what awaits you in montana? a lovely bunch of nothing.
Oh so much has happened since I last blogged I don't know where to start! I'll just randomly spout some things off: I drove through Vernal, UT where they have a REALLY cool statue of a dinosaur wearing a cowboy hat and sunglasses holding a watermelon, next to a pedestal with a hamburger on it. I don't know what the hell it's about but aesthetically it's amazing. I camped in Grand Teton National Park which is very pretty and very much full of bears, but not quite as full of bears as Glacier National Park where I am now. I went to the farmer's market in Jackson Hole and obtained a ridiculously huge bunch of carrots for four dollars, which I am still eating. I didn't sleep a wink in the two days I spent in the Grand Tetons because it stormed the first night that I was there and the second night I went out on a very long date with a boy who worked in the park (local beer = yummy!) and then left early in the morning for Montana. When I got to the hostel I slept at during my first night in Glacier I went to bed at like 9:30 and slept for about 12 hours, only interrupted once in the middle of the night when I went to go use the outhouse. I was very frightened that the bears and mountain lions and wolves of Glacier would be lying in wait for me outside the outhouse, but it all turned out okay.
glacier np is pretty!
The Northfork Hostel is an old dude ranch that was converted into a hostel in 1979, it's a really neat spot just west of Glacier that you have to drive waaaaay down a dirt road to get to. The people there are exceptionally friendly, the place feels much more like the communes I've stayed at rather than a hostel. There is little in the way of modern conveniences but they do have kerosene lamps in every room and an indoor shower and a fully functioning kitchen, which is more comfort than I'm used to these days. They give you the option of sleeping either in a dorm, cabin, tipi, or your own tent. I chose the dorms since beds are few and (literally!) far between for me these days.
So I've driven through an enormous climate change in the last few days, I went from sweating in 100 degree weather in Moab to busting out my sweatshirt in Grand Teton to breaking out my zero-degree sleeping bag in Glacier! I can't believe it's August, it feels as though I must have driven into the month of November here. It's pleasantly chilly though, and a welcome change from the desert heat.
Speaking of heat, there's a lot of forest fires going on in Montana right now! I drove through some on my way up here, which appeared to be healthy, natural, under-brush burning fires, but it was still a crazy sight. There are huge encampments of fire fighters and national guardsmen all along the highways in some areas, and whole valleys enclosed in a smoky green haze. At the ranger station in Glacier NP they said that there were some fires going on in the eastern part of the park, which I am staying away from. Between the bears, cougars, wolves, and forest fires, northwestern Montana sounds pretty formidable right? Yeah probably, but the sights are spectacular enough and the locals are friendly enough that I'm pretending not to notice. I'll probably make it out alive. Probably.
