Yesterday we had a leisurely morning. I posted to the blog before breakfast. After breakfast I unloaded the scooter from the trailer. I reset the passenger side view mirror on the coach to a forward position like the driver’s side. This reduced the overall width of our rig by a few inches.

Donna ran a couple of loads of laundry through our Splendide washer/dryer and changed sheets on our bed.  She packed a picnic lunch and started our dinner in the crock pot.

We studied the map of East Glacier and decided to ride up to Logan Pass. I’m usually pretty good with maps and directions, however,  when we left the campground I went the wrong way. I turned left on highway 89. After about a mile I saw a sign indicating Babb was 8 miles ahead.  I knew this wasn’t our planned route and turned around.

In the village of St. Mary, we turned right and entered Glacier National Park. When we entered the gate the attendant looked at my National Parks pass and asked me for identification. This was the first time that happened, but it’s what they’re supposed to do.

The pass is actually called America the Beautiful – the National Parks and Federal Recreational Lands Pass. It’s an interagency pass that is honored by the Bureau of Land Management,  the Bureau of Reclamation, the Fish and Wildlife Service, the USDA Forest Service and the National Park Service.

This pass will admit vehicles (one car or up to two motorcycles) into areas that charge a per vehicle fee or will admit up to four adults in areas that charge a per person fee. Two people can be listed as owners of the pass. Donna and I are listed as owners on our pass. We received our pass as parting gift from my colleagues when I retired. It was a great gift and we’ll make good use of it.

We rode the scooter up the Going to the Sun Road. We stopped at a picnic area at Sun Point and ate the lunch Donna prepared. We had roasted chicken with avocado, bell pepper and lettuce wrapped in whole wheat tortilla. We also had hard boiled eggs, carrots and homemade sweet pickles we purchased from the Amish in Wisconsin.

The view across St. Mary Lake we stunning. We saw a couple pulling their canoe from the lake. They said the water was really choppy today. We continued our ride up the road. The views were incredible. The scooter is an excellent mode of transportation in the park. We could pull off most anywhere we wished to take in the scenery.

There were a few sections where road work was being done. The road was single lane at a couple of points, controlled by flag men. There are a few rough spots and even a mile or so of gravel.

On the way up, we decided to limit our stops. We figured we could take it all in, then make stops on the way back down. When we reached the visitor center at Logan Pass we found motorcycle parking areas and had no problem parking. The visitor center there is mainly a gift shop.

From the visitor center, we hiked up the Hidden Lake Trial. This trail takes you up from behind the visitor center to spectacular view points. Much of the trail is boardwalk. The park service tries to keep people from wandering off of the trail in order to preserve the natural flora. Nonetheless, we saw people ignoring the signs and going off of the trail. We also saw people feeding bread to ground squirrels. It’s hard for me to understand why rules don’t apply to some people.

When we were getting ready to depart from the parking lot, a guy standing in a group of motorcyclists noticed our South Dakota plate. He asked me if we rode the scooter here from South Dakota! I should have pulled one over on him, but I admitted that we trailered it here.

We made several stops on the trip back down. At one stop, as I got off of the scooter, it slipped off of the side stand. I didn’t realize how much of a slope we were on. I grabbed the bars as it was falling and saved it from crashing onto the pavement. In doing so, I wrenched my back and left hip. This getting old stuff is not for sissies. Sometimes it hurts.

There are two campgrounds in this section of the park. We rode through them to check out the sites. The campground near Sun Point is definitely not big rig friendly. The sites are small and the road is narrow and twisty. Also the trees overhead could be a problem.

The other campground is near the park entrance. This campground was comprised of three loops. One loop has possibilities, we saw a couple of class A motorhomes shoehorned in there. I’m not so sure if I would chance it though. There were one or two sites that could accommodate us, but it would require some tight maneuvering.

We returned to our coach and were greeted with the aroma of country style ribs cooking in the crock pot. We visited the hot tub. It was soothing to my back and hip. We returned and enjoyed a great meal.

There’s one technical issue in our current location that I find a bit puzzling. Verizon has 4G coverage here for data only. I cannot use my smartphone as a telephone here. I wonder what’s up with that. The first night here, our neighbors from Texas mentioned they have no coverage at all with AT&T. They were worried because they usually check in with their daughter every night.

I had them send her a text message from my phone to let her know they were okay and would be out of touch for a few days. Last night I received an urgent message from her asking me to tell her folks to call as soon as possible.

In today’s world, not being connected is bothersome for sure.