Thursday 24 June St Mary to Coram, MT

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Going to the Sun Road was supposed to be open today, but it wasn't so we could only go up 13 miles from the east end. Never the less, it was beautiful. Took lots of pictures. Had a nice close up encounter with a Mule Deer doe - - she was grazing next to the trail we were walking - - she was only about 15 ft away. Gena and I walked all the way down to St. Mary Falls - - very pretty and well worth the walk, though it was a very long .8 miles each way! St Mary Lake was a beautiful blue color. There were lots of water falls. When we got back to the visitors center, we hooked up Magee's trailer and took off down US 89, intending to take MT 49 to US 2 (to cut off a 24 mile double back) only to find that it was limited to vehicles no longer than 21 ft - - that counted us out! Along US 2, we stopped at the Goat Lick Lookout, and got to see a mountain goat across the river on a VERY steep bank licking salts off the rocks. She was still in her winter coat. We stopped at a small campground in Coram, MT where I called the Hi-lo Dealer in Kalispell only to find out that they are booked through the second week in July and couldn't help us with our trailer. I described our problems and they assured me that we could make it home without any problem. So, tomorrow we'll drive up the west side of Glacier NP and back to our camp and then the next day head for Yellowstone NP.

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