The Times and Travels of Nolan
Documenting trips I've taken and places I've seen.
Grey pre-dawn light filtered into the tent. The air was perfectly still at Sprague Creek. There wasn’t a sound – except for my phone alarm, which had woken me up not long after 5:00 a.m. just like it was supposed to. Outside of the fact that I did not wanted to be awoken from my …
Continue reading “Glacier National Park: Hiking to Piegan Pass”
Miffed. I remember being miffed when Elizabeth and I reentered Glacier National Park for the first time in a day during the evening of 14 July. Why had we gone to all of the effort of purchasing a GTSR vehicle reservation if people could just pour into the national park unimpeded? It was surprising to …
2023 is upon us. I’ve now been operating this blog for about 3 years. The difference between being a 22-year-old with a blog and the person I am today is quite stark. Back then, I started those posts so that one day I could remember the details of the peak years of my life. Now, …
Whitefish lay straight ahead. The RAV-4 which had been so meticulously packed two days ago was already showing signs of repeated rummaging for cameras or yellow Gatorades or swimsuits. It cruised along the built-up section of the Flathead Valley, past the lodges and motels and hotels of Kalispell. I was practically vibrating with excitement over …
48 hours into our time in Montana, Elizabeth and I had seen many of the biospheres that the state had to offer. There had been the flat Big Sky Country, the rolling High Plains, the rugged granite-covered mountains, and the heavily wooded slopes. Herron Park south of Kalispell made an entirely new one. There were …
Continue reading “Glacier National Park: Foys Lake Overlook”
It was still cold and grey. I’d had some hope that maybe yesterday’s awful weather would break this morning, and we’d get a brilliant late-fall sunny day in the central Appalachians. As it was, it appeared that on this Sunday I would have to settle for “at least it’s not raining like it was yesterday”. …
One moment, twilight was spilling forth brilliant oranges and pinks across the northern Montana sky. The next, it was morning and early sun rays were lighting up those same mountains golden-green. At least that’s how it seemed to me following a wonderful night of sleep at the Belton Chalet. You can easily overexert yourself on …
Absolutely soaked. That was the only way to describe our status in the parking garage at WVU’s medical center. My sweatshirt was damp, my sweatpants were damp, and I was cold to boot. Winston started the car and I stripped down to shorts and a t-shirt (mercifully somewhat dry so that I could also wipe …
After most of a good, hard day, Elizabeth and I had been delivered to the end of Going-to-the-Sun Road. Apgar Village lies in the far southwestern corner of the park, where McDonald Creek exits Lake McDonald and begins its terminal sprint down toward the Flathead River along US-2. This is the commercial side of the …
Continue reading “Glacier National Park: Apgar, West Glacier”
When you are with someone long enough, you are able to interpret context clues much more easily. With that said, you don’t need to be an expert at Elizabeth Studies to know when she’s hungry. My lovely fiancee has a way of letting people know. And as we got back into our RAV4 on the …
