Early Winter or Going Home 1

Snowy Skies over Glacier National Park - September 26, 2013

*due to driving home & work schedule prior to leaving this is an untimely post, sorry.
As summer fades away one would hope to have an interim period of time where fall is in evidence.  Glacier Park never fails to amaze.  Tomorrow, Wednesday, September 25, 2013, it is supposed to snow at 5000 ft and above...not just a little dusting..they are predicting 6 to 10 inches.  That means that most of the Going to the Sun Road north of Avalanche Creek will be snowed upon.  Awesome!

Just Beginning of Fall Colors at Lake MacDonald - September 26, 2013

But wait a minute, are we really ready for snow?  I know I am not.  I have to get home and if it is snowing now in Glacier what does that say about North Dakota, the snow state of the US.  When I think of North Dakota, I think of snow gates, 90 mph winds and people getting stranded on highways and their cars covered in snow. This is not what I want to deal with on a 2.5 day drive to Indiana.  * 3 days after I arrived home a huge blizzard leaving 48 inches of snow hit South Dakota!

Marias Pass in the Snow on September 30, 2013

However, as I prepare to leave Glacier the snow does indeed start falling.  First snow, happened on my birthday, September 18, 2013.  Following this, it just kept snowing. When I finally did pull out of Essex, MT on my way home the skies were gray, cloudy and my favorite fog was drifting up and down through the valleys covering the tops of my favorite peaks.  Snow was falling like powdered sugar being sprinkled on top of the mountains.  It was fantastically beautiful, a word I've found I've used over and over this summer to describe Glacier...fantastic. 

First Rainbow I saw on September 22, 2013

As my car wove around and through the mountains headed east on Route 2, a road I've come to know like the back of my hand, tears fell from my eyes as they viewed my Glacier for possibly the last time, for sure the last time this year.  It was hard coming home, yet the mountains had in the last weeks given me clues to the upcoming happiness that I'd experience by sending me rainbow after rainbow after rainbow.  I'd not seen another rainbow all summer until mid-September.  Possibly, Glacier was smiling at me and sending me off with its blessing and a reminder that there really is no place like home.

Crazy Clouds Over Glacier

The sun went down over the park as I exited Browning, MT.  Looking back at the mountains they were encircled by a giant, white mass of boiling clouds akin to what you see in the scene in the movie, Ghostbusters.  It was a spectacular sight.

Sunset Over Browning, MT September 29, 2013

But in front of me was clear sky.  As I moved farther and farther away from Glacier, the sun set in a clearing sky, highlighting the still remaining bank of clouds with a beautiful golden light.  I spent the night in Havre, MT and awoke to another partly cloudy day.  I drove through a BIG rainstorm near the border of North Dakota. 

Playing Tumbleweed Dodge Ball

During this portion of my trip, I played a new game called, Tumbleweed Dodge Ball. Winds upwards of 50 mph rocked my car and the torrential rains made visibility very poor.  It, also, set ALL the tumbleweeds living on the sides of the road into motion.  As they danced and twirled and rolled down the highway next to me, gusts of wind pushed one, two or three across the road suddenly, causing me to have to swerve around them. Some were SO large that they would have gotten caught in the undercarriage of my car proving quite irksome to future progress, I feared!  This spectacle kept me giggling because it was such a funny sight.  Who knew that tumbleweeds could cavort?

Rainbow Over Theodore Roosevelt National Park

The rain stopped at the North Dakota border and there over the Theodore Roosevelt National Parka arched a HUGE rainbow!  A final good-bye or a welcome hello from the east.  A sign which encouraged me to continue to think positively about the future that awaited me in Indiana.  

Good Bye For Now, Montana -view of Siyah Mountain

So, good-bye for now, Montana.  You have left an indelible mark upon my soul.  I truly felt at home among your mountains and plains.  Stay safe, Glacier and may you remain ever there for us to love and admire.