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Thursday, July 20, 2006
I am up at the crack of dawn (0530). I need to pack up and get
going as last night's check showed Baolu's train (#8 from Seattle)
to be on time into Spokane.
Imagine my surprise when I re-check the train status on the NRPC
website. Now her train is two HOURS late. What happened?
Now I've got oodles of time. I potter around making sure my
pictures are all downloaded and type up some more notes from
the previous day's activities. I don't want to check out of
the hotel until I'm sure Baolu's train has left Libby, MT,
the stop just before Whitefish.
Putz...putz....putz... Finally, the Empire Builder departs Libby
and I'm on my way. A quick stop at Mickey D's for breakfast
and then I decide to divert to Whitefish to see if I can spot
Baolu on the train.
There is a large crowd gathered on the platform and finally a little
after 9am, Amtrak #8 slowly trundles into the depot.
This is a long station stop, so I walk up and down beside the
two Seattle sleepers trying to peer through the darkly tinted
windows. And there she is stepping off the train. It turns out
her sleeper was on the other side of the train and she thought
she'd get off "to see if I was there". I ask if she'd like me
to drive her to Essex. She says no, she's having a grand time
riding on the train! OK, then look for me at the next big
bridge you cross (at Coram). B said the reason her train was
so late is the Portland section was delayed.
I punch out to the bridge at Coram taking the rental car
a bit off road. A few minutes later, #8 rolls majestically
over the rusty structure. I blow a kiss to the first
two sleepers as they pass.
I catch #8 as it stops at Belton (West Glacier) but hear on
the radio that it has already highballed the station. I'm
just a minute or two ahead of it. Frantically, I try the
US 2 milepost 156 "spot" for a picture, but the trees have
grown up since my last visit in 1998. I try the neat picture
between two tunnels near Pinnacle, but THAT has had trees
grown up. Hmpf. Time for a "selective tree harvest", IMHO.
I bag it and head straight for Essex. Like yesterday, the
track crews are out in full force on the siding at Nyack
and I hear them talking about a long maintenance window
to open after Amtrak passes.
I roll up at the Essex stop and see the Izaak Walton Inn
van is already in position to drop off/pick up passengers.
I park in the shade and bang off a few frames when the
Empire Builder finally pokes its head around the corner.
 
Nothing planned today! Just a relaxing day to have a
few drinks, eat some lunch and watch the hummingbirds
sip at their feeder from the porch as helper sets
idle contentedly in the sun. This is the life.
It's like old home week as various people I saw at the convention
trickle in to register for the night. There's Kris Werner and
his family. His daughters wander over and tell Baolu and myself
all about their Barbie collection back home. (Hmmm...is there a
"Railfan Barbie"? With pot belly, scanner, digital camera
and five o'clock shadow? Oh, and 5,000 slides to show you?)
We wave at the evening's Empire Builder as it comes through.
It is rather hot in the room (we're on the 3rd floor,
facing the tracks), but we try to sleep as it is an early
morning tomorrow.
Friday, July 21, 2006
We are awake with the sunrise, showered up and headed for
East Glacier and the Glacier Park Lodge. Today Baolu and
I are going for the full-meal-deal, marathon, 9 hour,
Jammer Bus tour on Going-To-The-Sun Highway (GTTS).
First, we make a brief stop at Goat Lick to snap some
pictures of Rocky, then on east we roll.
The Glacier Park Lodge has set up a very efficient buffet
for breakfast in the dining room. Appetites sated, there's
time to browse the humungous gift shop in the lobby.
9 o'clock comes and goes as they are loading various tour
groups first. Finally, our red bus appears and we board
near the front. These are the original buses used in the
park since 1936. Recently, Ford helped restore
the vehicles to better-than-new condition. For more
info on these interesting machines, visit their website
at:
http://www.glacierparkinc.com/TransportationRedBusTours.htm
 
We roll west on US 2 stopping at the John F. Stevens memorial
at the summit of Marias Pass and the Goat Lick near Essex. As
our driver narrates, it becomes increasingly apparent he's
making it up. Stevens is referred to as "John Sullivan" and
he claims the railroad was built "through here in the 1930's"
just to name a couple whoppers. I bite my tongue and try to
tune him out. Even BAOLU can tell he's making it up.
At about 10-ish, we stop back at the Izaak Walton. There is
Kris Werner and family again! It turns out they are riding
in their rent-a-van over GTTS Highway, too! I snap a picture
of them outside the IWI for posterity. Hey, nice Christmas
Card picture there!
The driver leaves by an interesting route, going on the gravel
road in front of the IWI and following the "tail track" of the
wye back to the main road. Variety, I suppose. Soon we are
tooling along US 2 for our next stop at Lake McDonald at
Apgar. As we enter the Park, we are surprised by a $12 a
head fee to enter. I thought that was included in the tour
price? No? Fine. Here's 24 clams. Bastards.
Wallet a bit lighter, we snap a few shots on the shores of
Lake McDonald. Baolu roars like a mountain lion for the
camera.
Back into the bus. Now we trundle up the shore of the long
lake finally reaching the Lake McDonald Lodge about lunch
time. Our driver laconically mentions he will let us off
at the main lodge "and we can get some food at the dining
room in there". Baolu and I are hungry so we quickly
hustle to the restaurant for some chow.
The place is packed with tour groups. The hostess ignores
us and we cool our heels for a good 10 minutes before she
ambles over. A long line of jammer bus passengers has
formed behind us (there are TWO buses on our tour).
As if awaking from a dream, she looks up, sees us, and horror
registers on her sweet face. "Oh, we're completely full",
she greets us. "I won't be able to seat you all for at LEAST
30 minutes and then the CHEF can't take your order for an
hour and... and... maybe you should all just go away and head over
to some place called "Jammer Joe's" for lunch and leave
me in peace..." she rambles on and on...
Now thoroughly P.O.'ed, B and I turn on our heels and
march for this Valhalla "Jammer Joe's" located somewhere
"off to the left in the parking lot". There is indeed a building
off to the left that looks promising. It is a good 100 yards
away up a hill. Hey, is that our bus over there, Number 84?
Yep, that's it. We reach the door and, miraculously, they
are open and hardly anyone inside. I turn around and see
about 50 hungry people following us as if we're Moses
strung out all the way back to the hotel.
Well, there's one other person at a table. It's our BUS
driver! Thanks for letting us know about this place,
fella! /sarcasm OFF. Anyway, we are promptly seated and
the cafe fills up quickly. As our food arrives, I hear
a familiar voice and there is Kris and family seated at
the next table! It's a smaaaaall world aaaaaafter all...
The food is adequate and soon we are finished and ambling down
to the water's edge in a much better frame of mind. Baolu
commits a FELONY and picks up a tiny pebble from a stream
gurgling into the lake as a souvenir. Naughty, naughty!!!
Finally it's time to roll. I spot our driver over by the
bus, chain-smoking yet another Pall Mall. We board and
head off for the big event, the GTTS Highway.
Well, eventually. Our driver is stopping for 15 minutes
at every creek and waterfall along the way providing
ample time to smoke yet another cigarette. It is getting
hot and schlepping in and out of the bus takes a surprising
amount of energy. I ain't seen NOTHING yet.
     
As we start to climb out of the forest, the sun is really
starting to beat down. It is sapping. I had foolishly
imagined it would be cool/foggy up at Logan Pass and
brought along a SWEATER. Ha ha. It must be 85 degrees
and we've got the canvas bus top rolled open. We are
all slowly cooking like little sausages.
"Here we are at Haystack Falls", our driver announces
as we pull up to a thin, churning cataract. The sign
CLEARLY says, "Bird Woman Falls", however. Our driver
actually notices his slip and fumbles for an excuse.
"Wellll....the UPPER part of this falls is called
Haystack Falls and the part BELOW THE ROAD is called
Bird Woman Falls. I don't like all these here NAME
CHANGES they keep doing....(he mutters something
inaudible under his breath).
In a moment of inspiration (or desperation if you like),
I take my sweater and using it "Sheik of Araby" style
completely cover my head. The sun is brutal and this
sweater's the only shade I've got. I notice others
on our tour doing the same thing. Baolu and I were
the only ones who brought water along and by the time
we near the summit we have drank most of it. We are
sweating like pigs.
At yet another stop, Baolu and I spot a stream further
up the road. We both literally soak our heads in
the frigid water. It feels wonderful in the
icy cold goodness. In 15 minutes we are completely
dry. This is insane.
At Logan Pass, we stop for a while. Shade. Must...
find...shade... We plod into the visitor's center
and take a breather. Small woodland creatures scurry
underfoot looking for a handout.
Yep, the Werner's are here too! We chat them up and
according to Mrs. Werner, Kris has once again wandered
off. I spot him further up the mountainside (it's
pretty hard to miss that Ben Ringnalda "St. Nick"
T-shirt he's wearing). Want one? They are pretty
cool. Rocky says check it out:
http://www.cafepress.com/stnicholasmtn
The Werner's kindly offered us a ride down the mountain
in air-conditioned comfort and we probably should have
taken them up on it. The ride down was very slow
with all the smoke breaks...er, I mean scenic vistas
to stop at. Eventually, our driver noticed how droopy
and peaked everyone was and asked as we came up to
a spot if we wanted to stop. NOOOOO!!! Came the
thunderous reply. Everyone wanted to get back to
East Glacier and out of this overheated sardine can.
As we rolled up to the lodge, our driver announced that,
"Gosh, it was the hottest it's ever been up there that
HE can remember...." There were no replies. I noticed the
next day (when the temps hit over 100) all the jammer
buses still had their tops on in the afternoon. Someone
must have threatened bodily harm if they didn't keep the
top closed. I can't imagine why.
Grateful to be back in civilization, we head straight
for the air-conditioned dining room. Ahhhh....cool,
reconstituted air like nature intended.... We have a
leisurely dinner to unwind after the bus ride to
hell (the scenic route, mind you) before making our
way through the gift shop (I pass on the jammer bus
T-shirt for a simple Rocky Goat Glacier T-shirt).
Back at the Izaak Walton that evening, we stay in
the basement or outside well until after 11am
chatting with folks. Our room is balmy and no amount
of airing it out or overhead-fan-action seems to
cool it down. Luckily, tomorrow is a slow day
and we can sleep in. Scenery overload! If I see
one more waterfall....
 
 
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