And then a nature hike during which Karen was fascinated with a pine tree with bluish pine cones!
Next we drove further to the Park Store for lunch. After some chili I left Karen to one of her newly purchased books and I hiked around the lake (about 8 1/2 miles). The hike was lovely although I have to admit that for the first hour I was focused on trying to find grizzlies lurking behind trees out to get me, but gradually I adjusted to being in grizzly country and enjoyed the trail.
From the camp store where we had lunch.
As I got to the end of the lake I saw a small motor launch ready to offload, and realized that if I hurried I could get a ride back to the other end of the lake. But I realized I really didn't want to do that; I was enjoying the hike a lot.
Motor boat at W end of Two Medicine Lake
So I continued on to the other side of the lake and hiked back to Karen.
Picture from the far end of the lake.
Trail shot - generally the trail was in the woods.
Karen and I then drove to the historic East Glacier Lodge. One of the nice things about getting old is that you maybe can look back at some wonderful memories: in our case we thought back to about forty years ago when we last visited this Lodge with our (then) young sons. Among other delightful things we rented golf clubs and played the course next to the Lodge and discovered we had to watch out for grazing cows on the fairway!
East Glacier Lodge
A nice dinner at the Lodge and then return to Browning for the night.
[Karen] Last night we inquired about restaurants at the front desk and were told the best bet was at the casino next door. It was raining at that point so walked thru the rain about half a block to the casino front entrance. The only place to eat in the casino was at a kind of snack bar place and the casino was noisy and smoke smelly although there was a sign saying smoking was not allowed. Las Vegas type gambling machines were whirling and whizzing all around us as we ate a really bad dinner. Several people had children with them in the eating area. Totally ugly environment for families. Made our way back to our hotel room and crawled into bed. Kalon was totally wiped and fell asleep pretty quickly. I was afraid he would not be able to sleep well as he was overly tired from the train trip and from the drive. But he slept soundly and refreshed. Breakfast was complementary with our hotel room so after dressing we went downstairs to the usual fare offered by motels. We decided to go up the highway to Two Medicine Lake. The wildflowers are out in full force and we enjoyed the drive as well as some short walks. Kalon decided he would like to hike around the lake so after some chili and soup in the camp store he left me to my own devices while he hiked. I perused the offerings of the camp store - scads of stuff to appeal to tourists such as tee shirts imprinted with Glacier Natl Park, stuffed animals, shot glasses, camping and hiking gear and food, ice cream, beer, etc.,etc., etc. I found a book of wildflowers as well as a mystery by the daughter of Hillerman and found an empty table and amused myself with reading, people watching and talking to the proprietors... one of whom amused himself by offering free soft serve huckleberry ice cream to every kid who came in. Huckleberries are the operative theme this year in Glacier showing up on tee shirts, slogans, food flavor : Huckleberry pie, huckleberry soda, huckleberry cookies, huckleberry soap, huckleberry wine, huckleberry beer, children's books involving huckleberries. Coming to your nearest theater this fall 'The Huckleberry Zombies'!!!!
When Kalon returned from his hike, we decided we could not face the fare we endured last night and made our way to the Lodge at East Glacier and ate in style in a lodge fashioned much like the Ahwanhee Hotel (sorry, that's the old name. It has been renamed after the eastern company that has won the contract for providing tourists with what they need and do not need in ex-Yosemite!) ... all cement redwood posts and Indian blanket décor. To repeat myself OY VEY!
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