I made it! I’m in Glacier National Park, the northern-most point of my trip and the park is not completely closed, there is plenty to explore, I think I’ll be here a few days at least.

Having left camp early to avoid any wroth from the authorities, I was at a Macca’s in Hamilton before 8am where I decided I would have breakfast there instead of just stealing their Wifi. Worst decision ever. The bacon and egg McGriddle I got was teenie weenie and not the best tasting. The hash brown was alright and the smoothie ok, but not the best $8 I ever spent! Good lesson learnt. I blogged for a bit then hit the road. It was a gloomy day with rain about, it would increase as I drove on.

I stopped in at the National Bison Range to see what was what. I didn’t end up driving through the park but I did get to see an impressive tower of antlers and the guy at the visitors center works in Glacier NP in the summer so he gave me a heap of advice to make my trip worthwhile. There wasn’t any walking to do in the Bison Range, only an in and out drive, so I passed, even though my back was suffering a little from being in the car so much.

I drove through small towns and farmland until I hit the main highway going north again. This road sits alongside the Continental Divide, an impressive mountain range that looks impassable, especially on a day like today when the peaks were hidden by low cloud.

It rained on and off, very dreary. Before getting to Flathead Lake, I visited the Miracles of America Museum. It had been called out in the Lonely Planet Guide and was only $6 to get in. I needed to get out of the car anyway. In all honesty, I felt like I was procrastinating because I was scared of getting to Glacier and being disappointed either because of closures or that it wouldn’t be that impressive, so this museum was a stall-tactic

Gill, the owner of the museum had been collecting since he was four years old. When he joined the army for the cold war, he got to see what it was like on the wrong side of the Berlin wall and understood how lucky he was to live in the free world. Because of this experience, he started the museum with artefacts from the American Constitution. Everything else that followed was the result of the freedom that agreement brought. The freedom to invent, the freedom to challenge ideas, the freedom to change. It was a loose theme. This place had everything.

There was every sort of weapon from every era that you could think of. Motorcycles, bicycles, musical instruments (one of those pianos that plays itself), toy collections (there was one hundred barbie dolls, one from each year of manufacture), kitchen pieces, workshop bits, I can’t name everything, and that’s just a selection of what is inside. Outside (on 4 acres) he had helicopters, planes, buildings that had been transported to the site, sheds full of more vehicles. You would have to take the whole day to look at every item. It was almost like a hoarders garage, but slightly better organised. There was method to the madness, just the right amount.

I spent near to two hours wandering around and despite marvelling at the different relics I spent a lot of my time wondering how he was making any money! Only some of the collection was from donations, most of it he bought, bartered and traded, he was on such a big patch of land his only patron for the day had paid only $6 for the experience! I don’t think he’s doing it for the money. I could have spent more but I was hungry for lunch and sick of being outside in the pattering rain. I thanked Gill and his wife for the experience and continued my trek north.

I stopped for lunch by the lake, which didn’t last long because the wind made it unpleasant outside. From there, I drove pretty much non-stop until I got to Glacier. I did check in at the visitors center at Kalispell because I was in two minds about going to Whitefish, which had been recommended by Kona Vince for mountain biking. After chatting with the lady at the V.C. and her looking up the weather report, we both decided it would be better if I head straight for Glacier. That I did.

An hour later, I was driving into the mountain range that was dramatically covered in heavy cloud, hiding what lay beyond. At the park headquarters, I had a long conversation with the ranger there about what was open and what was closed. I was happy to hear that camping in the park was free since it was the winter season and they couldn’t possibly charge anyone for being crazy enough like me. Turns out I wasn’t the only one! When I pulled into the Apgar winter camp, there was a couple just positioning their VW van in a site. I rolled down my window and we chatted, they had just arrived to. I told them I’d be back then I drove up the “Going to the Sun” road all the way up to Avalanche Creek. Just after setting out, it absolutely pissed down with rain and I second-guessed how much fun I would be having here, but it was only a phase, it soon passed and blue skies revealed some impressive peaks behind Lake McDonald.

At the top of the lake, I took a short walk through mossy forest to McDonald falls. I cannot possibly convey the power or the size of these falls. You could get right up next to it and the noise was overwhelming. It’s things like this that make me realise man will never do it better. No matter what we design, manufacture or engineer, it will never top nature. Why? Because nature does it effortlessly. For us to create a similar force, we would have to fulfil so much work to do so. Alannah and her boyfriend showed up shortly after me, she worked for the park service so this was her backyard. She’d been here many times and still had to pinch herself every day that she was so lucky to work here. I stayed a good while, just admiring the falls, then said goodbye and head back to the car.

I continued my drive as far as I could until the road was shut at Avalanche Creek. I got out at a few stops along the way to marvel at the river and the peaks that were showing on and off through the clouds. I had thought I might be able to do a short hike at Avalanche Creek, but it was getting proper dark so that was off the cards. It was almost well and truly dark by the time I got back to camp. The other van couple had a fire going!

I joined them and we talked non-stop the rest of the night. They were about my age and had both just finished studying their masters and were in between jobs, taking advantage of a three month break. Both definitely nature people, Christian is a naturalist at a beach peninsula on Rhode Island and Melissa had just completed a masters in Oceaology. Turns out she’d studied abroad in Townsville at JCU, maybe she knows Tina?!?! We had dinner together and took whatever warmth we could from the fire, which was completely free thanks to wood someone had left behind at their site.

By 9pm, it was getting too cold to sit comfortable outside so we all retired to our vans. Unfortunately because of the cloud cover we couldn’t directly see the biggest and brightest moon in seventy years, but we could definitely see the effects. We didn’t need head torches to move around, it was a bright night. Despite the cold (it is just above freezing now), I’m looking forward to exploring this park on foot tomorrow, I’m sure I’ll feel very isolated in the wilderness.