Quist World Tour

Glacier National Park is not as big as Yellowstone or Banff, but it is not lacking in any other way. It is a gem. On Thursday morning we got a good start to the day and headed to Going-to-the-Sun road. This is the road that is only open halfway through the park due to the wildfire. I can’t imagine what it was like for people who were on this winding mountain road and were suddenly evacuated earlier this summer. Some were forced to leave their vehicles on the road. It must have been chaotic and frightening. The farthest we could go was Logan Pass at the top of the road. We figured that the earlier we got there the better, since that is where lots of people would go, and the parking lot would fill up. The drive up through the valley and up the side of the mountains is breathtaking. Glaciers, waterfalls, rivers, and trees dot the mountains looming over us. When we got to Logan Pass we went to the visitor’s center to get some suggestions. We decided on a hike on Highline trail. W

Tuesday morning came around and there were a few unspoken understandings in the air. First off, very few of us were interested in returning to our tents as the predictions for our upcoming stay at Glacier National Park showed nights in the 30s again. Also, there was still a wildfire at Glacier, and it was affecting the area just west of St Mary Campground, where we had reservations. The road going across the park was closed from St Mary to the top of the mountain pass, so our movement would be quite restricted. I ended up scouring VRBO, Homeaway and Airbnb for a place to rent somewhere near Glacier. There was one house available in our price range in Whitefish, Montana, about 30 minutes from the West Glacier entrance. We decided to rent it. I called the phone number, the woman who answered was very gracious, and our Wednesday-Saturday itinerary were the only open dates she had. Second, no one wanted to pack sandwiches today. Plus Katy had a bunch of canned goods and mac & che

So we woke up in Canmore, Alberta. Brian and I had one bedroom, Kurt and Katy had the other, all four girls were sleeping in the den, and the two boys were sprawled in the living room. Not luxury, but oh so sheltered. Canmore is only about 10 minutes from Banff (the town) which is just one small speck in Banff (the national park). It is packed with ski condo complexes that are quite a bit cheaper than the rentals in the actual national park. The financial reward was worth what we were losing in convenience. We decided to start our explorations by heading to Lake Louise, because we’d heard so much about it. Lake Louise (the town) is the home of the gorgeous Lake Louise (the lake), and it’s about an hour from Canmore.  First we had to enter the national park, and there were long, long lines to buy entry tickets. A certain unnamed friend of ours accidentally got in the wrong lane, the lane for people who already have passes. As he cruised forward in the wrong direction, we s

Only one of us was sad to finish up our tent time at Yellowstone. Most of us were very much looking forward to sleeping under a roof again. However, Brian, who had conceded to the cold by wearing a t-shirt, nylon zip-off pants, and a hat to bed, was really the only one who slept very well. Most of us had a much better night that last night, but that did not make the rest of us feel premature nostalgia. Packing up the tent and gear is always a fun way to start your day, especially since it generally begins around 6 am when the rest of the campground is peacefully sleeping. That way the hissing and angry whispers among family members can really resonate best, making the most of the situation. When that fun was over, we packed into the van again and set off for Calgary, where we would spend the night before moving on to Banff National Park in Alberta. The nice part of this was that we took a different route out of the park, and we got to see some new views. All jokes about ca

On Thursday morning, we repeated our early morning safari. This morning we experienced the same fog, the same other-worldly haze keeping some things obscured, and bringing strange beauty to others. The river attracts so many different kinds of birds, and there are just as many birders lining the road to spot them all. This morning’s efforts brought us a close-up view of a bull elk, a magnificent creature. Since he was right next to our car, you could see all the fuzz covering his antlers. Of course we also saw a herd of buffalo, but the newness had worn off by then. Natalie was still really hoping to see a wolf, and I’d have liked to have seen another moose. But that is just a symptom of the human condition, to be dissatisfied with the wealth around us, just wishing we could see more, something different or better. Back to the campground, where we had breakfast and another long, hot shower. It was slightly warmer and definitely getting sunnier, so most of us sat around the fire

Day two at Yellowstone. After a restless night, I climbed out of the tent to see that after we’d gone to bed, the family from Japan had returned. They must have figured they could get a hotel room nearby, and I can only assume that 2/3 of the campers at the park were chasing down the same dream. With nowhere to stay, they had come back late in the cold, pouring rain, and set their tent up again. Kudos to them for making it through the night. They didn’t even yell at each other in the night or in the morning. The rain stopped, but the skies were grey. Our rather morose group of campers slowly got going (apparently we are not good at getting an early start on the day). It’s ironic that it took us so long to get started, since most of us really had not slept much and were mostly awake by 6 am! We decided that today was a good day to eat at the diner inside the general store near our campground. Having a friendly server set down a plate of hot scrambled eggs, hash browns, bacon and

Our day of driving from Custer State Park to Yellowstone was mainly uneventful. I continue to be astounded again this summer by the changes one can see in the landscape over a couple of days of driving. We drove through Bighorn National Forest, which was just beautiful, twisting and turning through a small mountain range. Finally we arrived at Yellowstone National Park, so ready to get out of the car. We had reservations at Canyon Campground. After leaving the East Entrance to the park, we saw the sign that said “Canyon: 42 miles.” Not quite there yet. But it’s hard to complain about it. Even before we entered the park, we saw two moose next to a river. Inside the park, we drove through the Hayden Valley, where we saw bison and a mama black bear and her cub. The valley runs along the Yellowstone River, and the beautiful land teeming with birds and animals makes it clear why Yellowstone is called the Serengeti of the U.S. At Canyon we checked in for our campsites. When making