When to Visit Montana
When we were planning our trip to Montana, which I wrote about last week, we forgot to research when the Waterston-Glacier International Peace Park is open for visits. The long name for the park is because it is actually two combined parks; one in Canada and one in the United States.
In 1932, the parks were designated the World’s First International Peace Park to commensurate friendship between the two nations. When we drove through the park at one point, there was a sign that read 22 miles to Canada. But we needed our US passports to cross the border. We arrived two weeks too early to have access to all of the peaks and valleys, many lakes, rivers and trails. Nevertheless, what we experienced this time probably would not be available later; the awakening of the nature in the early spring. The first leaves started opening on the trees, there was still snow on the ground in the higher elevation areas, water gushed forcefully in the Flathead River, and the majestic mountains with their white peaks surrounded us everywhere, while the young trees that covered the mountains were bursting through the ground to replace the old ones that burned in a recent fire. Seeing this brought to mind one of my favorite stories.
In the old forest one tree grew taller than others. The other trees did not like it and complained through the noise of their leaves. “Who does he think he is sticking his head above us?”But the big tree did not care and grew taller and taller until one day during a storm, lightning struck the tall tree and the sparks started the fire, during which all of the old forest burnt down. It was a sad moment, but as it often happens in nature, the ashes from the burned trees had become fertilizer for the seeds in the ground, of all the trees that had fallen over many years. It did not take long for the young beautiful forest to grow from the ashes while old burned trunks were still there to serve as a reminder of the perpetual forces of nature.
What we have seen in the park was enough for us to experience the area. We visited a place called Polebridge, where we met some very interesting people and enjoyed a slice of delicious huckleberry pie with ice cream. In the afternoon we drove to Lake McDonald, which was surrounded by snow covered mountains. Since we drove less due to the park’s closure, it gave us the opportunity to relax and to rest more, and time for me to keep writing my next book “Retirement Solutions for Smart People.”
While there, we met quite a few retirees who have chosen to move to Montana to experience the next chapter of their lives.
P.S. To get your attention back to my photo story book “42 Encounters with Dog Lovers”, I am sharing with you two images I took while there of dog lovers, and the other two which I took at Lake McDonald.
I was informed that the first batch of 25 books went into printing. Once completed, I will inspect the results, and the whole order of 2500 books will be available the first week of July.
Meanwhile, please pre-order at www.encounterspublishing.com. Money back guaranteed.
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