Amazon Heart meets Rocky and Bullwinkle 

Today was a special orientation day for our group with a trip to the beautiful Glacier National Park.  The mountains here are special for the local Blackfeet people and our visit provided a great insight into this amazing place.

Before we left several of our group walked to the historic Holy Family Church just next door for morning mass with local Blackfeet families.  It was an incredibly special experience, incorporating local culture and tradition.

For the last two days a fire has raged around St Mary, cutting off access to Going to the Sun road.  Instead, we drove to Many Glacier, about one hour away across the plains and past views of the fire line in the trees on the mountain.

As we entered the park, the mountains, lakes and streams were breathtaking.  We stopped for our first group photo and a passing car stopped to tell us they had seen a bear on the ridge a bit further down the road.  With our photos done, we took off in the bus looking for the bear, the first of many fruitless searches during the day!  He had moved on by the time we drove past, but the incredible views made up for the disappointment.

Once in the park, we stopped for lunch and our first genuine wildlife experience – although it was more exciting for the Australians than the Americans!  A family of ground squirrels joined us for lunch and the aussies took the usual number of photos required on such an occasion!

The wind had picked up to near gale force, making the temperature much colder than we had expected.  We stopped at the Park General Store to buy sweatshirts for some of the group before heading out on a hike to Red Rock Falls.

The pine trees gave us some shelter from the wind and the day started to warm up.  The first part of the hike was through the forest and after a short while we came across a pine tree shaped like an “s” bend.  Audra demonstrated Texas Pine pole dancing for us all (see the photos!).

Along the trail other hikers told us of other bear sightings during the day, but we always managed to be there just a little too late.  The whole group made good time on the 1.3 mile hike to the lake and the Red Rock Falls.  The mountains, water and scenery were breathtaking. 

After time to take in the views and peace of this beautiful place, we headed back along the trail.  Just short of the end, we had our second wildlife sighting – a moose wading through the lower end of the lake!  We all took photos and christened him Bullwinkle, since we’d met his squirrel counterpart Rocky earlier in the day.

Back on the bus we stopped before leaving the park to visit the Lodge on  Swiftcurrent Lake.  It is one of three historic lodges built in the early part of last century by the railroad company.  After a quick photo stop we jumped back on the bus and headed for home.

The fire had grown while we were hiking and we drove past a field where fire fighting helicopters were stationed, ready to join the effort.

Back at camp, more local Blackfeet volunteers had turned out to prepare our dinner, and we shared a fantastic traditional turkey roast dinner.  Our guest speaker for the night was unable to come due to a family emergency, but will join us instead on Monday night.

The evening finished with the group spending time alone sharing their personal stories and breast cancer experience, before heading back to our tipis to sleep.