Sightseeing Day
This morning Dave invited me for breakfast. So, we drove into West Glacier and found a nice little restaurant. I had Huckleberry French Toast. It was really good. The berries were fresh and it was so good, I didn't even use any syrup.
We then drove into the West Glacier, Apgar Village area, to go to the Ranger Station. It is quite a cute village, and when we go back, I'll get some pictures. The buildings are all modern log-cabin like structures. There is also a visitor's center for those planning to go into Canada, which is only 30 miles north. So, we may go back to visit that later.
Here's a really, really, really big eagle carving in town. I'm sure Dave is trying desperately to figure out a way to get it on top of the RV to bring it home!
We debated about going on the Going-to-the-Sun-Road drive because we had been unable to get a seat on the Red Bus Tour, but we decided this was just too much driving for Dave. So, what's the next best (or better) thing? Why not take a helicopter ride!
After looking around the Ranger Station and getting some info, we headed back to check out the helicopter ride. We knew it would be a financial splurge, but it's a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I have never been in a helicopter, so I was apprehensive and yet excited. We decided to bite the bullet, and we signed up to go at 12:30 PM (it was now 11 AM).
I did ask the owner when I signed up how many crashes they had had so far. I was kind of serious and kind of joking. She said they had been doing this for 20 years and have not had so much of a stubbed toe by a passenger. I know she must have thought I was crazy for asking, but I think their safety record is a factor if we are going to be 12,000 ft in the air!
Our next stop was to the grocery store to get some Dramamine. Dave does suffer from motion sickness sometimes. I don't; but, I thought my nerves might get the best of me. So, what the heck. Better to be calm than not. And, Dave certainly doesn't want to be ill.
You'll get a kick out of this next story: I thought we should take our jackets just in case the helicopter crashed in the wilderness and we were lucky enough to survive. I packed some water and some Arbonne chews (they are great 30 calorie hunger stoppers with good herbs--those should help us survive a while!). But, in rethinking this, I decided our jackets were too bulky. So, when I called to be sure we were "on" for 12:30 (as the owner had said we might have to wait for more folks to sign up), I asked her if they had those space blankets on board. She said, "If you are that afraid, maybe you'd better not go." I assured her that I was not afraid; that I was just being my Pam Police self and making sure we were prepared, like the Scouts. She said that they were prepared for all circumstances. I'm sure she was a little miffed at me (and certainly had a good laugh over it!).
Another preparatory measure was that I called LD to tell him what we were doing and tell him that we love him and Tina--just in case we crashed. LOL. We all had a good laugh over my "just-in-case" I Love Yous. Then, I sent LD an email of where we were camped so he could retrieve the RV and where the car was parked (at the helicopter place)--just in case he had to find it all. It's not that I expected any catastrophe, but no one up here knows how to contact our family. Again, just being a good Scout!
As we were leaving the RV to drive to the helicopter place, Dennis Migneault called and said they'd like to meet with us at Lake McDonald at their favorite beach. Of course, Dave and I won't swim, so hope we won't roast on the beach in our full-dress attire. He said he'd call us on Sunday morning to get the details all finalized.
And, with that, we dashed off for our 12:30 heli-tour. It was really cool because we were the only two that were going. They have a 3-passenger and a 5-passenger helicopter. Dave was seated in the front with the pilot and I was in the back. I was surprised that I wasn't nervous (must have been that Dramamine).
It was one of the coolest experience I've had. It's right up there with dog-sledding. What a thrill and what magnificent views. I took lots of pictures as did Dave using his binocular camera; but honestly, there is no way that we could capture what we saw. When taking pictures through car windows (and we now know helicopter windows as well) the colors are somewhat distorted. They have a blue or hazy cast to them. So, some of the pictures I am sharing will be clear (when I slid open the window to poke the camera out--burr; it was really cold at that altitude) and other photos are not quite so clear.
We got very close to the ridges and banked in toward many of them. I had a few moments of nervousness when we'd hit an updraft and the blades would make more noise than normal. But, soon I was in the swing of things.
When we landed, Dave told me that below his feet it was clear plastic and he could see down below him. I was very glad I was not in that seat as I am afraid of heights and did well enough to keep that fear at bay while in the heli. Had I been up front, I would have been a basket case.
We were told that the environmentalists expect that the glaciers will all be gone by 2030--my retort, "So will we!" But, all kidding aside, it is really sad to see them disappear. I feel blessed to have had this monumental experience.
When we exited the helicopter, I said to Dave, "Well that's one more item crossed off my personal Bucket List." (Taken from the movie Bucket List--things to do before you "kick the bucket.")
When we arrived back at the RV, we were both very sleepy. Guess the Dramamine did the trick in relaxing us. We took a 3-1/2 hour nap!
After getting up a little groggy and deciding we were hungry, we went out to dinner for prime rib (haven't had a good hunk of beef in quite a while). It's advertised in several restaurants around here. The dinner was tolerable, but certainly not one I'd go back for again--it was NO Longhorn's Steakhouse, that's for sure. During the meal, we were plagued with three persistent flies. We got more exercise trying to eat our dinner (through waving our arms to keep the flies at bay) than we've had in weeks!
After dinner, we went to the grocery store and got a couple of Dove Bars for desert. After all, we'd worked up quite an appetite with all that exercise.
We sat down at the computer, Dove Bars in hand, and viewed all of our 200+ pictures. We felt like we were reliving the heli-tour again. We also took a few movies, but they are not good enough to share (lots of bouncing). But, for us, they were fun to watch (if you don't get motion sickness).
Here's just a few of the better pictures that we took.
This is the pad where we took off. Our heli landed directly in front of this one on the little knoll, and that's where we boarded.
Dave putting on his headset and getting ready for take off.
Take off! See our cloud of dust in the upper left side of the picture.
Awesome scenery!
This is a fire ranger station that we flew over. Note the outhouse as well.
Check out the layering and upheaval of these mountains.
More scenery.
This is a hairpin turn that is on the Going-to-the-Sun-Road drive. If we ever take the drive, I'm sure this will be a harrowing turn.
Glaciers, glaciers, and more glaciers.
The razor-backed ridge is as steep and narrow as it appears. It is very narrow at the top and was caused by a glaciers on each side receding rapidly and taking the rock with them.
The color of this lake is vibrant blue, as shown here. There are many lakes with this eye-popping color. But, most, if not all, are not visible from the road.
Note the icebergs floating in this lake.
Note the thin vertical line through this picture (to the right of the river). That is the US and Canadian border. It is a swath of trees that were cut to denote the border. To the right of the line is Canada.
In the lake at the bottom center of this picture, it looks like there are two floating icebergs. Not so. This is a reflection of the mountain above. Our pilot said that this reflection is only visible about 30 days a year because of the haze, so we were very fortunate to view this and several other reflections.
Here's a great view of a melting glacier. The milky substance in the water is actually ice debris.
Our ride comes to an end as we head in for a smooth, safe landing. We are madly chewing the gum that the pilot gave us as our ears are adjusting to descent. Wow. What a ride!
I hope that you enjoyed this mini-mini-mini capture of our incredible heli-tour. If you ever get the chance to do this, don't miss it!
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