Missoula and Glacier

Well, as I may or may not have mentioned, once I got to Lolo, I headed off via car to nearby Missoula and then to Glacier Nat'l Park (and the surrounding Flatwood area). Missoula was really a visit with our friends, Mary and Nick Babson, who are such gracious and generous hosts and who showed us the Missoula area last year. Missoula also marked the dreaded departure of my co-pilot, best friend and wife Anne and her re-entry to the real world. After a couple of nights with Mary and Nick, my other co-pilot, Theron, and I headed off towards Glacier. On the way on this 120 mile drive, we came across a Bison preserve; the photos you will see. We took a 20 mile drive among among Bison and other wild life, in this meticuously cared for natural preserve. In the course of the drive you gained about 2000 ft. on what I would call "hills" rather than mountains they were very round and grassy but still quite high. At one of the highest points on the drive there was a sign explaining the geology. 15,000 years ago, glaciers built up giant ice walls damming thie massive area into what was called Missoula Lake. When enough water filled, it would lift the ice"dam" and causing it to break, resulting in massive flooding all the way to western Washington state. This occured about 5 different times. This massive lake was about 1500 ft. at its deepest flooding stage, 500 ft. below where I was reading the sign at that moment. Pretty amazing.
Glacier was beautiful, though there was a glitch. My mini-van, the next day when we were about to explore the park, started to have a problem. It demanded a computer oriented part. Fortunately there is a Crysler dealer in nearby Kalispell; we would be way "outta luck" if this happened during the much more remote (next) 2nd leg. So to make a long story short, we are now waiting for the part. We have rented a car and can still do things. So we took off for Glacier, finally, and were more than impressed by its massive mountainous beauty with its glacial blue lakes and streams. We were limited to our activities mainly because any shoes that would be useful for hiking were left inside the mini-van at the car dealership. We did take an easy but incredible hike (walk?) through a cedar and hemlock stand that hasn't had a burn history since the 16th century. We saw some very big trees.
Well, we remain in limbo about my van. Today is Sunday and we are hoping the part will come in and be installed tomorrow which will have me leavin Lolo and riding Tuesday, which actually is 1 day before my planned departure date. I have found that I have been riding about 10 miles a day more than I thought I would, but now I have a higher pass to cross and a higher general elevation gain than on the previous leg which could put me back on my original time-line. I do want to say this about climbing, you go slower and therefor you see things better....climbing ain't bad.
Here are some thoughts about the upcoming leg of Lolo to Yellowstone; it is part of Lewis and Clark's route as well as the Chief Joseph and the Nez Perce attempted escaperoute to Canada. In fact, the pass that crosses the Continental Divide is called Cheif Joseph Pass, and the road down the other side to Wisdom, MT, about half way, goes by the Big Hole Nat'l Battlefield where the biggest battle of the Nez Perce War was fought. I'm looking forward to all that (and to Yellowstone, as well).