We decided to sleep in a little this morning. It gets light here around 5:30 AM but the sun doesn’t come over the mountain until around 9:30 AM – very interesting.
This was taken around 9:30 AM:
And the reverse happens in the evening. The sun goes down over the mountain around 6 PM but it really doesn’t get dark until 9.
We decided to do a little exploring on the North Fork Road this morning:
Once we were past the Fish Creek Campground, the road turned to dirt and we started to climb the mountain – past the burn area with some really pretty orange flowers:
Into the forested area that was not burned:
And thru another burned area where we found lots of fireweed:
Over Camas Creek:
To the end of the line:
The road was open only for eight miles because it was washed out beyond this point – Bummer!
On the way back, we saw this eagle’s nest:
We stopped, watched for while, off she flew, and then away we went:
It was a very nice drive, although short.
Back home, after lunch, I made a trip to the visitor center. What is really funny is that I was going to walk there and could not find the path. But once at the center, I saw a paved trail with a sign pointing to the campground. When I asked how to walk from the campground, I was told “I think you pick it up at Loop C.” (Now, I have been known to wander aimlessly but I am not exactly sure I want to do it in the forest – LOL!!!)
Then they told me to be careful on that path because there was a mountain lion that just had babies the day before. WOW! Maybe it was good I took the car – 
.
I also asked about the closure of the North Fork Road – it will be closed for the season because of the damage. But they gave me another way to get to Poleridge and the upper part of the North Fork Road so we will take a trip later this week.
I took a little ride to McDonald Creek – Beautiful!
Back home, I made reservations to do the all day “Crown of the Continent Tour” on the historic red bus tomorrow. The tour will take us over the Going to the Sun Road into St. Mary’s Valley and Many Glacier area. In 2007, we did the Going to the Sun Road on our own, but I thought it would be great to have a guide this time and what better way than the historic Red Bus!
We have to be at the transit/visitor center by 8 AM tomorrow morning and we decided we would walk it. So back home, Andy and I decided to find the path from the campground. We did – there are no signs on it except “Bike Path” – HA!!!
We took the stroll to the visitor center making sure we made noise. This is what we found on the sign at the visitor center pointing to the campground. Yikees!
The path is beautiful!
We are all set for tomorrow.
As we were enjoying our late afternoon campfire, we had visitors – Doug and Cheryl from Pennsylvania. We met them in Thermopolis and then again in Missoula. What a small world. So it was great chatting and getting caught up with each other. Hopefully our paths will cross again this year.
So stayed tuned for tomorrow’s adventure and enjoy today.
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