Day 1. July 2 2012, by Jenn

Arrived in Kalispell, MT at 1 pm. It was about 74 degrees and sunny - a great break from the recent hot weather in Madison! We rented a car and drove into town to pick up food, fuel for the stove, and a cooler.  After deciding what kind of dried food to eat for eight days (and searching high and low for boxed wine and Big Sky Brewing beer :) ) we set out to the Going To The Sun Rd.

Geoff drove the Ford Fusion and I held out the camera to catch all of the views. Holy cow! They got better and better as we got further in. Geoff was a brave and attentive driver... I only got nervous a few times. The road got more narrow up the hill but the views of the mountains kept opening up. 

Geoff being a good driver :)

Bird Woman Falls

View from almost the top...

About half way up, we encountered four big horn sheep strolling on the road.  It was a hilarious sight - they were in no hurry and obeyed most traffic laws.  When we reached Logan Pass, there was quite a bit of snow.  They only opened the whole road about a week and a half ago. We didn't stop - our hope was to get to our campsite soon since, by now, it was around 5pm.  5:30 says Geoff.  The views to St. Mary were different than before - mountains were more red and the trees seemed to be slightly different.  We noticed right away the burn region by St. Mary Lake.  A sad sight for sure, but it's good knowing there was new growth sprouting.  

Geoff is pretty darn good at setting up our "home"

We arrived at our campsite at St. Mary (C137) and boy did we luck out.  We have a site on the perimeter of the campground and the park.  It's quiet and we can hear the rushing of St. Mary River behind us.  There are wonderfully fragrant bushes surrounding our site - sort of like lilac.  

After we set up the site, we went into St. Mary and got firewood. Geoff thought it would be fun to eat at St. Mary Lodge on our first night.  Great views and the food was pretty good, too.  We came back to camp and started a fire.  Oh yeah- we met with a ranger at the Visitor Center.  She was great and we look forward to using her advise in the coming days...Anyways, the sun "set" over the mountains around 9:30pm but it's after 10pm and still bright.  We're hoping our early morning will help us sleep tonight and help us adjust to it all.  We're enjoying our boxed wine and each other's company - great "start" to vacation.  

View at night from our campsite towards the moon and mountains. 

 P.S. Geoffrey proposed two days ago and so we've been celebrating and savoring the days.  People joked that our trip would feel like a honeymoon...but it actually does. :)