Glacier Park, Montana (Day One)

Day One is always abrupt when you have to wake up at 4AM to climb on an airplane for a 6:15 flight. We arrived in Seattle, and went to the desk to get our boarding passes. Come to find out that they overbooked the flight and Lea doesn’t have a seat for the flight. This was not a good start to the trip. After sweating out an hour, hearing over and over, if you would like to give up your seat and receive a $300 voucher the next flight is at 1:45. After the plane had already boarded at the last minute another couple in the same situation decided to take the voucher. Finally we climbed aboard the small Prop plane and were headed for Kalispel!

Glacier International is one of the smallest airports I’ve been to. There were 4 Gates (1A, 1B, 2 and 3)! The shuttle service I scheduled was waiting and took us to the Apgar Campground. The next hurdle was finding a campsite. We chose a day hiker site (share site, $5.00/person) as there was no where else open and set up camp. We took a stroll down Lake McDonald to relax and take in the view after our journey. It was spectacular or so we thought! Just a taste of things to come.

Back at camp, having a snack, our site mate showed up on his bike and didn’t seem too pleased to see us. He dropped some things off and took back off on his bike. Not 30 minutes later or so Tiffon arrived at the other site next to us. She came over and introduced herself. She was very friendly and talkative, so we decided to move our site with her. She was a teacher from Vermont and about to backpack for 7 days through the back country of the park, leaving early the next morning. After some cards we decided to head to the Ranger talk about Moose.

By the time we got back to the site it was nearly 9PM and we were pretty hungry. We cooked up some Mac & Cheese and called it a night. After we got into the tent trouble brewed as a thunder and lightning storm lit up the sky.

FROM THE PEANUT GALLERY (aka Lea)

For most people, summer weather spells one thing: heat. Not for us San Franciscans. Instead of sweaty summer strolls, bone-crushing humdity, or sleepless heat-filled nights, residents of the Foggy City enjoy (or endure) a cool and windy mid-year season. Samuel Clemmens (aka Mark Twain) said it best: “The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco.”

What a surprise it was, then, to step off our antiquated prop plane in a haven of humidity and heat. Of course having done little due diligence on my part, I hadn’t expected Montana to be so warm and wet. But there it was. Chris and I had arrived to a real summer.

While sunshine and warmth are certainly welcome to fog-bound city-dwellers like me, I was unprepared for the weather. After shuttling to Apgar campground and navigating the labyrinthine campsite to locate our new home, I was sweating. And uncomfortable. Fortunately, Lake McDonald’s crisp alpine waters were only a half-mile walk away, and we enjoyed a refreshing wade before our humble dinner and friendly encounter with Tifin.

Another weather pattern my California sensibilities are always surprised by is thunderstorms. In California, the wet season is the cold season. It does not rain in the summer or the fall. Period. But, apparently, that’s not the case in Montana, or the rest of the continental states. In these landlocked areas, thunderstorms are as much a part of summer as are Otter pops and lemonade stands.

So, predictably, a thunderstorm snuck over the Rockies right as we huddled into our tent for the night. The lightning storm was non-stop and frankly a little frightning for one as inexperienced as me with such weather. Regardless, it was a dramatic and special beginning to our adventures in Montana.