Day 6

Grand Teton National Park to Belgrade, Montana, July 6th, 1996

Side Bars

Once more the birds and sun wake us about dawn. First mission, make the coffee, then start breakfast. We're eating light today so we can break camp quickly without having to clean up a lot of dishes. So it's some cold cereal and some dried fruit then everything goes back into the car. We'll be heading north by the end of today so this is farewell to Lizard Creek campground.

A Hike on the Moraine

One reason for our rush to clear out early is that we're planning on taking a ranger led wildflower hike south of Jenny Lake. As it happens, we get to the trailhead on time but... no ranger. This happens. The rangers are very busy people, particularly at this time of year, and their duties extend well beyond leading walks in the fields. It's no real problem anyway. We can still enjoy a hike without a commentator.

The area we're hiking is a ridge formed from a terminal glacial moraine (the pile of debris which builds up at the foot of a glacier). This hike takes us in a wide loop over the north shoulder of the ridge, back to Taggart Lake and around the southern foot of the ridge. It's a long walk but very rewarding. There are very few hikers on this trail despite the fact that the trailhead is right next to the road. The trail passes through open fields and across streams, into pine groves and through areas which have been burned out recently. It's an excellent way of seeing many snapshots of the local ecosystem's life cycle.

Back to the Road

After a long, and mostly solitary walk, we return to the car. Sadly, it's time to leave the Tetons already. We could easily spend days more here but there are other sights ahead in our plans. We've got a long way to go and it's already well past noon. We climb in and head back north. As we leave, we pass by some of the places we've so recently enjoyed. It's difficult to leave this place we've settled so well into in just a couple of days.

Where the Tourists Area

We're heading to our next big destination, Glacier National Park in Montana. Our route takes us right back through Yellowstone National Park. Since it would be absurd to trek all the way out here and not stop to look at one of the worlds most active geological sights, we brave the crowds and stop in at the main lodge in the middle of the park.

Here's where Old Faithful lives and how the people do flock to watch. We haven't seen crowds like this since we left the east. Our first task, however is to get the car checked out. It's still making periodic squeals though both the frequency and intensity are lessening. After a surprisingly short wait, the mechanic looks over the wheel and brakes. The good news, nothing seems to be wrong. His best guess is a loose pad... nothing to worry about. The second surprise, especially considering that we're at one of the much maligned national park concessions, no charge.

There's a lot to see in the area around Old Faithful and we haven't planned to be here two long. For about three hours we walk amongst the bubbling mud, blue mineral rich water, and burbling geysers. Eventually we catch Old Faithful shooting off in the distance. Time to move on.

After a brief drive out to West Yellowstone, we're in Montana. We've been in Wyoming since the 2nd so this is the first new state in three days. After zooming through several states a day for the first couple days, it seems we've slowed way down.

Now we're heading almost straight north along U.S. 191 toward Big Sky. There's no speed limit per se in Montana. Even though this is a two lane road, the usual rate of speed is about 70 to 75 miles per hour. This is not unsafe because the road is for the most part straight and traffic is very light. People very sensibly burn their headlights during the day while driving on these roads. Doing so allows somebody passing toward you to see you coming miles away, which can be important at these speeds.

This stretch of road in south-west Montana, through the Gallatin National Forest is one of the loneliest we've been on yet. For miles at a time there's no sign of human activity apart from the road itself. Often the only other sign is a train track.

Belgrade

Our plan is to make two stops on our way up to Glacier rather than just one. This will allow us to get to the campgrounds in Glacier National Park early enough to get a spot and will also allow us to take things a little more slowly. Considering how efficiently we've been tiring ourselves out these last few days we could do with a bit slower pace.

Our stop for the night is at the Super 8 in Belgrade, Montana. We have to wander about for a while to find a place to eat. But eventually we locate a small pizza restaurant which satisfies. After dinner, it's back to the hotel to catch up on postcards and laundry. Yes, that's right laundry. We did not pack three weeks of cloths and we've been living in a tent for two days (and what's more we must admit to being creatures of comfort). Showers to would be a good thing but first things first.

Discussions over the Wash

As it turns out, we're not the only ones in the hotel, with its single washing machine and drier, who have cleaning cloths on our minds. We find a bit a queue formed at the washroom. The state women's high school soccer tournament is in Belgrade this year and after the first round has been played, all of the uniforms must be spotless for round two. We get in line behind two mothers on such a mission and more gradually line up behind us. This is not a bad thing at all. While waiting we have quite a good talk with these people from various corners of the state. In so doing we get a better idea of what its like to live here. In particular we're interested in how things go during the winter. In July, it looks great but from our acquaintance's descriptions of the winter, it looks like we'll be staying in North Carolina for now.

The Day's Progress

[Day 6 Progress] Our trip mileage now stands at 2,936.2. It now seems an amazingly long time ago we were driving under the tunnels through the upper Appalachians in West Virginia. In fact it was just five days ago. One thing we're convinced of. This is a big country.

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