Taking time to sip tailgate coffee. Just rest and smile.

Original Post date 7/7/2021

There are worse places to sip coffee you made off your tailgate:

I had this entire thing planned for today, using the drive in movie approach. That is when you show up really really early for something to get a great spot, get settled in, and then peopl- watch all the poor SOB’s who planned poorly and showed up late and must deal with crowd chaos. Throw family meltdowns into a splendid mountain setting, and it’s like watching Swiss Family Robinson in a cage match with the Von Trapp’s. Picking out who best epitomizes Julie Andrews is always the most fun. For those of you who don’t appreciate the humor found in the family vacation misery of others, then this narrative is not for you. Please do something better with your day.

I had this great bit I was going to do about the Zen of driving the sun road during early AM.  Crossing the entrance at 5:30, a full half hour before they ask for entrance ticketing at the gates (although my employee badge works just fine).  The sweet purr of the 5.7 hemi as I passed a cyclist striving to hit Logan Pass before the heat of the day.  The sun slowly warming Heaven’s Peak.  Windows down as I cruise a comfortable 35mph and let the damp morning scent of the mountain forest rush thru the four-door cabin while playing Bob Marley.  Feeling for a fleeting moment that I am the only thing right in this entire world in this particular place at this particular time.

Then, even at this early hour, I start seeing strange things as I am driving.  The Avalanche Lake trailhead is full.  There will not be enough sun for good pictures for at least two hours.  Weird. Thankfully people use Cloud storage for all of those terrible photos that they will never access again. Parking at The Loop is another mess.  Alas, not a single car in front of me has turned off.  You can see where I am going. So yes, I roll into Logan Pass at 6:30 am (note the entrance gate that is 30 miles behind me has only been manned for a half hour at this point), and the Logan Pass parking lot is fuller than a supermall the day before Xmas. 

I saw lots of vehicles that had clearly been slept in at every turn out inside of the park coming in, so I am sure the pass was half full before I even got out of bed this morning.  Given Hidden Lake (and everything outside the visitor center) is still closed for bear activity, and the Highline just opened a few days ago, where can all of these people and be going? No need to ask where they have all come from – Covid once scared people apart out of fear, and now is forcing them together out of the need for herd socialization. Clever virus playing the long game. Clever like those child assassin movies, which should be more disturbing to the public than they are.

So no parking for me at Logan Pass. Crazy. But life is about adapting and continuous forward movement. Going to the Sun Road is 52 miles long with beauty left, right, and everywhere. Following the advice of Alfred Lord Tennyson, I decided to “To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.” That is how I found my great coffee spot a couple of pull outs just east of the pass (just beyond the east side tunnel).  Space for about 5-6 cars, and no one stops here.  At least not for long. 

Of course, you need that one guy who pulls up behind me in his SUV, quickly parks, open both doors, and takes a very loud piss on the pavement between them.  As I watch his torrent of urine flow like the Ganges River to where I am sitting, softly blowing my coffee to cool,  I make eye contact and get zero acknowledgement.  Maybe use the coffee cup it originally came in, or park farther away.  Three million visitors a year and I get this guy.

I digress.  Only but a momentary lapse in my peace.  I’ve got a 180 degree view of the St Mary valley to Logan Pass here.  I think it is the best panorama in the park.  Mantaphi, Little Chief, Dusty Star, Citadel, Blackfeet, Heavy Runner, Reynolds, Bearhat, and Clements just roll before the eye.  Beautiful, forested U valley dropping down to St Mary.  A half dozen hanging waterfalls fill the air with white noise.  As the sun finishes painting the peaks and hitting my view spot, the rocks starts to warm beneath my legs. 

A younger couple from Maryland pull up behind me, get out, snap photos, see me, get back in, start the car.  Then they stop, come out with yogurt cups, and sit on the guard rail and enjoy the view.  A car behind them does the same thing but pull out chairs like mine.  Another car does the same.   Contentedness is like happiness.  It contagious.  People just need an example to remind them how simple sometimes life can be, even if for a just a few minutes along the side of a roadway. 

Today I’m going to be working on my hiking logs and scheduling out the next week or two.  I should have exhausted the LMD valley by then.  At least of anything worthy.  Too many trees for my liking.  I so enjoy the colorful rock and scree of the East Side.  But I guess we all have to pay our dues. 😊

I did throw up some descent numbers for the first couple of days. I’m still not sure what my target or goals are or if I have any:

Date	Location	Hikes/ Climbs	One Way	Total Miles	Elv +/-	Grade %	To	From	Total Hrs.	MPH	Drive Miles
7/2/2021	Arrival Day/Check In/Orientation
7/3/2021	Mt Brown Fire LO	Hike	4.2	8.4	3600	8.1%	2.25	1.75	4.00	2.10	40
7/4/2021	Head of Trout Lake	Hike	6.5	13.0	3800	11.1%	3.00	2.25	5.25	2.48	40
7/5/2021	Apgar Fire LO	Hike	3.8	7.6	1850	9.2%	1.75	1.25	3.00	2.53	25
7/6/2021	Lake Otokomi	Hike	5.2	10.4	1900	6.9%	3.00	1.75	4.75	2.19	100
			19.7	39.4	11150.0	0.4	10.0	7.0	17.0	2.3	205.0