Finding America

Leaving Banff this morning was a little depressing. The whole area is just gorgeous and we knew we would probably not find a campsite with such a wonderful natural setting again on our trip.

We did spot our first bear as we drove south towards the border and that was cool. It was a black bear that had come to a small rest area to scavenge for food. We didn’t get too close but we did get the little bugger on video.

The drive towards the border on Hwy 93 through the Kootenay National Park was awesome. I really love how undeveloped this park of the Canadian Rockies is. When we hit Radium Spring and the junction of Hwy 95 we stopped for some breakfast at a coffee shop and filled up with gas for the long haul south.

Near the Fairmont Hot Springs we drove through mountain sheep central. Not only did we see a heard right near the parking lot right of the highway we also found a heard of bachelors on a secluded knoll. It was so cool to see big horn sheep up close and personal. The game up here must be protected because you would never get this close to big horn sheep in the States.

Our border crossing was really easy and after a quick photo at the Montana border we continued on towards Glacier National Park. There was so much development and clear cutting once we crossed the border. It was really depressing to leave the natural beauty of the Canadian Rockies and return to overdeveloped USA. The forests that were once thick here are now a distant memory and the land is now used for retail strip malls and cattle grazing. Ughhhh….What a serious bummer.

We stopped off in Whitefish, MN for lunch and found it to be an agreeable little town with some nice restaurants and shops. It has an authentic Old West feel and has retained its charm while still not looking too dilapidated. We had a nice lunch at McKenzie River Pizza Co and then walked across the street to Great Northern Brewery and shared a sampling of their beers. The server was really nice and we had some good conversation about the area and its history.

We continued east to the town of West Glacier and stopped off at the KOA to park Kodi. We took a quick spin through the park to get our bearings and to make a plan for tomorrow’s hike. There wasn’t much going on and we were too late to stop in and talk to a ranger. There weren’t many other people on the road and it was strange having the place almost to ourselves.

The plan tomorrow is to go in early and do a hike before heading south again on our trek towards Yellowstone. We did some laundry and ate some leftovers for dinner and then just read and relaxed until bedtime.