May 17 - Glacier NP to Canyon Ferry Lake, MT

May 17 - Glacier NP to Canyon Ferry Lake, MT

Early morning start and a walk rewarded by a view of three elk. They were quite close, very skittish but didn't run for a long time. No antlers and no young but beautiful. We again saw the fox who was not as shy as I would have liked as she/he got quite close to us before we saw it

Logan Pass which is the Going to the Sun Road is still closed with snow measured in the 20 foot range. The red bus does come around from Apgar to St. Mary's as the ride around Route 89 is beautiful and the view out over St. Mary's Lake iconic. One of these years we will actually come to Glacier in July just to ride on the bus. We know there is a TC rally planned for Glacier during that time but we won't make it this year.

When you see the signs out west for "Open Range" or "Free range stock" be careful. It normally refers to cattle but these horses were right on the road. Montana deserves the name of "Big Sky Country" as often there is nothing for miles and miles but wheat fields, cattle herds and small oil pumping stations. The land just goes until it crashes into the mountains.

What must it be like for teenagers who live out here? The school bus ride must be endless. We see signs all the time for 4H Club activities so at least Montana is growing its next generation of ranchers.

Years ago we met a couple from New York state who came to one of the North East TC rallies. Paul and Sue are delightful people and, after they moved to Montana, said to drop in for a hello. We wander, never knowing exactly where we are going to be when, so it is hard to plan ahead. They want to go to Alaska next year so we wanted to drop off all the info we had collected. Called ahead but they were off probably camping. We did make cell contact later and will meet them near Yellowstone tomorrow. Tonight we are camped on Canyon Ferry Lake and this is our closest neighbor - a pronghorn.