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| Wild Horse Monument in WA
After we returned from the Isle of Jersey, we spent a week in MD/PA visiting family, friends and doctors. We flew to Seattle, picked up our RV, and stayed with Tom and Cornelia for a few days. We went to see the play “Chicago” with them before heading to Fernie, stopping at the Wild Horse Monument along the way.
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| Glacier NP, BC
After a few weeks in
Fernie we headed up to Glacier NP (in Canada) and Revelstoke NP. We spent a few
days hiking and sightseeing in the area. By the end of July we left Fernie and
headed for Glacier NP (in Montana). We were not allowed to take the RV on the
Going to the Sun highway, so we took the park shuttle to access hiking trails
and get to Logan Pass at the top.
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| Glacier Lily |
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| Marmot |
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| Meeting of the Waters |
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| Sutherland Fall, BC |
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| Ferry crossing Upper Arrow Lake, BC |
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| American Martin |
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| Avalanche Lake, GNP, MT |
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| Logan Pass, GNP, MT |
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| Indian Blanket
A few days later, we
arrived at Savenac Historic Nursery, part of the Lolo National Forest, in
western MT. We signed up for a six week period, as a relief for a couple
returning to Germany. The nursery was started in 1907 and produced 12 million
seedlings annually. The Civilian Conservation Corp (CCC) built the buildings
and other structures on site. Nursery operations ended in 1969. Now you can rent out three of the buildings
for lodging. It is very popular for families having reunions or weddings. It is
also the closest lodging to the popular Route of the Hiawatha rail trail. Our
job was to man the Visitor Center about 8 hr/week each. Pat also took care of
cleaning the three rental buildings. The guests are supposed to clean them
before they leave, but you can imagine how well that went. While Pat was inside
cleaning, I was outside cutting and trimming grass. I was also in charge of
watering the grass, because even though it had not rained in July, I was
expected to keep the acres of grass green. In exchange for this work, we got a place to
park our RV with electric, water and sewer hook ups. Things went well until a
big and unruly group came in for Labor Day Weekend. Of course this was the same
weekend that our “boss” took off with his girl friend, so Pat and I were left alone
to deal with this group. After that weekend, we couldn't wait to finish our
assignment. The Lolo NF supervisor was very happy with our performance and
invited us back.
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| Route of the Hiawatha, ID |
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| Western Anemone |
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| The Universe revolves around ME! (in Wallace, ID) |
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| River at Thompson Falls, MT |
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| Haugan, MT
When we arrived at
Savenac, we found out our AT&T phone had no service. Another volunteer had
a working Tracfone, so we bought a Tracfone. We found out later that this phone
used the AT&T network. We tried to exchange it by mail for one on the
Verizon network. About four weeks later (after many calls from phone booths) we
finally received a replacement phone that worked.
It was not all work and
no play. We did get out and bike the Route of the Hiawatha and part of The
Trail of the Coeur d’Alenes. We also hiked to several remote mountain lakes and
visited many of the historical sites and towns in the area. Our friend Russ
passed away in August, so we took a week off from our assignment to return to MD.
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| Savenac Visitor center |
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| Elk
From Savenac we headed
back to Fernie, BC stopping at the National Bison Range, where we saw bison,
elk, and big horn sheep. Tom and Julie joined us for two weeks and Susan and
Mimi for a week while we were in Fernie. When we were not on the trail looking
for bears, we were trying to determine which restaurant in Fernie was best. Pat
and I were left to continue our investigation after our guests returned home.
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| Tom, Julie and Pat at Lookout over Cedar Valley |
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| Mimi and Sue at Lost Lake |
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| Spruce Grouse |
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| Pat, Julie, Mimi and Sue on South Star Trails |
