A Special Visit

The classic Red Jammer touring coach. The same model that picked Beth and I up from the airport for our midnight ride to Lake McDonald Lodge.

Back in May, long hours driving westward led me toward Rapid City, South Dakota – and many fond memories.

In 1988, my friend, Beth, and I had decided to vacation together at Glacier National Park. We flew into Glacier International Airport, just outside Kalispell. Neither of us had been to Glacier before and we were excited. Our flight from Dulles International Airport in Northern Virginia landed at midnight. As we exited the plane, crisp cool air filled with the scent of pine and spruce trees mingled with cow manure immediately filled our senses. It was a far cry from the acrid weight of jet exhaust hanging heavily in the summer humidity and smog we had breathed at Dulles. 
 

We walked across the tarmac, through a nearly empty airport, picked up our luggage (two very laden backpacks), and headed out into the night air to find our ride. In those days the park concessionaire offered to pick up guests of the historic lodges in one of the Red Jammer busses servicing the park since 1936. And there it was, with our own private driver (called a “Jammer”) ready to sweep us off into the night to our destination. It was a perfect arrangement for two young career women traveling on budgets that didn’t include a rental car. We would spend one night at Lake McDonald Lodge before we began camping.
 

Our driver was a young man. No one else was in the Jammer. We introduced ourselves and enjoyed hearing him tell us about the history of the busses, the lodge and the services they offered as we drove out of the Flathead Valley and into the mountains. The night was truly dark, no orange glow like the Washington, DC metro skies. We could just make out the hills and jagged peaks, black silhouettes against the night sky, and catch glimpses of Lake McDonald shimmering in the moonlight. What has stayed with me most on that drive was the joy on Beth’s face as she anticipated what these mountains, so impressive in silhouette, would be like in the light of day.
 

When we stepped out of the Jammer in front of the lodge I pointed at the sky. We looked up into the most magnificent display of the Milky Way we had ever seen. Layers of starlight reaching from one horizon to the other. We simply stood with our faces raised in the quiet of 1:00 a.m., as the heavens declared the Glory of God. The next morning, Beth’s smile just couldn’t leave her face as daylight revealed Mt. Brown, the impressive lodge, Lake McDonald and the mountains leading east to the Garden Wall and the Continental Divide. I had as much pleasure in her delight as I did in the beauty around us.

This past May, as I approached Rapid City, South Dakota, my memories turned to our second trip in 1989. That time we decided to drive. That way we could experience the changing landscapes as we traveled from our eastern home with its ample rains through gradually drier areas. We left behind the eastern mountains and hills of dense deciduous forests, through expanses of ever flatter farmland, trees becoming scattered and stunted, until even the farms became farther apart and the towns separated by great open expanses. 

I remember being impressed at how long we could drive through South Dakota without seeing a house or a herd of cows, let alone people. Ah! After several miles I spotted one lone cow. And what happens when you are somewhat bored and there is only one cow to spur your thoughts? Why of course, a Neil Diamond song comes into your head. Or at least the chorus came to mind. I couldn’t recall the verses. Actually, I couldn’t recall all of the chorus either, but no matter. Solitary Man. My head and hips started to move to the beat in my head and I began to sing, the lyrics improvised to fit the scene...

I’ll be what I’m now 

... ba ba ba ba (my voice mimicking horns playing 3 rising and 1 descending note)

...Solitary Cow (... ba ba ba ba) 

...Solitary Cow

That was good for some smiles and laughter. We eventually fell back into silence with the long drive. Until I saw another cow.

Although the land was seemingly empty the highway was not - at least not on the other side of the median. There was a fairly steady stream of motorcycles, Harleys to be exact, heading east. Though not frequent, they kept passing us hour after hour until we became rather curious as to what was going on. 

When we reached Rapid City, SD we stopped for dinner.  We were only a short drive from our night’s camping destination of Bear Butte State Park, just east of Sturgis. We asked the waitress what was the deal with all the motorcycles on the road? She said, “Oh, the annual Harley convention at Sturgis, just up the road, is wrapping up. Folks are heading home.” We both felt a mild panic rising within as warning bells went off in our minds. We didn't know what a Harley convention was like, so our imaginations got the better of us as stereotypes of tattoo covered, beer swilling, unshaven, brutes came to mind. Bear Butte State Park... just east of Sturgis... two young women in an unfamiliar area, camping next to a convention of brutes.... This is not good. 
 

After dinner we drove on with a little bit of trepidation. Arriving at Bear Butte State Park, we found it empty except for one fellow with a motorcycle unpacking his tent. He rode a Honda. We slept well.

It was memories like those that Beth and I laugh at to this day and which made me think of her as I drove north toward Rapid City. I hadn’t seen her in maybe 20 years, but we’ve kept in touch. So, I gave her a call and mentioned I was approaching Rapid City. Laughter followed and we spent time reminiscing and catching up. I invited her and her husband, Dave, to join me at Glacier. Beth had loved Glacier so much during our trips, that when she and Dave married they spent their honeymoon there. Glacier gained another fan in Dave. 

I threw Beth’s bridal shower. The theme was “Honeymoon in Glacier” complete with a tent set up in the room (the honeymoon suite), logs for camp furniture, and a variety of camping gear laid out. I think I even had a sound track of running water and bird song in the background. That has to be one of the more unusual bridal shower themes ever!

The front of Lake McDonald Lodge faces Lake McDonald. Rockers are set out for everyone to enjoy a relaxing time.
 

The lobby at Lake McDonald Lodge, with a fireplace large enough for chilly hikers to stand in.

As it was, their 30^th wedding anniversary was coming up. So, to my great delight Dave and Beth joined me for a
few days at my campsite in the Moose Creek Resort. Their “kids” (all adults now), Jackie, Ryan, and Paul were able to
fly in and stay at the same resort, in a cabin just a short walk away. Their visit was just for a few days, so we packed in as much sightseeing as we could.  

With the snow plowing still ongoing, Logan Pass was not open yet. But there was plenty to see elsewhere. We took a trip to see Lake McDonald Lodge and hike along McDonald Creek. The next day we spent the day traveling to the east side of the park around the southern boundary to the Many Glacier area. Jackie, Ryan and Paul (aka Joshua) joined me in Bubba Bear while Dave and Beth drove their compact car.

Rt. 2 around the southern boundary of Glacier National Park has an unusual traffic control sign. I don't think we have these back in Northern Virginia... I wonder what the purpose of the yellow flashing light is.. Does a bear push a button when it wants to cross and then the light flashes to warn drivers to slow down???
 

Jackie, Ryan and Paul were fun. Bright, sweet and a little quirky, as homeschooled kids tend to be. I was happy I had them in my car for the whole trip. Conversation ranged and I enjoyed hearing the banter of the siblings as they talked about their lives and interests. I appreciated getting a sense of their closeness, how each has learned to accept and make room for the other’s strengths and weaknesses. I contributed commentary on the places we were driving through: Marias Pass, the road sign cautioning us to be alert for “Bear Crossing”, Goat Lick where mountain goats (among other mammals) travel for long distances to lick the minerals exposed on a bank cut by the Middle Fork of the Flathead River, to name a few.

Mt. Wilbur as seen on the rainy day we traveled to the Many Glacier area.
 

The basement level of Many Glacier Hotel was our lunch spot. There was an upright piano in the corner and Paul began to play an original composition he was working on. It had a gentle rolling vibe that made me think it would make a good movie soundtrack. He moved through variations to see what pleased him. When he was done a woman approached and told him what I too was thinking - he played very well and it was a beautiful piece. 

Outside clouds came and went with periods of rain. But we managed to sneak in a rather unique version of a panoramic family portrait video with both Mt. Grinnell and Grinnell Point in the background.

And I managed to spy a momma moose with her very young calf along the shore of Swiftcurrent Lake. I cajoled the kids to come and see and before long we had the hotel balcony full of visitors watching them too. 

The family improvises their version of a panoramic family portrait.

The only thing Beth had hoped for her children to see that didn’t happen this trip, was that they would see the Milky Way in all its glory, as she had on her first trip. But the long summer twilight kept the skies too bright until late at night. By the time the night turned really dark we were all asleep.

On the return drive from Many Glacier, Beth asked if they wanted to ride with Dave, but they said they preferred being in my truck since I gave a good narrative of the area as we drove. Made me smile inside. 

After my friends and I had enjoyed looking into the distance, viewing a momma moose and her young calf, I noticed several folks on the hotel balcony had joined us. Anyone pointing off into the distance will attract the curiosity of wildlife watchers.

Dave and I head down from the Many Glacier Hotel parking lot to join the others for lunch. Many Glacier Hotel was built around 1910 and was originally a private enterprise. I don't know that they could have envisioned over 100 years later that so many people would still be enjoying the hotel and its amazing vistas.

All photos, videos and text are Copyright ©Julia Flanagan unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved. 

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