Gorgeous Glacier, Devil's Tower -- and a couple of questions

May I wax a weeee bit political for a moment?  On this trip I have noticed a LOT of federal (national) land.  Forest, parks, landmarks, grasslands ..... Why is that?  Why must the federal government own and managed all this land?  Why can't the states do it?  Cannot states be trusted to care for and preserve their own property?

Just wondering.

On the other hand, we are LOVING our national senior pass, since one of us is now the ripe young age of 62, allowing us to qualify.  A one-time $10 fee and then we get free entrance into all national parks and half price for many campgrounds, including those managed by states and counties .... forevermore!  So cool!

Now .... on to Glacier National Park.  I went feeling a bit confrontational.  Just TRY to beat Rainier.  Go ahead .... make my day.

And .... it did.  Oh my.  But first ....

We stayed in the small town of Hungry Horse (which sits close to the edge of the park) where, from the looks of it, NO one should be hungry, including horses.  There were signs everywhere advertising Huckleberry pie.  One place even offered it fried.   We could have walked from our campground to three different establishments for a slice.  So, of course, we did.  The crust was so-so, but the berries were very good and worth all the hype.

We didn't get many pictures because we were there just a few years ago.  Plus we were on our motorcycle, the road (appropriately called "Going to the Sun") was narrow, and I guess we were just enjoying the experience too much to think about cameras.   So I'm stealing a few from the net.  It looked JUST LIKE THIS.

https://everywhereonce.com/2012/11/02/a-crown-fit-for-a-continent/

http://www.noellaballenger.com/gallery/main.php?g2_itemId=338

http://www.clarksburgcc.org/from-pastor-dennis-our-trip-to-glacier-national-park/

Need I say more?

To Husband's disappointment, we saw neither moose nor bear.  We did see a deer who couldn't have cared less how close we were and some very active squirrels.  Oh, and some bald eagles.

Just a week or so before we got there, a man was killed by a bear.  You may have heard about it.  He and a friend were mountain-biking and he, in the lead, rounded a corner and ran smack into a bear who, probably thinking it was being attacked, immediately took out the cyclist, and left.  By the time the friend came along, the bear was gone.  The victim worked for the US Forest Service and had grown up in the area.  Very, very sad.  We were told the citizens of Hungry Horse all stood on the street edge in reverent respect, as the funeral procession went by.

................

Then we went east, experiencing eastern Montana and its vast nothingness, and into Wyoming.  And since we were in the neighborhood .....

Can we say .... HUGE?

Now it wasn't the Grand Canyon or anything, but definitely worth the detour.  The Indians originally revered this as holy ground and it's no wonder.  I mean, it LOOKS the part.  If I was going to pick a natural landmark which to assign a deity-related status, this would be it.  It just rises up out of nowhere.  If you recall the movie, "Close Encounters of the Third Kind" (who doesn't?) it was the site to which Richard Dreyfus was mentally and physically drawn, where he met face-to-face with the mother of all UFOs.  In other words, it has a presence.

See the rock climber standing on that ledge?  Someone should have told him to wear red.

People still go there for spiritual purposes.  There are rag strips hanging on tree branches here and there along its base, called prayer cloths.  There was a sign asking us to respect and not bother them.

So yeah.  It looks the part.  That said --  WHY IS IT CALLED DEVIL'S TOWER?   Whose idea was that??


Next -- Rushmore