Life be berry, berry good

Actually, we prefer huckleberry ice cream

WEST GLACIER, MT - -  Hey, we're back in our home-away-from-home ... Glacier Campground.  Our trip north of the border was fun, had way too many people trying to do the tourist thing and, ultimately, the smoke of forest fires caught up with us.
     I have lots of photos to sort through and pick out some representative ones for the next blogs.

Yoho National Park

FIELD, BC, CANADA - - We're sitting here in  the Yoho NP visitors center grabbing some much appreciated free wifi.  Sunday, we were still in Jasper, but our site for three days (the library) was closed.  So today (Monday) we headed down Icefields Parkway to Lake Louise to visit a deli we know to grab some goodies in case we found a campground with available sites.  Kicking Horse had plenty so now we have a nice spot in the woods unlike our four-night Jasper stay in the asphalt overflow area of  Wapati park.
     Dubious history:  The legend goes that Yoho NP got its name from a First Nations tribe looking for a trail  through the mountains and into the valley.  After many attempts one of the scouting parties discovered a trail.  Legend goes that the first Indian to sight the valley yelled "hot spit" or some interesting expletive.  In the interest of political correctness this was soon changed to "yoho" so even little braves could shout the name.  That's the story and I'm sticking to it.

Icefields Parkway

Two of the prominent glaciers along the way

JASPER, AB, CANADA - - Our trip up to Jasper, a nearly 150-mile jaunt, is, for us, a trip on memory road.  Or as it is better known, The Icefields Parkway.  Visualize the Canadian Rockies on either side of the road with an abundance of glaciers.  Our first time up IP was in 2002.  15 years, global warming, sometimes inconsistent snowfall (think 12-feet instead of 20)  have conspired to shrink the "ice fields."
     We still marvel at the size and number of glaciers from our first trip,  but sadly realize that time and Mother Nature are moving on.  A case in point:  Just over 100 years ago Glacier National Park counted 150 glaciers as its namesake.  Today there are but 25 and they are shrinking fast.

Look, an elk (ch.#2 of an ongoing saga

Bull Elk and 200mm long lens out the passenger side window

A young Bighorn sheep blocks traffic...as we look through the windshield

Canadian humor...unless you're from Quebec

In English or French you could get into trouble

All regular signage is mandated to be bilingual

Into Canada

Lots of trains, this one with empty coal cars

Bighorn having a sparse breakfast

Early morning Lake Louise with a glacier reflection

Total solar eclipse...almost

Nice glasses

I put special eclipse viewing glasses over the camera lens

Marshall, the corgi,  got dressed up and brought his buddy, C-C to the party

WEST GLACIER,. MT - - We did get to see the eclipse as the area where we are  in MT got 90% viewing.  Unless you had a special solar adapter for your slr camera you couldn't take photos.  So we improvised.  I used my Canon point-and-shoot with the lens from our solar viewing glasses over the lens. Lydia found a way to take pics with her I-pad.  While this was going on, a group got together and made breakfast. 

Berry, berry good

Huckleberry pickin' has been good to me.

WEST GLACIER, MT - - The Flathead Valley is mainly know for  cherries.  But around this time of year it's cherry vs. huckleberry time.  The Huckleberry is about the size of a pea and can be cultivated although it also grows wild so it takes a lot of picking to get a decent amount.  A cup the size in the photo goes for $15;  for 5 lbs. the price drops to $13 per pound.
     "I'm your huckleberry" is featured on tee shirts worn by servers of one popular restaurant chain.  There's huckleberry ice cream, pie, jam,  pancakes, pancake syrup, soda, soap and flavored vodka.  In fact the "huck" can be used about anyway you can think of.
     Of course, here in northwest Montana, they don't tell you that the huckleberry is the state fruit of its neighbor just to the west...Idaho. 

Trail jam

WEST GLACIER MT - -  Some days it's a real traffic slow up in Glacier National Park.  Usually from road work.  Yesterday it was a people-jam on  the trail to Hidden Lake.  This pack of bighorn sheep decided to wander down from the upper mountains to - maybe - lusher feeding grounds.  This required crossing the HL trail and creating a jam up with everyone grabbing for their camera, hoisting the shorter little ones on their shoulders and generally creeping closer to get a good photo.  Luckily there were park rangers there to create a passage for the group and keep the big horns for butting anything/anyone  other than their own heads.  Usually all we see on the trail are marmots or squirrels.

Look, a bear!

A grizzly bear butt

Grinnell Glacier is visible (left center) across Sherburne Lake on the way to Many Glacier Lodge

WEST GLACIER, MT - - Sometimes we find a little humor in a photo from inadvertent happenings.  The top photo is a case in  point.  We were heading back to West Glacier from Many Glacier Lodge on the east side of the park.  This area is usually good for seeing a grizzly or two although they are usually way up a mountainside.  Not this time.
     I hollered bear! and Lydia grabbed  my camera and started taking shots across me and out the driver's window.  Unfortunately, I was also pointing to the bear as I brought the car to a stop.  Until I downloaded the pics I didn't know my reflex action was front and center.  So that's how we do it and I'm sticking to my story.
     In other news, the weather was nice.  No smoke visible today just fleecy clouds until storm clouds moved in.

A new experience

Wet roads...windshield wipers..it could be rain

WEST GLACIER, MT - - Those funny spots on the windshield weren't juicy bug splatters but rain drops.  Not heavy, but enough to dampen the woods a bit and maybe give the fire crews a small bit of relief. We haven't seen rain in about 60 days. The "extreme fire danger"  warning signs posted by the forest service may be downgraded a notch, yet everything is still dry, dry, dry.  The rain will clear the smoke a bit, but we aren't expecting big change

On the lookout

Fire crews are stationed throughout the park

Smoke at the far end of Lake McDonald hides the mountains and the start of Going To The Sun route

WEST GLACIER, MT - - There were nearly 150 lightening strikes in Glacier NP on Thursday night. Some started small blazes.  The fire danger in  the park is listed as extreme.  Rain has been almost non-existant in the past two months.  So the park has beefed up its fire fighter contingent.  The crew working the "look out" brush truck (top) are from Mesa Verde NP (AZ).  The three (one female, two male) have been here for three weeks and don't see any end to their duty.
     "It's where the action is," noted the one crew member as they got ready to move to a new location.
The trio had just finished fueling up at Pole Bridge Mercantile.  One of our favorite places slightly off the grid and well known for great baked goods and good coffee.
     The smoke/haze on the mountains is mainly from wildfires burning just to the north in Canada mixed with the smaller blazes in the park.

     So now you're asking yourself how did we get from coastal Washington to Northwest Montana.  We took a few "scenic" highways through North Cascades NP and eastward.  Smoke, smoke and more smoke made the 400-plus mile journey not very scenic.  We had planned to head north into Canada at about halfway to Glacier, but crappy conditions ended that idea.  Next we thought we would get to Glacier, spend a few days and then head North.  Right now conditions don't seem to make that likely.  But we're in our favorite location..Glacier Campground..and we don't mind hanging out here for a while.  Since we "lived" here for three summers while we worked in the park and have spent a good deal of other 'camp-days' here we're treated as sort of long lost distant relatives.  We're lucky that they always seem to find a campsite for us.

   

Little known facts

Amtrak waits for no one, but everyone waits for Amtrak.

Hungry little buggers

Buggied or boogied??

Early Sunday stroll

The Plein Aire Art ladies were out early creating  some of the day's wares

Lemons and oyster shells were part of this food vendor's decorations

 Sand sculptures and wall murals featuring old time Anacortes

Big shot:  have chain saw, will carve

Salmon anyone?

Breaklfast time

Early mornings you'll find us at Gere-A-Deli for coffee and oatmeal

The 'guard kitty' at Alley Cat Antiques wasn't interested in a photo despite the photographer's best efforts.

ANACORTES, WA - - This has been a doubleheader weekend with an arts fair and the weekly edition of the farmer's  market.  Being camped at Cap Sante Marnia puts us in the perfect location for walking everywhere. In fact, we haven't moved the Magic Bus an inch in the last seven days.
     The downside of the camping area, as mentioned in an earlier. blog, is no picnic table or. fire ring.  Not to worry.  We discovered Gere-A Deli on an earlier trip to Anacortes.  We're just about regulars as the table next to us fills up (as does much of  the. rest of. the space). with a group of "mature" individuals five days a week like clockwork.  Good coffee and a do-it-yourself oatmeal / grainola / yogurt / cut fruit layout with dried cranberrys, raisins and brown sugar is all we need.
    We usually go exploring after a suitable two cups of coffee and maybe seconds of oatmeal. Every shop on the street and side streets deserves being checked out.  Sometimes you get lucky and find they have a feline security force.

Hazy daze

Smoke from forest fires greys-out the hills and sky

ANACORTES, WA - - For the past two days the haze has been hanging around longer and longer.  The main problem is that it isn't foggy-style marine layer, but smoke from forest fires (big and small) to the east (Washington) and north (British Columbia, Can.) of us.  The winds blow it in and then swirl it round for some clear, sunny periods.
    In the last 35 days we haven't had any rain where we are in western Washington.  We have gotten steady 5-10mph winds during that time.  Luckily, the temperature here has barely touched 80-degrees. 
    Not so to the north and east where the fires are burning.  Higher temps, steady winds and bone dry trees and scrub are the norm.