and her calf(?). We got to the lookout point above hidden lake after roughly an hour and a half of hiking. Ryan decided it would be a good idea to walk another mile and half down to the lake. Once again, this proved to be a terrible idea. While I must admit that the lake was probably one of the most beautiful spots I've ever spent fifteen minutes at, the walk back up was sheer hell. But I can't complain. I probably burned a ton of calories, so now I'll look at least a little bit more buff for the ladies. Glacier, zero. Dudes, two.
After leaving the Hidden Lake trail, we slowly crawled back into our car, dusty and withered, and we drove down the rest of the "Going to the Sun" road. This is probably one of the most scenic drives in America, so if you ever get an opportunity to make the trip, I highly suggest you do. Unfortunately, the forest fire somewhat hindered our efforts to get a clear view of the landscape, but I can't complain. A hazy view of Glacier National Park is better than no view!
Prepare for some truly amazing footage in the coming days!
-The Guys
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