Day 18

We really enjoyed the Eagle’s nest motel. It was the nicest so far and the least expensive. If you are ever passing through Priest River, ID be sure to stop. Talking with the managers, we learned that they were originally from Frankfort, IN. There have been many times that people stop us and ask what part of Indiana we are from. Most of the time they are from the northern part of the state. We left Priest River at 7:30 in an effort to get to Glacier early enough to get a campsite. I viewed Glacier’s website last night and saw where all of the campsites were filling up by mid afternoon. Since this was Friday, I suspected that the weekend campers would cause the sites to fill up sooner. I soon realized that when we entered Montana, we lost an hour. That, coupled with a 45 min. construction delay was cause for concern.

The ride through the panhandle of Idaho and through the northwest of Montana was great. Except for the construction delays, we didn’t encounter much traffic. The major cities we passed through were Sandpoint, ID, Libby and Kalispell, MT. At Kalispell we purchased groceries sufficient to get us through the two nights at Glacier.




We pulled into Glacier at 2 p.m. and discovered that the first 3 of the 4 campgrounds on the west side of the park were full. We were told that if we made straight for Avalanche Campground that we shouldn’t have any problem getting a site. It was a 20 mile ride from the west park entrance on the Going To The Sun Road to the campground. We found several open sites and selected one on the edge of the campground bordering a dense cedar-hemlock forest (sounds like I know a lot about the park ecology, when in fact I found this info in our park guide). Anyway, it is a nice site and will be our home for the next two nights.

After setting up the tent and the awning, we made the trip back down to the west entrance to make phone calls – no reception at our campsite. I also made reservation for the two of us to take a ½ hour helicopter ride tomorrow morning. Since we’re here for only a day and one-half, I thought it would be a great way to see most of the central and southern part of the park that we would never get to see otherwise. Brooks’ friend, Phillip De Larosa, mentioned that he did the 1 hour trip and it was spectacular. I figured that with me being susceptible to motion sickness – the ½ hour would be enough.

Dinner tonight will be our staples of baked beans, corn and I’ll grill chicken breast over the open fire. We may take a short hike later. Lots of pictures for tomorrow.