I'll Be Comin' Round the Mountain

So much to catch up on! After the KOA, I decided to head all the way to Glacier National Park, where a friend of a friend offered me use of their guest cabin. Around noon I saw signs for Missouri Headwaters State Park, which I had checked out as a possible stop for the night before (I never would have made it!). I was tired of doing nothing all day but driving and decided to make an early stop and enjoy the afternoon! I set up my tent and went for a little hike (in my mind, a hike is distinguished from a walk by the use of hiking boots; most people would have called this a stroll). I waded in the Missouri, and climbed Fort Rock for some victorious views! This was just the sort of landscape that one could imagine rattlesnakes in (I don't know if they actually live there) and I was very nervous first, but then I silently asked their permission to explore their land, promising not to harm anything. This made me feel much better! I had lupper (late lunch/early supper) and went into my tent to escape the vulture-sized mosquitoes and read. About 8:30 a dramatic wind storm sprung up with a little sprinkling of rain and quickly moved on. Around midnight I shot out of bag at the sound of distant thunder. I had everything broken down and stuffed in the car in record time. I debated whether or not to start driving then, but decided that if I could manage to sleep like a sardine in the car, I would. I did in fact sleep soundly and awoke slightly embarrassed to realize that nothing ever came of the thunder!
Yesterday I finally began to climb mountains. They had been lumping along to my left for days. In my mental picture of crossing the country, the mountains are pretty key. There's the scene from The Long Long Trailer where Desi throws Lucy's contraband rock collection off a cliff and the mountain trial nearly ends their marriage. And John Steinbeck's Rocinante breaking down in the snow, somewhere around the continental divide. Not to be outdone, I too had a little mountain adventure! As I was driving I saw a smoggish haze ahead of me. As I got closer I smelled that it was not smog but smoke! As it got thicker a blinking sign said "FIRE IN PROGRESS DO NOT STOP". I kept going, all the while craning to catch a glimpse of the flames. Sadly all I got to see were a couple of helicopters dipping their buckets in the river that ran along the highway. Still, pretty exciting!
I am now in Glacier National Park after quite a hairy detour from the interstate and I had written down the directions so long ago that I no longer understood my personal shorthand. But I found the place and it is exquisite! My little guest cabin is directly behind the main house which peers through the pines at Lake McDonald and the mountains beyond. This morning I slept in, took a hot shower, did some painting, took the canoe out for a paddle, swam in the crystal water and read in the sunshine!
Now I'm off for an ice cream! Tomorrow I'll try to make Seattle in one day, as at this point I am more sick of setting up and breaking down the tent than of driving all day, and I just want to get there already! We'll see how that works out!