WIND

WIND… Did is Say WIND… holy crap… The camper as rocking like a boat on high seas.  So much for the peaceful night I had the night before in the parking lot.  By about 1:00 in the morning I had had enough,  I had to move.  One nice thing was that I actually could!   I forced the door open and barely got out of the camper without it slamming on me…  Went to the front of the truck, and barely was able to hold onto the truck door as I was opening it;  I was afraid the wind would rip it off.   (ok first thing I have found bad about a truck camper… you actually have to leave the back to go to the front to drive!  But I can live with that).  So,  I went down to the park below the hotel that I had taken the sunrise pictures for yesterday… I tried to hide the camper in the corner of the lot behind some trees,  because it was actually posted that I could not camp there…
 

Ok,  I made it through the night (in the new spot),  and actually got some sleep…  I awoke in time for sunrise, (because it was so incredible the day before),  well this sunrise didn’t quite compare,  but was still nice.  It was the other thing that happened at sunrise that was interesting (maybe not to some of my bear phobic friends…)  I went out to the dock and was waiting for the right moment to take the sunrise pictures.  I had done this the day before and just looked and took pictures for a good half hour.   Keep in mind the wind is still pretty strong, and the waves coming off the lake are making a pretty good noise… and I keep watching the sunrise.  All of a sudden two women from Holland come running up,  saying we’ve been yelling at you (from the parking lot).  I heard nothing with the wind and water…  they said “didn’t you see it”  I said,  “What?” ,  They said “the black bear that walked down the shore and just a few feet behind you!   See there he is!”  he was on down the shore a little ways.    I am glad black bears are not interested in humans (with all the berries in bloom).  OK,  I admit it,  this was not the smartest thing I have ever done, But I learned 3 things.  One,  keep an eye out all the way around you  (or as the lady’s said “watch your back!”).   And two a bear can be anywhere!  Next to a hotel, in town, on a dock…. anywhere.  And Three,  ALWAYS carry bear spray in bear country (it was in the truck…). 

I survived sunrise and decided to make one more pass on Red Rock Road,  where I had seen the bear the day before, and didn’t see anything,  so I headed up to see the buffalo and to see if there was any other wildlife out.  Did not really see anything except for the buffalo.   So I kept driving towards the US border  (10 days after I set out from Anacortes WA).  After about a 30 minute wait to cross (lots of busses), 

 

 

 

I went on towards Many Glacier (part of the west side of Glacier National Park (US side).  On the way in,  there was  a “bear jam” on the road.   Off a ways was a grizzly next to the water.  This time he was a long way away,  even for my lenses.  Got a good shot of one of the bear paw prints though…

I headed on towards the hotel, and there I saw 2 ladies with a spotting scope,  they were watching a mother grizzly and her 2 cubs up on the mountainside (again a long way away).  One cub was a light cinnamon color and the other was black.  So 4 grizzlies just a few minutes after arriving in the park, not bad!

 

I checked with the information desk and they said the campground filled up really early the day before,  but that there were still places today.  So I headed over to find a campsite,  out of the wind (I did not want to go through what I did the night before).  I talked with one of the rangers, and I asked for a site out of the wind.  I thought I found a good one, but she came by and showed me a better one in the trees.  I got all settled,  and then the weather decided to let loose again… wind, rain, pea to dime sized hail… Luckily the campsite was good,  so the wind did not hit (everything else did)… It was the first real day of bad weather the entire time I have been in the camper (Since May!),  so I just sat there quietly and watched a movie,  then made a good dinner and called it a day.