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FALL 2019 ISSUE 02 / VOL . 04
A lurid painting of Sacajewea adorns a trading post on the main street of Wisdom . Or maybe it ’ s Miss September .
moose , elk and bighorn sheep . We encounter a sign of a car hitting a moose , with the warning that we are entering a “ High Impact Zone .” Another sign warning that pictures of wildlife mean “ Caution , stupid .” For all the warnings we see only cattle , not wildlife .
In Radium Springs we stop for caffeine and warmth at the Meet On Higher Grounds coffee shop . A waitress who looks like Mother Nature serves us an organic treat that has all the ingredients of a bird feeder , plus molasses , and is divine . We talk to a couple of ridiculously fit hikers , wearing shorts , who support our plan to abandon 93 for the Crowsnest Pass toward Waterton-Glacier National Park .
We traverse a high plateau covered with golden fields , stark white wind generators and fever dream images of the Wild West — rust-red iron silhouettes of cowboys calf roping , herding rust-red cattle , and rust-red Indians tending rust-red fires , rust-red rodeo hands riding rust-red horses .
We cross into the United States at Chief Mountain Pass , 10 minutes before closing . In Babb and St . Mary ’ s the no vacancy signs glare red . Is this adventure or bad planning ? We turn down the chance to rent a presidential suite for $ 475 at St . Mary ’ s Resort , but luck out , nabbing a guest cottage for $ 175 .
Lesson : When your destination is a national park , ignore lesson one . The nearest towns will be booked with overflow . There is no end of season . After the kids go back to school , or leave the nest , baby boomers and foreign tourists — not to mention the guys who can ’ t find their way home from Sturgis — flock to the West . Make a reservation .