With cold temperatures and rain showers in the forecast we elected not to hike today. We took a road trip over to Browning to visit the Museum of the Plains Indians. The museum is located within the Blackfeet Tribal Indian Reservation which spans approximately 1.5 million acres. The Blackfeet Indians owned the land that now constitutes Glacier National Park until it was purchased by the federal government in 1895.
The museum has many artifacts from various Plains Indian tribes – clothing, jewelry, weapons, tools, household items and musical instruments. The displays were very informative and interesting.
We met several Blackfeet artists that were working at the museum today. A jewelry maker named Rene Bear Medicine and a young artist named Jeremy (self taught).
From Browning we looped around to East Glacier where we stopped for a late lunch at the Two Medicine Grill. We then drove back to St. Mary on MT 49 known locally as Looking Glass Hill Road. The road provides tremendous views of Two Medicine Lake and the valley below when the weather is clear. It is a curvy mountain road that is closed from November through April because of snow and frequent landslides. MT 49 is cattle country and we encountered many cattle on and along the road which along with the many hairpin turns makes it a slow but exhilarating trip.
A relaxing day and a chance to rest our tired legs.
ON THE ROAD with Maria + Stephen 