Today was going to be a slow start . . . until the room above us decided to wake early (like 5am early) and shower forever and the pipes were making terrible noises. The good part was we are at a Hilton Garden Inn and love their breakfast. I loved the fact they had one of my favorite breakfast splurges, Eggs Benedict. It was yummy but too heavy knowing that I was going to be sitting in a car most of the day! So we get on the road at 9am . . . I know such slackers compared to previous days . . . only to get right in the middle of the morning commute traffic. Thankfully it cleared soon and we were on our way to the first stop,
Head Smashed In Buffalo Jump . . . I kid you not that is the real name and even a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The drive off the highway . . .
And I must admit that the name had sparked my curiosity as I had never heard of such an odd name . . .
The funny thing is I had been looking for stops along the way and thought this was interesting. When I first looked at the map I thought it was between Edmonton and Calgary and yesterday when driving could not find it so looked at the map again . . . apparently I need better map reading skills (it is south of Calgary not north as I thought) so today it was our stop. I was glad we stopped. We walked to the lookout and saw this guy . . .
. . . and then looked at the cliff where the buffalo jumped or shall I say were forced to jump . . .
So how does it get the name?
In the 1800s, according to legend, a young brave wanted to witness the plunge of buffalo as his people drove them to their deaths over the cliffs. Standing under the shelter of a ledge, he watched the great beasts fall past him. The hunt was unusually good that day. As the bodies mounted, he became trapped between the animals and the cliff. When his people arrived to do the butchering, they found him with his skull crushed under the weight of the buffalo carcasses. Thus, they named the place Head Smashed In.
Interesting and of course the name is all legend but they did do the buffalo drives over the cliffs. It was well worth the stop and now back on the road to cross back into the grand U S of A . . .
So close . . . hello Montana!
As we approached the border checkpoint the agent asked your typical questions but he continued to ask, "
Now why did you come this long way?" Ummm, because it is scenic and we wanted to . . . he seemed doubtful as to why we drove so far but honestly that was our reason. After what seemed like forever, he wished us safe travels and sent us on our way. The drive was again beautiful . . .
. . . our stop for the night is in St Mary's, Montana. This is the one part of the trip that I have looked forward to the most. I sure hope it doesn't disappoint. We checked into the hotel and headed immediately to Glacier National Park to start exploring.
We watched the orientation film and then headed to St Mary's Falls for a 3.5 mile hike before we called it a day. What we didn't realize was the 10 mile drive to the trailhead was exactly where the road construction was and down to one lane so it took a while to get there . . . I might have not been so nice and complained a lot but once there it was amazing!
. . . and then it was back to the hotel via the road construction but at least we had this to look at . . .
The hike was
exactly what I needed at the end of the day. I can't wait for the hike tomorrow; it should be grand. We ended the night with a tasty dinner and treated myself to a Huckleberry Margarita. Now let's hope it helps me sleep!
Miles traveled today: 254 miles
Total trip miles: 2,455 miles
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