Glacier - Friday, July 1st

We left Yaak and headed over country which could only be more complete with a choir of Swiss Yodelers.

Traveling about the country, meeting new people, seeing new things, removed from the stress of life at home is a recipe for fun. Unfortunately, everyone has moments of being tired, fear, self doubt or pain. This can be problematic when trapped in a pickup truck cab or a small camper with another person It's how we deal with it that matters. Stating the matter, acknowledging feelings, talking and active listening gets us quickly to the other side. What a joy traveling with a professional counselor. Traveling with K. is a experience in low stress/good energy fun.

We got to the Park entrance and I knew this could be a problem. Long lines of assorted campers. When we finally got up to the "ranger" she handed us a map of Fish Creek campground, loops A - D. Of the 200 sites, 8 were highlighted in yellow meaning they were still open. It felt like the Oklahoma Land Rush as we jockeyed for position cutting off a Winnebago, forcing a Volvo Station wagon into the brush as we headed towards claiming one of those magic sites as our own. We skidded into D-160 just ahead of a Prius and raised our flag claiming ownership for J&K Adventures.

As we looked around, we began to understand that in winning, it may have meant losing. Flat gravel space with 2 small Charlie Brown Christmas tree's, 1 door down from the John and way too close to the drunk that refers lovingly to his family as bitch and assholes, with the occasional slap and cry of despair - ah delightful being back in nature. The mosquito's were working on overtime to make their quota. I gave a quart in the time it took to set up camp and was feeling lightheaded. I actually saw one of the buggers licking the can of "Off" and smiling back at me.

We went down to Lake McDonald to see if we could find a place to fish, but the water was too high and there were too many trees.

When we walked back to camp we found a visitor. After all the warnings we expected a bear, but a single doe was exploring our camp looking for a handout. She trotted away when we approached.

We did have a nice evening despite the unwelcome visitors cooking dinner over the fire and listening to K play some songs on her Mandolin. Even a difficult day has been a good day for us.