Day: 142
Date: Wednesday, 25 September 2024
Start: East Glacier Park MT
Finish: East Glacier Park MT
Daily Kilometres: 0.0
GPX Track: Click here for Julie’s Strava & Photos from her run today.
Total Kilometres: 4089.3
Weather: Cool to mild, mostly sunny and breezy.
Accommodation: Motel
Nutrition:
Breakfast: Omelette, hash browns, toast & jam/Scrambled eggs, sausage, hash browns, choc chip pancake.
Lunch: Ham & salad rolls
Dinner: Cheeseburgers & fries, icecream
Aches: Nothing reported.
Highlight: Not only did we get all of the backcountry campsites we wanted when Dave went to the Glacier National Park (GNP) Office in St Mary this morning but, while midway through the booking process, GNP management decided that the famous Ptarmigan Tunnel (for hikers), which was scheduled to close tomorrow (a couple of days before we would get there) would now.remain open for a further week.
Lowlight: Although the weather forecast for GNP for the next week is good for hiking and sightseeing, tonight and tomorrow have a very strong wind warning. The ranger who made our booking warned that wind speeds could reach 100kph (60mph) tomorrow in two of the high passes we have to cross. Not looking forward to that.
Pictures: Click here
Map and Position: Click here for Google Map
Journal:
Dave's 7am shuttle driver to the GNP Office at St Mary, 50km away, didn't arrive until nearly 7:30am, but he drove fast. He was a member of the Blackfeet Tribe and a good conversationalist so the journey to and from the GNP Office was very pleasant with the bonus of magnificent scenery on a fantastically clear morning.
At the GNP Office, Dave was able to book the campsites we wanted in the park (see above), despite GNP IT system failures which ended with him paying in cash and getting a hand-written permit.
While Dave was getting the permits, Julie went out for a longer run than usual, carrying bear spray. Grizzly bears are prevalent in GNP with one of our preferred campsites closed because of bear activity and a hiker attacked by a grizzly in the park last week. It was driven off by his hiking companions with bear spray. Apparently grizzlies are very active at present as part of their pre-hibernation “feeding frenzy”!
Anyway, Julie survived her run and we had a late breakfast at the same cafe as yesterday after Dave returned from St Mary.
The rest of the day was spent packing for our last five days hiking and on laundry as well as relaxing in front of the TV (Dave) or reading or dozing (Julie).
We likely have a long and tough day tomorrow to reach our booked backcountry campsite in GNP, so ate early at another nearby restaurant and had an early night.
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