One of my favorite flowers...fireweed.

Here's another shot of the "kitchen area"....

This is what the "kitchen area" looks like. You can see food hanging from the bear wire. The "kitchen area" is quite a ways from our campsite, which helps keep bears and other "critters" away while we're snoozing.

Glacier National Park rangers hammer campsite cleanliness and backcountry animal awareness hard, which appears to pay off. We had some adventures with deer in other sites, but in general, we didn't have too many problems.

This curious piece of industrial junk is very close to the so-called "kitchen area" for the backcountry campsite. We heard a rumor that it was debris from oil drilling in the area. It looked like a heat exchanger of some kind, and it was very heavy. Whomever brought it in, took a lot of effort. It's a great landmark for boaters to find the backcountry camp.

No motors are permitted on Kintla Lake anymore, which really helps maintain the quiet.

This is what our "neighborhood" at Kintla Lake looked like....

We camped overnight near the shore of Kintla Lake. This backcountry campsite was great, and since we were there by ourselves, it was VERY quiet.

and here we are, on the trail. Just under seven miles to our next campsite. It's warm, but not oppressive.

Clean gear, well-packed...just like always!

Time to hit the trail....

No, the wind wasn't blowing.

U.S. Route 2

2054 MDT 14 July 2007

We took U.S. Route 2 from East Glacier Park to Apgar Village this afternoon. There were five geocaches along the route, so we stopped by to find all five.

We made it to West Glacier Park in one piece. There's a lot in the way of services at West Glacier -- river rafting, souvenir shopping, lodging. There's a gasoline station, a shaved ice place, and a coin-operated laundromat. We bought a few groceries (and a can of white gas for $10 [wow]), then hit the road to Apgar Village.

One of the challenges of going to a new place is not knowing what to expect. Each of the National Parks has a different structure with respect to concessionaires and inholdings, so there's no uniformity. Glacier National Park has a considerable operation at Apgar Village that's intent on getting you everything you need (and a lot you don't). In addition to the Visitor's Center, there's a general store (with a fair supply of Wal-Mart-grade "camping" equipment, beer, wine, and souvenirs), an ice cream store (with a very long line for the entire time we were in Apgar Village), a motel, and the Backcounty office (the place where you register for backcounty permits). The Backcounty office was our last stop in Apgar Village before heading up the road to Kintla Lake.

The road to Kintla Lake can, apparently, be somewhat difficult to find. I wound up taking a slightly longer (and much better conditioned) road to Kintla Lake. Part pavement and part gravel, it's a long road -- most of it is a one-lane gravel road. There are 13 campsites, and we got the last one of the day -- another stroke of luck. The mosquitos and flies aren't too bad, and the heat of the day will cool off quickly.

Tomorrow, we're off to the campsites on the upper end of Kintla Lake for a little backcounty camping experience. It's only a six-mile hike, and it's mostly level, but it's a good way to get the kids into the experience. It's a lot less fun if you're going in for four days and several thousand feet up and down each day for your first backcountry trip in a few years (the last big backpacking trip was in 2003, the year we went to Kings Canyon and Sequoia National Parks).

East Glacier Park

2048 MDT 14 July 2007

East Glacier Park is the logical point of entry to the park when traveling by train from the east. The obvious reason is that it's the first place near the park at which you arrive. The real reason is, though, the fact that it has a rental car agency. In addition to the Avis counter, East Glacier Park has a general store (just the essentials, but that's all you should need on a trip like this) and a Mexican Restaurant (open from 1700 to 2200).

Once you get all the rental car and general store stuff out of the way, it's on to the lodge. The lodge was very nice, though characteristically pricey. The lodge had a restaurant (which we didn't try), a bar (also, which we didn't try), and a large gift shop. One of the selling points of the lodge is the 18-hole golf course (we're not golfers, so can't remark on the adequacy of the golf course). By the number of people at the golf course, it is a major draw for the resort.

The view "up" the lake from the Kintla Lake Campground. Our backcountry campsite is not visible from here; it's around the bend to the right.

First night in a new (smaller) tent....

Kintla Lake Campground

This was our campsite in the Kintla Lake Campground. It was a bit crowded, but it was nice anyway.

We'd stopped at Apgar to check out the town, then headed over to the backcounty office to arrange for our first backcounty permit. After getting all of that done, we headed down a long (LONG) gravel road, to a spot just south of the U.S. / Canada border.

Where's the next cache?

Lorraine and I stopped to get our picture taken near a cache; we're not far from Route 2 on the road between East Glacier Park and Apgar.

The "crew" catching a dip in between geocaches....

Crystal clear streams and lots of colorful rocks.

We're all packed up, and ready to hit the road.

Emily and the flowers in front of the lodge.