Going To The Sun But First The Kid Who Fell Out Of The Moving Vehicle

Part two of our Montana/Wyoming/Banff trip was supposed to begin with an early start up the Going- To-The-Sun Road in Glacier National Park for early light at Logan Pass, but the universe decided a test was in order.

Pam and I both have taken multiple first aid classes and feel mostly prepared for stuff that can happen. That being said, we weren't really ready to see a kid laying in the middle of the highway while looking for a campground appearing like he had been hit by a car. Adrenaline and training - I guess - took over as Pam let me out to run over while she called 911 to make sure the kid got some real help. When I got to him another guy, younger and better looking than me and better trained - was also arriving. The other guy was an ICU nurse. Whew!

The kid was just starting to try to get up and, at first we attempted to keep him from moving, but it became apparent that his back was okay, but his affect was very bad and as the people he was with were starting to feel like the situation was resolving itself we had to tell them that he needed to be fully checked by medical personnel to make sure he didn't have a brain injury.

 The actual professionals quickly arrived and we were able to go to wait out our adrenaline calming down. Yikes!

We were up early the next morning and on the road by 5:15 to make the drive to Logan Pass on the Going-To-The-Sun Road and as we climbed it became obvious that our timing was excellent as we made Logan Pass as first light was happening.

We shared the wait time with a few early risers and a Rocky Mountain Bighorn Sheep. The light did not disappoint.

We headed down after a 3 mile hike on the Hidden Lakes Trail which was closed at 1.5 miles because of bear activity. After the hike we drove down to secure  a camp site for the night and then headed to Many Glaciers to hike to Ptarmigan Falls and then get a shower.

Back at the campground we were informed that a black bear had just walked through the camp site. We may have made a small error by drinking the rest of our hard liquor before crossing into Canada the next day, buy we had fun and got in a movie in the van before passing out.

The crossing went without any kind of inspection so we could have saved the booze for later - oh well. We elected to go through Waterton National Park and Frank where the Frank Slide was that is the deadliest rockfall in Canadian History.

The route took us past the largest truck in the world and to Kimberly for lunch before making our way to Banff National Park where we were trying to cheat the funky weather forecast to get good shots of Lake Moraine and Lake Louise. Our gamble paid off with some great pictures and we were able to get to a great free camping place between Canmore and Calgary for the night.

The next episode will take us into Calgary to visit with old friends so stay tuned.

Thanks for reading and more soon. Peace.