It's been an exciting week of extremes. Last Sunday we shopped in Great Falls, Mt and then picked up Michaela at the airport. It was a bit harrowing on the trip back to the campground in Glacier as it turned dark and we were on alert for cows meandering all over the mountainous roads. Monday morning Mike dropped Michaela and Becky off at the trailhead across from the customs office and border crossing into Canada. Yelling "Hey bear" to alert the grizzlies and black bears of our presence, we hiked our way across the Belly River valley and arrived at beautiful Cosley Lake around 1 pm. We forded several streams and crossed a suspension bridge but never did encounter a bear. It is hard to describe the color of a glacier lake. The shore of Cosley Lake is pebbled with small pieces of flat rock in an array of beautiful colors...pink, blue, grey, black instead of sand or dirt. It felt so good to make a depression in the smooth rocks to fit your back and lay looking at the surrounding glacier shaped depressions that make up the mountains high above you. Day two found us hiking further into the valley and to a spectacular waterfall. Michaela took many great pictures that she promised to send copies of, so I hope to get some posted at a future time. Our camera has been a big disappointment (it is ancient) and I am disappointed that I have no pictures to share. Tuesday night it poured and by Wednesday morning, all our gear and our tent were pretty well saturated and we decided to skip a hot breakfast and pack up and tackle the 9 miles out to Mike, the van and warmth and comfort! It took us 5 hours of sloshing through mud with heavy, wet packs, and we were so glad that Mike decided to arrive earlier than the appointed time we had agreed on. He wrapped us in warm blankets and stopped to buy us hot coffee and donuts before returning to the campground and packing up and heading out to return to Great Falls and a warm motel. We took hot showers and ordered in pizza and on Thursday morning we hit a laundry mat to dry out sleeping bags, tents, wet clothes. etc. By 4 pm on Thursday, we had camp set up in Yellowstone National Park at Norris campground and even though we did not have the energy to do any serious hiking in Yellowstone, we did have a great time wandering the boardwalks surrounding the geysers, mudpots, hot springs and fumerols throughout the park. We saw Old Faithful erupt, visited and participated in a tour of the canyons and waterfalls of the park and visited Yellowstone Lake. It was cold both nights we camped in Yellowstone and after checking the weather report for the Grand Tetons, we have decided to head to Utah and the promise of warmer temps. The bumpy roads in Glacier pretty well destroyed our muffler, which evidently was not in the best of condition anyway, so Mike is planning to put a new muffler on tomorrow morning before we head out. We met a guy at O'Reilly's this afternoon that was just a wonderful human being. He is going to let Mike use his ramps to repair the van and although he is not working tomorrow at the auto parts store (he drives school bus in the mornings), he is bringing his ramps back into town this evening after he gets off work so they will be there for Mike to use in the morning. We will not soon forget our new friend Nolan!
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