Went to a walking tour today called “Havre: Beneath the Streets”.  Apparently there was a fire in the beginning of the 20th century that wiped out about 8 blocks of the Havre city buildings, above ground.  Since the walls of the basements were made of sandstone they didn’t burn and the businesses simply moved downstairs to avoid any delays in their operations.  So they had a part of the city operating  beneath the sidewalks and in the sidewalks were square purple pieces of glass which allowed light to pass into the stores beneath.  Besides stores there was also a saloon (speakeasy during prohibition), dentist office, bordello, opium den, bakery, druggist (which sold heroin), ice cream parlor, and others.  It was pretty interesting overall.  Then I hopped back onto route 2 to head towards Glacier National Park.

    As you approach Glacier from route 2 you can see the Rockies from about 60 miles away.  It makes for some nice scenery while you drive.  I kept thinking I was just about there but the road kept going and the mountains kept getting bigger.  I finally made it to the St Mary entrance of the park and pulled into the visitor center.  It was very windy but as I found out, its windy here all the time.  I got myself a site at the Rising Sun Campground, about 6 miles into the park, and was amazed at the scenery around me.  I setup my tent and got in my car to drive down the Going to the Sun Road.  Its a really scenic road that stretches from the east side of the park all the way to the west.  I went to Logan Pass (which cuts through the mountains) to watch the sunset but it didn’t quite turn out to be as spectacular as I had hoped.  Nevertheless the scenery was still quite stunning without it.  In terms of raw beauty, Glacier blows away Theodore Roosevelt National Park.  Tomorrow I will do some hiking to see more of this paradise.