Most of the Flathead was rather tame.

Our raft trip wasn’t scheduled to start until 1100 so we were able to sleep in until about 0745. We quickly took down the tent, stuffed our sleeping bags and packs into the carttop carrier and headed off to Eddies for breakfast in Apgar Village. The omelets were so big that I had trouble's finishing mine, much less the remainder of Yumi’s. I guess she was still full from last night’s salad.

We arrived at the Montana Raft Company headquarters at 1030 and met our guide, Dan. This was Dan’s first summer running trips in Montana, but had 5 years experience in the Great Smokies in his native North Carolina. There would be 6 others on the raft with us: a group of 3 20-somethings who cracked us up and who knew just about every movie made in the 80s and two teenage girls and one of their mom’s. Yumi and I were given the awesome responsibility of sitting up front. Perfect for getting really wet and experiencing the Flathead’s wrath!

To be totally honest, the trip was a little disappointing. There were a few nice sets of rapids, but mostly it was flat water with a current. At one point Dan intentionally guided the raft onto a large flat rock just to scare us a little bit. I really thought we were going to go over. Nice job Dan---you earned your tip for that sneaky maneuver.

After one particular wet set of rapids, in which the entire boat took in about 8 inches of water and soaked everyone and everything in it (including a disposable camera of ours), he told us that anyone who wanted to jump in the river could do so. Before he finished one of the girls was cannonballing into the 48 degree water, with the other close behind. I thought for a second, took my disposable camera out of my shirt pocket and jumped in.

How anyone survived the Titanic disaster is beyond me. The water was colder than any winter Wisconsin had to offer. The three of us floated down the river for a few minutes before Dan told us to get back in the boat. Very cool--literally. Other than that it was a fairly mundane trip, except for watching people jump off the bridge on the seldom used old entrance road to the park. I’d like to do it again in June when the snow is melting and the water higher and faster. Stillit was enjoyable and Yumi had a good time. We bought some good pictures of us hitting the rapids at the office just so we could prove to people we had done it.

After we left the raft company we had lunch at the West Glacier restaurant again, then left for East Glacier and the Glacier Park Lodge. This time there was a room ready for us when we got there. A helpful young man named Joe Montana got us checked into our 3rd floor room in this mammoth building.

Yumi looking lovely at the Glacier Park Lodge.

After we explored the giant lobby, Yumi decided that we needed to do one more hike since it was only 1630. We chose to see Running Eagle Falls, also known as Trick Falls just inside the Two Med entrance because of the way water flowed both through and over the rocks. We were hoping both would be flowing but it wasn’t to be. Still it was a lovely area.

We met a couple of Roberts at the falls. One lived in East Glacier and the other in Texas, but was up here visiting his friend. Maybe it was the belly flops or maybe East Glacier’s exposed butt crack. Whatever it was, Texas Robert was having a good time watching his friend dive into the frigid waters of the Two Medicine River. The water must have really been cold because, despite his Mexican heritage, East Glacier Robert’s skin was turning red.
 
Since EG Robert had been stationed in Japan during his stint with the Navy, he and Yumi had a nice chat about her homeland. The four of us talked about the park and some of the things EG Roberts needed to take Texas to see.
 
Having seen about all there was to see at the falls, we made the short walk back to the truck and drove back to the Lodge. Once we got there we decided to walk the grounds and explore the monstrous building further---and stop at the gift shop, of course. After a while we decided to act on a tip from the Glacier Gang and EG Robert and walk into town and eat dinner at Serranos, a Mexican place. EG Robert recommended the red Snapper, which immediately piqued Yumi’s interest. Red snapper? We had to go.
 
We stopped at a few gift shops and stores in East Glacier on the way to the restaurant. East Glacier was not nearly as clean as West Glacier and was lacking trees. It looked more like a desert town than one at the entrance of the park. We eventually found Serrano’s tucked behind the Circle R hotel. 
 
We had to wait about 15 minutes for a table to open up on the back porch and had to share it with an older couple---Bernie and Rosalyn. We had a nice conversation with them and were able to give them some recommendations on day hikes in the park. We had become something of experts in that department over the last two weeks.
 
The meal was good but the service suspect. I wound up eating one of Bernie’s tacos because the waitress gave it to me instead of him. I thought it was part of my combination platter. Yumi’s snapper was terrific and virgin strawberry margarita excellent as well. I washed my dinner down with a cold Moose Drool, a tasty brown ale produced by the Big Sky Brewing Company over in Missoula.
 
We paid the bill and walked back to the Lodge, making a brief stop at the Amtrak station to find out what it would cost to take the train out from Wisconsin. At about $700 for the both us, they seemed to price themselves out of a couple of travelers. I figured we could do the exact same trip again for that if we didn’t buy and souvenirs or stay in the fancy lodges a couple of nights.
 
Another trip to the gift shop was in order when we got back to the Lodge. Yumi bought me a Glacier CD, which I had been looking at for at least a week. She was probably sick of me trying to decide whether to buy it or not and just put an end to my indecision. What a sweetie she is! After roaming the lobby for a while and taking one last look at the mountains, we turned in around 2300. Our stay at Glacier was just about over.