Fata morgana.

Visiting a familiar place with someone who's never been there isn't quite analogous to seeing it through new eyes, but it's interesting nonetheless. Old friends made the long drive from Waynesville to stand atop the Continental Divide, throw snowballs, see grizzlies at close range, and pay too much for potato chips at the only store in a tiny town 38 miles from Canadian customs.

(Two Medicine)

(Rattlesnake National Recreation Area)

(near Choteau)

(Missoula)

(Logan Pass)

(Two Medicine)

The park was full. We got reservations for a tent site at St. Mary two months in advance and even by that point more than half the spots were taken. Four adults and three babies ruled out a single-vehicle expedition into the park, so on Saturday we drove back to the St. Mary visitor center and got on the free shuttle bus. I'd been aware of theses buses but had never taken one before, and I have to say they work pretty well, with just a few glitches. One route runs from St. Mary to Logan Pass, connecting to another route that goes from Logan Pass down to Avalanche, connecting to a final route that uses larger buses to go from Avalanche to Apgar. For the most part they run frequently enough, but a few times we had a wait of about a half-hour, and we had a half-hour of uncertainty later in the afternoon at Apgar when the bus stop sign suggested we had missed by 20 minutes the last bus that would allow us to connect and connect and get back to our truck. Blair and I each presented our hitch-hiking resumes to see who would have to thumb it back over the Divide, but then Lauren asked at the backcountry permit office and was told to disregard the sign. Sure enough, a bus pulled up a few minutes later, and by 7.30 we were back at St. Mary, contemplating which expensive beer to buy for dinner.