Old Ladies are Scary. And other Montana stories

This past spring I roadtripped my way to Montana to pick my brother up for summer break. This trip had tons of firsts for me that I thought I would share with you.

The first half of my trip was at Glacier National Park where I was solo camping. It was the week before the season opened so it was significantly less crowded than I heard it was the week after. On my way to Glacier I broke the driving up into two days and stayed at a walmart overnight. This was the most unexciting place I have slept in my car to date but there was an overnight parking section where I was left unbothered surrounded by big semi trucks.

I arrived around early afternoon and there was still tons of daylight left so after setting up my hammock I took off to go on a hike. I decided to ease myself into a week of hiking and found an easy trail on my map. Then came the part of finding it in person. Even with service I somehow managed to drive past the trailhead three times before actually finding it.

When I was packing for this half of the trip I was preparing for what the weather forecast was saying glacier was looking like. And that forecast was daunting with snow and ice and temperatures in the 10s. That first hike it did in fact snow/rain a little bit but that was the end of the extreme weather I had been worried about. The sun came out with a spring-like warmth and by the time I got to the viewpoint of the lake I had shed all three layers I had put on and was in a t-shirt seriously reconsidering everything I had packed for the trip.

I learned two things that first hike. One, I love hiking alone. I already knew this but having it reinforced in a place like glacier where I could sit and absorb the beauty of the lake for an hour all alone was an experience like no other. Two, I don't like hiking alone with my brain. I have never had a stronger desire to shut my brain off than during this trip where every other step my brain would chime in with "watch out for bears" or "don't get eaten that would be a bummer" but at the same time have me hoping to see a bear. By the time I had hiked back to my car I had decided I did not want to camp in bear country alone again and that I kind of wanted to see a bear but also did not at all want to see a bear.

After cruising around looking at some other viewpoints and seeing where I might want to adventure the next couple days I went back to the campsite and made some dinner. This was another one of my firsts as pretty much all my food was backpacking food since I didn't know how much stuff my brother would need to fit in my car. Not gonna lie, when you're hungry, tired, and your head is on a swivel because there's bear signs everywhere, being able to just boil water, put it in the food and let it sit and then just eat was really nice. And the food wasn't bad either! I settled down with my dinner in a bag, my book and all eight of my blankets I packed with me. Like I said, I was prepared for really cold weather.

The next day I woke up early and went to the dock on Lake Macdonald and photographed the sunrise. Because it was still preseason no one was allowed on the lake so it was glass and the beautiful sunrise was twofold because it was reflected perfectly on the water. It was so beautiful and there wasn't a soul around except for me. By the time people were starting to come to the lake, the sun had risen and I was heading back to my campsite for a quick nap before hiking the Going to the Sun road.

Originally I had a plan of going up the gtts road to a trail that led to another lake then hiking back. I didn't want to push myself too much because I have so many chronic issues that I didn't want to put myself in a dangerous situation. I loved walking the gtts road with its views and twists and turns and finally made it to the trail. No one was on this trail and it was only supposed to be a mile long. Around that mile mark the trail split into three. I went another mile on every single path and never found this supposed lake.

I decided to keep going along the road for a while because I had daylight and energy and wanted to see something cool after never finding the lake. I got up to the river mouth and it was gorgeous. I ended up sitting on the colorful rocks in the sun having a snack and reading and it was one of the most peaceful and beautiful parts of the trip.

On my hike down is where the real story of the trip happened. While I was coming around a bend with some people in front of me, we came across a black bear. Black bears are like the puppies of bears. They're generally not gonna do anything to you and are just curious little guys unlike grizzlies and polar bears who will rock your sh*t. This particular black bear looked like he had ran face first into a wall and was still dazed. Couldn't have looked more cute and less intimidating if he tried. He was posted up in the middle of the road just looking around like he was lost. I immediately grab my bear spray. And then my camera.

We had been keeping our distance watching this guy for probably 10 minutes when the people ahead of me just went around the bear maybe 15 feet away from him. I didn't move because, well really because I wanted to stay and get pictures but also I was told you don't get closer to them. Now I will admit that I was definitely closer to this bear than I should have been. The recommended spacing is like a crazy big distance and we came blindly around this curve to be met with this bear so I was probably like 40 to 50 feet away from him. Then comes this old lady biking and she stops right behind me. As the bear finally starts moving into the woods I start walking, keeping my distance still but this whole ordeal had been probably 15-20 minutes now and I wanted to keep moving and this guy was clearly leaving. This old lady proceeded to scold me for being too close to the bear. She was probably right, however she was just as close to the bear and hadn't been there when people walked right around him. Homegirl was barking up the wrong tree. By the time I got to the car I was more scared of seeing that lady again than by a bear being within five feet of me.

The rest of the time at glacier was lowkey. I spent a good amount of time just hanging out reading and at different viewpoints photographing sunsets and deer and other little creatures roaming about. Thankfully, I never saw that lady again.

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