The Mountains are Fading

June 28--Day 44
Malta, MT
Written by Rev

For the past 21 out of 23 years, my birthday has been celebrated at Holland State Park in Michigan. If you have never been there, go sell your....okay, just kidding. It is only sort of cool :)

Well this year it was spent in Glacier National Park with a very good friend. We woke up Monday and headed the 30 some miles to the park and immediately were captivated by the snow capped mountains. It was so very beautiful as we were overlooking the lake with the mountains in the background!

We had planned to hike a trail named, "Avalance Lake." It was an out and back hike that was four miles round trip, ending at a magnificient lake with mountains and waterfalls in the background. It was only 500 feet in elevation, therefore I figured my knee could handle it. We took very minimal supplies: a candy bar and water. As we approached the lake, there was a log jam at one end. Viking and I are very adventurous, so we just had to go out on the floating logs. We managed to stay dry and even capture some pretty amazing photographs.

We ventured down the shoreline and found a nice bench to sit on and eat our candy bars. I then made the decision to drink all of my water. Bad decision. Just kidding. It wasn't a bad decision, since this hike was pretty much like walking on flat ground. Anyway, after some more scenic photos, we headed back on the trail and back to our bikes. We zoomed back to the first lake, enjoying the reflection of the mountains on the water--so cool!

Since the famous "Going-to-the-sun-road" was closed, we took highway 2 all the way to what is called "West Glacier". But on the way we were told that there were mountain goats under the bridge. So, being adventurous once again, we found about 10 mountain goats. The white, shaggy looking ones. I had never seen them before, so they were very interesting to view and look at. Viking actually became very nervous since he spooked some and then wondered if they were offensive animals. They weren't, they were just hanging out in the shade, minding their own business.

At West Glacier, we ate dinner at a really small town restaurant named Lunas. We ate are fill and then were given free dessert because of my birthday and yes, they even sang to me. I must admit that it was pretty awesome. Then, they advised us to take a road that took us 12 miles out of the way, but they promised that they view would be worth it. So we took their advice and I believe that those 12 extra miles were definitely worth seeing!

As we headed further east along highway too, there was some mixed emotions running through my mind. I kept thinking, "I am getting close to home, but this is the last time I will see these amazing Rocky Mountains on this trip--maybe for the rest of my life!" But we ended up being able to see them even this morning, 75 miles later. So beautiful!

We had our best campsite ever on the trip so far. I cannot even describe it, but I will do my best. It was pretty much in a rock formation that blocked the wind completely. We were worried about our stakes going into the ground, but no worries, they slid in like a knife cutting through butter!

It was pretty chilly when we woke up, so we headed out decently early, but the sun promised us a warm day. The day heated up nicely, but we also destroyed so many mosquitos. I bet it was at least 5 every 30 seconds. We are staying at a house that a couple from Kalispell is letting us use tonight. So very thankful! We were told that the mosquito population was crazy throughout here, but didn't think it would be that bad, so we are thankful for a place to stay inside!

But backing up to our breakfast. We were sitting down when a group of bikers came in. One man asked us, "Are you the guys on mopeds?" We replied happily, "Of course!" We shared information and he was actually from Traverse City, MI and his parents live in Grand Rapids, MI! So crazy! We were very blessed by this man, such a great group of fellow bikers!

Then, when we were getting gas a man approached us inquiring about what Moped Justice Mission was. We explained what we were doing and he told us that he was a pastor. He then bought us gas and prayed with us, right there in the gas station. He thanked the Lord for us and asked for protection for us--God is good!

Well, it was great way to spend a birthday and thank you all for the birthday wishes! It meant so much to me! Also, thank you from the both of us for the prayers, encouragement and support! God is good!

To God Be The Glory!