Yellowstone to Glacier

I made the last blog post JUST before we left Yellowstone National Park:

Pictured here is the original entrance to the park, located in the North end of the park.  It is named the "Roosevelt Arch," the cornerstone of which was laid by the hand of the one and only Theodore Roosevelt, one of the US's great presidents.

 "FOR THE BENEFIT AND ENJOYMENT OF THE PEOPLE"  

indeed.

Here is a beautiful shot of the scenery just outside of Yellowstone.

Three of these bad boys were hauling a HUGE train across the great Montana landscape.

 Not only was the train long, but it also featured double-stacked semi-trailers.  Imagine all of those being on the highway....

BEAUTIFUL location of our campsite outside of Columbia Falls, Montana.  The owner, Kevin, was contacted through Couchsurfing.com.  He is a helicopter pilot fighting fires in the wilderness of America.  Too busy saving lives to put us up in his house, he offered his 5 acre parcel for us to pitch our tent on.  

North Fork River where we decided to stop for a fishing/bathing excursion.  This river is pure glacial runoff and was QUITE refreshing.

Trying to catch the big one!

Beautiful spot to cast a lure.

Driving on the road to Bowman Lake.  A fire ALSO went through Glacier National Park in 1988 (same year as in Yellowstone.)  Must have been a profitable year for the firefighting forces.

More 1988 fire wasteland.

The Wenzel positioned for another camping excursion, ready to offer us a dry and comfortable resting place.

Another BEAUTIFUL Toyota.

Eric holstering the bear repellent.

Lake Akokala.  We made the 5.8 mile hike here in record time to do some fishing.

Then it started to rain......

This tree was growing directly on this rock, out in the middle of the water. 

Eric hucking a lure.

BOOM.  Native Cutthroat Trout.  First one of the day.  Thanks to Joe for the "Michigan Stinger" lure he gave both me and Eric.

A bit larger this time.  Would have been delicious to eat, but they are protected within the Park, and must be immediately released.

"Haha, wouldn't it be funny if I let it go, and it didn't swim away?"

"You're free!!!"

"Oh crap...."

No worries, fans.....I was able to revive him and he swam to freedom.

Eric posing with one of his trophy catches.

Ssssssssstormy!  It was raining, and pretty windy.  Hands turned numb.  Wet feet, cold.  But we continued to fish and slay them.  We MIGHT have kept a couple.....

Corn, Potatoes, and MAYBE some fresh trout frying on the fire.  Some of the best fish we MIGHT have ever eaten..... 

Also, shoes drying out.

It started pouring again soon after getting back to base camp......

It was raining so hard, water vapor was rising from all the high-speed impacts between water droplets and lake surface.  It made the water appear frozen, and the vapor was blown across just like snow on a frozen lake.

You can clearly see the shadow cast by the mountain behind us.

Oh my!  DOUBLE RAINBOW!

Looking down Bowman Lake, which is over 7 miles long.

More double rainbow, and some lake reflections.

As the sun continued to set, it looked like the mountains were on fire, the clouds forming only on the backsides of them.

Three anglers motoring out, ready to slay some Lake Trout.

Definitely need to get back here someday.

The metropolis of Polebridge.  Yes, this is the whole town in one picture.  14 year round residents, 16 miles from any paved road.

High mountain road construction.

Some more beautiful fire-blasted trees to leave you with until our next update!

We're staying tonight at a wonderful Couchsurfing host just outside of Whitefish, Montana.  Food is about to go on the grill, showers have been taken, and BEDS claimed.  It will be a great night.  Joe, who is 18 and just graduated from high school and accepted into Harvard Law School, is taking a year off to travel the world.  Hopefully I can offer him some advice on his trip!

We're planning on driving the Road to the Sun tomorrow, and staying in East Glacier at a Hostel, before making the trek back home...