Rainy Nights In Glacier

Bad Weather
9-17-79

In the '72 Chevy that I had just bought from my brother (to make this
vacation possible), Carin and I pulled into Glacier's Two Medicine
Lakes under a constant drizzle. We forced ourselves to take a last
ditch ten-mile rain drenched hike, before we packed up, and headed
down to Yellowstone. So much for the beauties of Glacier National
Park, all I managed to show Carin was my disappointment. I was the one
who did most of the complaining. After two days of remaining in our
rain suits, we both needed a change of scenery.

Once we got out of the mountains, the rain did let up some. That
night, we pulled off on a tractor trail and drove the car behind a
gravel mound. In the middle of the prairie, hidden from view, we
fueled our campfire with an old fence that was lying on the ground.
The makeshift gravel pit was a perfect campsite. Leaning against the
gravel bank, warmed by the fire, and watching the dark and shifting
rain clouds break apart as they pushed across the mountain peaks was
an extraordinary experience. After dinner, I remembered the bottle of
brandy that I had stashed under the driver's seat of the car. With the
night air came the expected mountain chill, but with a good size fire
and a bit of brandy to sip on that chill could be tolerated, even
enjoyed.

Watching the flickering shadows on the wall of gavel behind us
inspired visions of ancient Indians and cave philosophers. We were
made even more aware of that history when a giant owl came swooping
out of the night sky. The owl, probably looking for table scrapes, barely
missed Carin's head. Carin being Carin, thought the owl was an omen.
We made a game out of it. If the bird had been an omen then we had to discover
"an omen for what?" Huddling close together under the blanket, sipping
brandy, and trying to figure out our future, was the perfect game for a perfect evening.
That night, as we crawled into our sleeping bags, with the full moon and the howling
coyotes in the distance, we drifted off into dreamland—incredible!