For the first two days of our 4-day stay in the Saint Mary Campground in the Park, we stayed fairly close to our base. We did some short walks and visited the Visitor Center often for access to wifi that we needed to secure reservations for further into the summer. (We didn’t even have AT&T phone reception at the campground.) When we asked about the free shuttle service provided to transport visitors to the many points of interest, we learned a) that the road was still snow-bound (and blocked) that cuts through the Park from the east side to the west side through Logan Pass and b) the shuttle service on the east side was not yet operating.<\/p>\n
Right next to our camper was a den occupied by a number of ground squirrels. I am no expert, but I judge by the coloration that they were Columbian Ground Squirrels. The literature also mentions that their most common activity above ground is standing at attention, and that certainly matched my observations. Wikipedia mentions that they first came to the attention of the scientific community through writings produced by Lewis and Clark.<\/p>\n
When we realized that we wanted to extend from two to four days, Barb made a reservation, getting one of the very last available. When it came time to move to the new site, we discovered that it was already occupied with new campers. Turned out a new Park employee had messed up and double-booked our site. Although we had the initial reservation, the other campers had the site, and they had secured their camper and then disappeared. What to do? Finally a senior member of the staff realized that one of the group sites was not going to be used for the two additional days that we desired, and so we were permitted to occupy the roomy spot.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\t\t