We had planned a relatively low-key day, with a visit to the Many Glacier area and an hour-and-a-half boat tour at 15:00. This was the first day the boats would be open for the season (they would not be open at St. Mary Lake for another week), and the tour would help us learn a lot of geological information about the park. The Many Glacier area was about an hour and a half from East Glacier Park, so, even getting up at 8:15 as we did after our late night the night before, we could still afford a very leisurely pace.
As we had not expected to be going to bed late and consequently getting up late as well, we had not paid attention to what time we needed to return the special Canada rental car. We spent 15 minutes or so trying to determine the time we had picked up the car without making the cold trek out to look at the rental agreement, by calling the rental place (line busy), and looking at text messages we had sent and receipts for things we had bought shortly before picking up the car. Finally, we were unable to determine that we had picked it up after 9:00, so we decided, so as not to take a chance, that Eric should just go return the car immediately, before showering, while Beth took a shower. There followed a highly disturbing Romeo-and-Juliet style comedy of errors and failures of communication.
Eric: Leaves hotel room to return rental car, leaves Beth to take a shower.
Beth: Naked and ready to get in shower, discovers that Eric has left second key to rental car in room. Throws on coat, hiking boots and wool hat, throws car keys and room key in pocket, and runs downstairs, expecting to find Eric in parking lot.
Eric: Goes to fill rental car tank.
Beth: Tired, having just gotten up, forgets all about the need to put gas in car and assumes Eric must have gone on to Avis. Walks through large grassy area in front of hotel, under railroad bridge, and across street to Avis. Does not find Eric. As temperature is nearly freezing, not wanting to walk back to hotel, goes into gift shop were Avis counter is located to wait for Eric where it's warm. Looks at picture books of Glacier NP.
Eric: Returns to Avis parking lot, carefully combs car for important items that might have been left behind and moves them to the rental car that couldn't go to Canada.
Beth: Wants to go outside and talk to Eric, but, with no clothes on under coat, is too cold. Tries standing in window hoping Eric will look in and see her. Her back, already stiff from hotel bed, becomes too painful for her to stand anymore, so sits down on the edge of a freezer case and keeps looking at books. Phone, of course, is back in room.
Eric: Figures out that he only has one of two rental car keys. Drives back to lodge and goes up to room, expecting to find Beth showered and dressed, figures he can send her to return car while he showers.
Beth: Notices that Eric has left. So tired that it takes a while to figure out where he must have gone.
Eric: Returns to room to find almost all of Beth's stuff, but no Beth, and no rental car key.
Beth: With great frustration, leaves key with Avis guy and jogs the cold trek back to the hotel.
Eric: Very surprised to find out how Beth has spent the last half hour or so.
The previous night had left us depleted of energy, and eight hours of sleep hadn't really made up for it. This situation did not make things any better.
After we finally managed to get ourselves out of our room, we had breakfast at Luna's Cafe, where the food was good and the staff friendly. The wi-fi was much better than that in the hotel, so we were able to get caught up on some things.
By the time we left the Bison Creek Ranch, it was 13:15. We had an hour and a half drive to the Many Glacier area, and needed to check in for the boat ride at 14:45, so we needed to move along. So much for my plans for doing any hiking in the area before the boat ride. Eric said that he thought we really needed a day to "press the reset button" after the misery of the previous evening. I felt exhausted and definitely wanted to get more than eight hours' sleep. We figured out that this meant we'd have to leave Many Glacier as soon as the boat got back at 16:30, so that we could have enough time for the drive back, a relaxing dinner with the Schauffs, and still get to bed early enough that we could get up for the long drive to Missoula the next day.
A sense of dread filled me as I approached the booth at the boat launch and saw the sign indicating departures at 14:00 and 16:30. The man told me that we had indeed been scheduled for the 14:00 boat.
Now, I don't know how this mistake happened. I had the entry programmed into the Google Calendar in the correct time zone. Eric thinks the mistake probably wasn't mine, but that they had given me the wrong time, it being the first day of the year that the boats were running. In any case, we had literally missed the boat and there was nothing to do for that now.
As we planned to spend the next day on the west side of the park, on the way to Missoula, we were faced with the difficult choice of whether to take the 16:30 boat or skip the ride altogether. This was the only guided tour I had planned for the whole trip, the only time we would have a guide describing the geology to us instead of just me reading out of the road guide. My mother always goes on about how much fun boats are, and I do love them. On the other hand, the 16:30 trip would completely ruin our plans to press the reset button, and the weather was lousy. We finally made the decision to bag the boat ride, at a cost of $50.
I was filled with disappointment and frustration. I didn't want to be so tired that I was driven to make such an unpleasant sacrifice, and I once again cursed the miserable liars at the Two Sisters. The repercussions of their lie continued to make trouble for our vacation.
Well, at least we got in a little bit of a hike, and saw a waterfall.
Dinner came with a cream of tomato soup made from scratch, a small green salad, mashed potatoes, carrots with a yummy butter garlic sauce and parmesan cheese, a "bread" muffin made from huckleberry pancake batter left over from breakfast, and homemade ice cream.
Aaron Schauff's wife had had a baby the previous Monday. The baby was named Tallulah, or Tuley for short. This was particularly amusing because my sister-in-law had had a baby in May, named Maya. But she and my brother refused to tell anyone what names they were considering until after Maya was born. So, until Maya was born, they referred to her as "Tallulah."
Even though the Schauffs didn't seem to remember Lars, we very much enjoyed meeting them and eating their food. The ranch is very close to town, and would be a great place to stay if you visit Glacier National Park. At least our day ended well and we were able to get a good night's sleep. The reset button had been pressed.
Distance hiked: 1 km?
On to the Logan Pass, after all!