Aug. 4, 2006 - Last full day in Whitefish
In addition to the morning coffee and orange juice, today's breakfast consisted of: fresh fruit served from a hollowed-out pineapple in a fruity syrup; raisin scones with butter; little-bitty gingerbread pancakes with calved cherries and whole huckleberries and a fruity sytrup on top. Ben and the other meat eaters also got cuts of locally-raised organic bacon.

We were joined by Virginia and her two-year-old grandson Henry, a very well-behaved little boy and a lovely lady with a beautiful accent. The Northern Virginians were there as well. They were less obnoxious than yesterday, but still rudely dominated conversation.

Today we're returning to Glacier for a hike to Apgar Lookout -- 2.8 miles each way, with an elevation gain of 1,835 feet. We'd planned originally on hiking Avalanche Lake, but the park was incredibly crowded yesterday and that's one of the most popular trails. Here's hoping this option affords us a bit more privacy.

Later - 4:15 p.m
It was a good hike, but exhausting.

Montana is incredibly dry right now, and Ben and I are coated in the dust we churned up along the trail.

Coming back from Glacier, we stopped at a side-of-the-road shack for a huckleberry mildshake. It was amazing -- really hit the spot.

Now we're back in our room for showers before we head out for dinner. Our first night here we tried to walk to this Pollo-something place before realizing it was a bit too far to make it on foot. This time, we'll drive and hope it's still open.

We've been taking many showers per day here -- sometimes two or three. Just having water pressure is a luxury, considering what we'll be returning to back home.