And so it begins.

Ok, so this is my first post on my first blog. I don't know how often I'll be able to post on here. Definately not daily. My life's not that interesting, but I will try to post at least once a week.

This is my third season at Glacier, my second season as a Visitor Use Assistant Supervisor and my first living at the Fish Creek ranger station. The drive from Tennessee is about 2,400 miles. I usually take four days and do some sightseeing along the way. This year's trip was great for one main reason; my 10 year old daughter got to come with me. We had a blast! We stopped and saw Mt. Rushmore frosted with snow and stayed at a hotel that was connected to an indoor water park. Uh...yeah! Talk about fun! One of the coolest stops on the trip was the ghost town of Garnet. Montana is full of ghost towns and I've been wanting to visit one for awhile. When they say getting there is half the fun, they're right. Garnet is about ten miles off of I90 on a one-lane dirt road through the Garnet Range. After the first six miles the road winds up First Chance Gulch (I love western place names) on one of the steepest sections of mountain road that I've ever driven on. Uh...yeah! Awesome! The town is nestled near the top in a small valley. There are several intact buildings from the late 1800's.

View of the mining town of Garnet

I felt like I was in a John Wayne movie!
Lauren in the general store.

The Well's Hotel

What is really cool is you can go inside most of the buildings and even upstairs to the second and third floor of the hotel. I sound like a commercial for the place, but it really was cool. It was definately a great way to start off the season.