Montana: God's Country

Glacier National Park was spectacular. At the entrance to, we bought our Park Pass, which will serve us well the next couple weeks, allowing us  to get into all the other state parks we have planned, for free :) We'd bought our Montana fishing licenses, and on our way into the mountains searched for a fishing net, to no avail! We found out there had been a massive avalanche up the road, and only 16 miles of the road were open ahead. Right at where the road was closed, we found a camping spot. We payed our $20 fee, and set up camp, which consisted of: A tent. Ha ha ha! We unpacked our poles, and walked to a trail head that would take us to Avalanche Lake. Only a 2 mile hike :D  Up hill -__-

We could have fished in the river which was right next to our campsite, but the melting glaciers had raised it to a raging rapids! So we set off on the hike, in high spirits :) The trail paralleled the river up to its source. After about a mile, we were EXHAUSTED. We were thinking about turning back. All we had brought were our poles and tackle: no water! Paul walked up the trail a-ways while Dylan and I rested. He called up from the crest of the next hill that he'd found a spring. When we met him where he was, we couldn't see it, but we could hear it.  We followed the sound. 50 feet or so down the hill to the side of the trail was a glacier water spring. We sat there, and we drank the water from the stream. And it is strange but true, it was the sweetest water we had ever tasted. We said a prayer there asking for the physical strength to finish our hike, and carried on.

Who would have known?!?! Ahead of us on the trail was a Grizzly mama bear and her two cubs. The without a doubt commanded that trail. There was a large group headed down, and a large group headed up the trail. Both waited very, VERY patiently for them to go back into the hills. A beautiful sight to see... from afar! We finished our hike to the lake.

What. A. Glorious. Sight. The lake was sheltered in a valley between two towering snowy peaks. 5 waterfalls lead from the glaciers, to the wide lake, a cascade of untouched, pure, crystal-clear water. On the far side of the lake, amongst the vividly green pines, snow covered the ground right to the shoreline.

The shore closest to the end of the trail was largely populated, so Paul, Dylan and I made our way to the far side. As we walked, we asked fellow fisherman if they had caught anything, and what sort of bait they were using. None of them had caught anything. We stopped at a secluded spot, and baited up our hooks with night crawlers. Time passed, and no bites, but sitting there with the cool wind blowing across us with the beautiful view, we didn't mind. Paul was the first one to catch a fish, a Cut-throat Trout; a beautifully colored fish with orange-red streaks running under the gills. Soon after, Dylan caught one, and released it. I caught one on a worm, but it got away ;)  After a while, we were no longer getting any nibbles, the fish weren't interested in the worms. So, we switched to salmon eggs. As soon as I cast out, a bite, and I landed a fish. The trend continued. As soon as one of us would cast out, we would get another fish. In total, we ended up keeping 12 Cut-throat for dinner, and each of us caught many more and released them.

We put the fish in Dylan's backpack (don't worry, he volunteered) and turned towards the trail. As soon as we did, we heard shouting from across the lake. "Bear, bear!" Just in time, they had warned us that there was a bear directly in front of us above the trail. Here we are with a backpack full of trout, with a bear above us on the trail! We decided to follow the shore for a while, and then got back on the trail. Needless to say, it was a nerve-wracking hike back to camp with a backpack full of fish and rumors of bears! When we arrived back at camp, we all worked at cleaning and gutting the fish. A messy job ;) At our campsite, we worked at building a fire. It was a bit disappointing, the large logs were wet from an earlier rain, so the fire was kept up by numerous kindling runs by me :) We grilled our fish over the fire, using salt and pepper packets, and sauce packets from Burger King. Believe me, it was good :) I recommend the honey mustard! We also cooked some Pork-and-Beans, and green beans :) Twas a good meal! After that, we spent an hour cleaning the campsite (have to keep those grizzly bears away)  and went to bed. In the morning, we packed up, and headed out for Wyoming :)

As a closing note, I'd just like to say: What a beautiful state! after the mountains, we drove through the rolling grasslands. Perfect for a future cattle ranch ;)  We stopped in a small town a couple hundred miles out of Wyoming. We found a one pump self serve gas station, and we had to to go next door to a (closed) bar to pay. The owner was very nice :) Stayed the night in a KOA camp, and the next day, we were in Wyoming :)