Glacier National Park: Recharging on Day One

---

---

Entry 17: Glacier National Park Day One
Tuesday, August 3, 2010 Apgar Campground

As Sophie and I had left the Lolo National Forest early, so we hit the Apgar Campground in Glacier National Park just in time for the “campsite crawl.” Since most Parks’ don’t allow reservations, it’s first-come, first-served, and there’s usually more folks than campsites. RVs, large pick-ups, and the more-rare car jockey and scout for available spaces, slowly creeping around and asking anyone with a tent in their hand if they’re coming or going. With Apgar Campground being the largest at almost 200 spots, the traffic is heavy in all of the 4 loops.

My two first choices in loop “D” were quickly replaced by a nice spot in a small dip in loop “B.” In most National Parks, even with miles and miles of expansive wilderness, the campgrounds, rightly so I guess, are somewhat compact. From my site, which I’m thankful to have snagged, thanks to the early hour, I have 5 campsites and a closed bathroom within 60 feet of me.
The great thing about getting a site is that one now has the choice to remain in the spot, deciding daily whether to renew or not, for up to 14 days. There are more “remote” campsites available, with new doubt many fewer people and more “serious” Park campers/explorers, but the thought of moving anywhere else is too strenuous to ponder; I was exhausted, and was pleased and comforted to know that I would be in the same location (no 2 hours per day setting up and breaking camp). I paid my $20 for the day/night, fully set up the Marmot tent, rainfly fully guyed-out.

My first goal: Electricity! I needed to charge all 4 devices: The camera batteries, the computer, the mobile hand-held phone (the Hotspot = Internet access), and 1 of 2 Mp3 players. Now that I was in a comfortable situation regarding electricity, I had to laugh when I took the computer into the bathroom 3 sites up from mine, only to find that the 1 available outlet was “2-pronged” only. As the computer has a ground prong, it would not be being charged here. Arrggh…

Back to the camp for coffee and breakfast. I made pancakes with jam, and grits (using the rest of the 2-day old cheese). I listened to a humorous phone message from Jennifer that wished me a happy 44th birthday (I didn’t know the day or date until I had to view the calendar posted near the self-registration area at the end of the loop). I was able to speak with her on the phone, but had to stand just outside the flat area of the campsite to keep the phone connection.

Now, business attended to, it was back to the finding of electricity. Sophie the dog and I hiked down a nice trail that leads to the Apgar Village. There, there’s the National Park Visitors office/store, an ice cream/coffee store, a few souvenir stores, a restaurant, a small hotel (whose employee was slooowly using a leaf blower for 30 minutes, blowing every fingernail-sized bit of bark off the empty parking spaces), and a boat rental place. The area’s quite congested, with too many cars for too few spaces. In addition, in Glacier particularly, there’s a lot of strolling on the roads, causing both distracted driver and walker to have to snap back to reality every once in a while as to not collide.
A small bathroom across from the boat launch served as my energy center; while the computer and phone charged near the sink, Sophie the dog and I hung out on the grass. I read another modern Lewis and Clark travel adventure, wrote postcards, strolled around with Sophie, and viewed the beautiful Lake McDonald from its rocky beach. This 8-mile lake had canoers, boaters, etc. out on this sunny and warm early afternoon.

In general, leaving the computer unattended in random bathrooms doesn’t cause me too much stress—visitors to the National Parks are good, honest folks. I’ve never had any problems with anything disappearing (although, I do place my fancy-ass, new Evo phone in the computer’s bookbag, as to hide it).

All charged up, it was now writing time. I typed the afternoon away, pausing for more coffee or to walk Sophie the dog around a bit (although illegal, she stayed off leash right at the site). Kids on bikes were learning how to socialize with each other, laughing, collecting pinecones, and ringing bells while going up and down the campground’s loop road. On interesting thing with the bells—in our hometown of Chicago, Sophie the dog and I sometimes meet Jennifer at the 39th Street Beach on Lake Michigan. Her bike commute brings her down the bike path, and when she’s about 50 yards away, she chimes her bike bell. Sophie’s reaction is to perk up her ears and joyfully bound toward her “mama.” On hearing the bell for the first time in Glacier, Sophie thought her mama was arriving on the bike. This scene was repeated several times throughout the day, and, of course, there was no way to explain to her that her mama was over 1000 miles away.

It was back and forth to the bathroom, charging and writing away, throughout the day. It was relaxing and good to get caught up with the blog. I love to enter high-profile parks and just soak up the atmosphere for a while, knowing that I was so close in time and distance to getting into the park a bit. I made my next day’s plan: driving the famous “Going-to-the-Sun Road,” the 52-mile scenic drive that offers most the closest accessibility to the Park’s features. Since Glacier is a “violently carved” park, its stone walls, although miles wide, cut very dramatically by snow, debris, and ice (millions of years ago).

I worked into the night, and fell into a deep sleep, eager to further explore my initial visit to Glacier Park…

---

Photos

Apgar Campground View
Glacier National Park

Lake McDonald, Apgar Campground
Glacier National Park

Apgar Campsite View
Glacier National Park

Lake McDonald
Apgar Campground View