TOWERS AND GLACIERS

June 14, 2006

After luxuriating the night in our bridal suite we rose and packed up and took off.  We had planned a long day of driving to get to Glacier National Park.

A short distance from Spearfish we pulled off the highway to visit Devil’s Tower National Monument.  This is the rock formation used in the movie Close Encounters of the Third Kind.  The rock formation sticks right up out of the almost flat terrain and has been used as a landmark by Indians, pioneers and travelers for centuries.

The sun had been up for hours, but it was just peeking over the top of the formation, making for a nice, scenic view.  As we hiked closer to the base of the rock we observed many small Indian offerings tied to trees and sitting on boulders.  This is a very sacred place for several tribes and it happened to be a special holy time at the rock.

At the base of the formation we could see the ridges in the sides of the rock.  Enormous chunks, the size of a school bus, had fallen off the sides and lay like little rocks piled at the base of the Tower.  It was awesome to realize how huge this piece of rock really is.

I liked this Indian legend of how the tower came to be:

One day, seven little girls were playing at a distance from the village and were chased by some bears. The girls ran toward the village and the bears were just about to catch them when the girls jumped on a low rock, about three feet high. One of the girls prayed to the rock, “Rock take pity on us, rock save us!” The rock heard them and began to grow upwards, pushing the girls higher and higher. When the bears jumped to reach the girls, they scratched the rock, broke their claws, and fell on the ground.

The rock rose higher and higher, the bears still jumped at the girls until they were pushed up into the sky, where they now are, seven little stars in a group (The Pleiades). In the winter, in the middle of the night, the seven stars are right over this high rock. When the people came to look, they found the bears’ claws, turned to stone, all around the base.

After leaving the Devil’s Tower behind be began our trek across Wyoming and Montana.  We drove and drove and drove, humming along to Nine Pound Hammer, Orange Blossom Special, Cinnamon Girl. 

At Gillette, Wyoming we stopped for gas ($2.65) and lunch fixings.  While I was in the grocery store Don checked out the display of statuary made from aluminum cans.  We also saw a truck moving a blade for one of those big windmills.  Those things are enormous!

More driving, some mountains coming into view.  More bluegrass on the cd player.  Drive, Drive, Drive.  Finally we made it to Conrad, Montana, where we pulled in for the night.

The following morning we drove the short distance to Glacier National Park.  It was a rainy, gray day.  First we went up to the Saint Mary Visitor Center to get information and learn about the park.  From there we drove up the Highway to the Sun toward Logan Pass.  Sadly, there had been an avalanche, and the road over the summit was not open, so we went as far as we could and then turned around.

There was gorgeous scenery everywhere we looked, despite the gray day.  At the point the road was blocked we found huge snow banks, even though it is the middle of June.  We then drove up to Many Glacier Lodge for a cup of tea and a beautiful view of one of the many lakes in the park.

Continuing on our travels, we drove all along the very scenic route at the south edge of the park and on to Kalispell, Montana.  Here we contacted Don’s classmate, Diane Taylor and arranged to meet for dinner.  We spend the night in Kalispell.

After leaving Kalispell we traveled through the gorgeous Rocky Mountains, stopping for a hike at the Kootenai Falls.  We got right up close and personal with the water here, and really felt the power as gallons of water poured over the rocks, just feet from our viewpoint.

We arrived at my cousin, Vivian Ward’s house, in Rathdrum, Idaho, in the afternoon.  It was wonderful to visit with Vivian and her family—husband, Bryan, son, Garrett and daughter, Corrin.  Bryan gave Don the tour of their acerage while I visited with Vivian.  They put us up in their very comfortable and spacious trailer for the night.

The following morning Viv and I strolled along the “Don Myrah Memorial Mountain Bike Path” that the Ward kids constructed in honor of DJ’s Olympic appointment, and then on to meet their very nice neighbors.  We toured their home and admired their pond.