# Having fun at Glacier National Park



## Greg G (Jun 10, 2014)

While Going to the Sun Road is not fully open yet to motorized vehicles (only to Avalanche Lake on the west side and a mile in from St Mary's on the east side) still having a good time.  Hiked John's Lake trail and Trail of the Cedars yesterday, and Avalanche Lake trail today.  Saw grizzlies on the mountain side while talking to a ranger who was keeping track of the status of them along avalanche lake trail due to sightings.  He said just a few days ago they were at the log jam at Avalanche Lake which is a spot where the trail has a very scenic place to take pictures.  Very windy at Avalanche Lake,  almost blew me over while I was taking pictures.  When I hiked Lake John's trail I was the only one on the trail which was kind of spooky.  Only rained one day so far.  Here until Sunday but will be over on the East side Thursday to Sunday to hike in the Manhy Glacier area. 

A few pics I took at

https://plus.google.com/photos/104032461920437224005/albums/6023147988216499265?banner=pwa


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## shagnut (Jun 10, 2014)

Greg, can't get into access your pics.  I will be going Sept 2oth for a week staying at Glacier Wilderness Lodge.  I will be there the last day of the whole GTTSR  and have set up a tour with the Red Jammers.  Are you going to Waterton Nat'l Park in Canada??  I would like to do that and do the boat tour.  May spend one night there.  I had to chose between GTTSR and a lake boat tour and GTTSR easily won out.  It seems all the boat tours shut down except for Waterton.  Can 't wait to see your pics and hear about your trip!!  shaggy


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## Greg G (Jun 11, 2014)

Ok.  Try https://picasaweb.google.com/m/viewer#album/104032461920437224005/6023147988216499265


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## shagnut (Jun 11, 2014)

Greg, says I have to sign in so I'll wait until you get them posted on your Picassa site.


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## Greg G (Jun 11, 2014)

Dangit.  Ever since google acquired picasa I've had problems sharing photos.  Anyway choosing gtrs is the right call. I didn't bring my passport as I thought I'd have way too much to see on the US side.  Save that for the next trip.  Was at Bowman lake in GNP yesterday.   Beautifull but like driving to the end of the world on those gravel roads.


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## Greg G (Jun 11, 2014)

Since my trip here is for 9 days I had to get a year pass.  I left one of the signature lines blank so you'rr welcome to have it


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## Greg G (Jun 11, 2014)

Ok I think this one will work for viewing the pics.  Google plus has an authorization key added at the end of the url now.   However  after looking at it, it appears to be a mobile link and it doesn't come up with the normal album slideshow viewing capability 

https://picasaweb.google.com/m/view...147988216499265,authkey:Gv1sRgCM_3p8Gs74yoqwE

I think since I enabled the album for public visibility you can now use the previous post link for viewing pics as a slideshow

https://plus.google.com/photos/104032461920437224005/albums/6023147988216499265

or maybe

https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/sre...9265&authkey=Gv1sRgCM_3p8Gs74yoqwE&feat=email

I need to read up more on how google plus does this sharing of an album I guess.


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## lgreenspan (Jun 12, 2014)

I was really glad to read your post. I am booked to go the first week of June next year and was a little nervous about having enough to do with the Going to the sun road not being open at that time. Loved your pictures.

Dave


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## DaveNV (Jun 12, 2014)

Nice pictures, Greg. I just went back and reviewed my own posts from when I was at Glacier in June 2011.  It's as beautiful now as ever.


Dave


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## DaveNV (Jun 12, 2014)

Deleted duplicate


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## shagnut (Jun 12, 2014)

I had no problem seeing the pics this time.  I can't wait to go!!


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## Greg G (Jun 12, 2014)

Over on the east side of the park now.   Gnp is unbelievably beautiful.   Stopped at two medicine lake on my way over.  Didnt get my camera on in time but a whole family of mt goats ran by my parked car into the woods.  Little ones and big ones. Yesterday hiked rocky pt on the west side of gnp.   Beautiful views from the other side of lake McDonald.   Haven't had a chance to upload further pics yet (lots and lots of pics )


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## taffy19 (Jun 12, 2014)

Beautiful pictures and a beautiful NP.


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## ml855 (Jun 15, 2014)

We visited GNP last August and just loved it.  Beautiful, beautiful park.  Our favorite part of the park was Many Glacier, we stayed 3 nights in the Many Glacier Lodge and just loved the area.  Visit there if you can, it's wonderful.


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## eal (Jun 15, 2014)

We were at Glacier Wilderness Resort for a week at the end of May and also enjoyed ourselves immensely. We did the Lake MacDonald boat trip which was very scenic and had excellent commentary.


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## Greg G (Jun 15, 2014)

Got a real close up of a bull moose in Many Glacier yesterday.  Had to wait for it to amble off the swiftcurrent lake trail to walk by it.  Will post pics in a bit


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## Greg G (Jun 15, 2014)

The day before that on the same trail it was rainy and miserable and I decided to try it again late yesterday.   Saw the moose around 8 pm or so.  Really stays light late up here


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## Greg G (Jun 15, 2014)

Also got some pics of beavers at the beaver pond trail in st mary.  At first they gave me warnings I think by slappping their tails loudly on the water but then settled down later


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## lorenmd (Jun 16, 2014)

heard they just got a lot of snow.  my son is on his way over there, he summers working for the rafting company out of west glacier.  we visited last year but later in the summer and there is a wildlife reserve park out of polson that is amazing for photography an animal sightings.


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## DebBrown (Jun 16, 2014)

We love Glacier!  Our son lives in Whitefish now so it makes for a wonderful vacation and visit with him.  We've been there the last few summers.  My other favorite thing to do in the area is the summer theater at Big Fork.  http://bigforksummerplayhouse.com/  It's a cool little town too.

Deb


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## Greg G (Jun 16, 2014)

Back home now  (left Sunday June 15).    Deb, I stayed at Crestwood resort in Whitefish when on the west side of the park.   Whitefish is a nice town.   lorenmd, the swiftcurrent trail in Many Glacier had several large patches of snow to trek across when I was there.   Sorting through all the pics, but here are the best of the wild life ones I took (spread across 2 posts due to number embedded image limits)


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## Greg G (Jun 16, 2014)

The rest of the wild life pics


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## DaveNV (Jun 16, 2014)

Nice work, Greg!

Dave


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## Greg G (Jun 16, 2014)

I'll take several days to sort through all the landscape pictures.  There are so many beautiful views in the park.

Greg


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## Greg G (Jun 16, 2014)

One of the many various shots I got of Many Glacier Lodge


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## Steve (Jun 16, 2014)

Thanks for the great pictures, Greg. I love Glacier National Park and northwest Montana.  It was fun to see all of your wildlife pictures.  I am glad you had such a good time on your trip.

Steve


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## Greg G (Jun 16, 2014)

Ok, for the moose shots above is that a female moose since I don't really see any antler spots?

Greg


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## MuranoJo (Jun 17, 2014)

Nice shots, Greg.
Did you make it to Banff?  Years ago, we went to Lake Louise and hiked up to a tea house.

You're right, that's a cow moose.


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## ml855 (Jun 17, 2014)

Nice pictures Greg.  We saw a couple of moose while staying at Many Glacier last year and also saw some bear, mountain goat and big horn sheep from a distance.  Many Glacier is one of my favorite areas it was so beautiful and peaceful.  Can't wait to see more photos. Thanks for posting.


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## DebBrown (Jun 17, 2014)

Greg, you have some wonderful pictures!  Thanks for sharing.

Deb


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## stonebroke (Jun 17, 2014)

*Snow in the Forecast*

Great shots.  Looks like you were there a great time..hope it is nice in Sept when we will be there. Just spoke to my dad who lives in Columbia Falls and he says they are to get two inches of rain today and they are saying possibly 20 inches of snow above 6500 feet (which will keep those snow plows working overtime on the Going to the Sun Highway.)


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## Greg G (Jun 17, 2014)

muranojo,  didn't make it to Banff as I thought I'd have so much to do on the US side I didn't bring my passport with me.  That's another park I have to visit.
stonebroke, Yep, I think GTSR is going to open later than the June 20th schedule they originally thought.   ml855, I wish I had gotten to see some big horn sheep but didn't see any while in Many Glacier.

Greg


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## shagnut (Jun 19, 2014)

Are you having snow????  Where have you eaten that was good.  I don't like fancy just good food.  shaggy


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## edboyd59 (Jun 20, 2014)

shagnut said:


> Are you having snow????  Where have you eaten that was good.  I don't like fancy just good food.  shaggy



Glacier is one of my favorite places in this fabulous country of ours. I have been there 3 times in the last 4 years. There are so many places to go, so many things to do and there's always another spectacular vista around the next corner. 

For those that have never been there, you absolutely have to go when the Going to the Sun Road is open to truly gain a full appreciation of the park. The drive is spectacular and the views from the pull-offs will take your breath away. The people that worked to cut this road through the west side of the mountain had some serious cajones, same can be said about the people that clear the snow each spring. If heights are an issue, it might be best to take one of the park's tour vehicles and let the professionals do the driving, this way you can spend more time enjoying the views. Driving from the east side has less of an impact since the other side of the road separates you from the shear drop-offs that drivers from the west side get to navigate. Despite all of the talk there are very few incidents on this drive. It's more an exercise in frustration when the summer crowds hit their peak.

Wildlife abounds here, as you would expect, and chances to see Elk, Deer, Moose, Big Horn Sheep, Mountain Goats and of course Bears are numerous.  Both Black Bears and Grizzly Bears can be found in the park. I've seen bears in several places but the most common place for me has been along the road to Many Glacier. This road has also provided the most frequent views of Bighorn Sheep and Mountain Goats. The Sheep often frequent the area around the Many Glacier Lodge and the goats can be seen on the cliffs and in the high meadows above the ranger station at the end of the road, although you need a pair of binoculars or a spotting scope to view them here and even with those they are distant. The best place to see Mountain Goats is a Goat Lick Overlook on Route 2 on the south side of the park. The goats come here all the time to obtain salt and minerals from the rock formations along the river. Be sure to go to the far end of the overlook platform and look on the top of the cliffs to the right where there are sometimes groups sunning themselves. Birding is great at various locations and if any serious birders want information regarding species specifics from my experiences, I'll be happy to pass them along.

There are numerous places to eat in and outside of the park. Most of the food in the park is mediocre and over priced, but it's usually edible. We don't like to go gourmet; sandwiches along the drives for lunch are usually all we worry about and there are plenty of places for those. For dinners we usually go for something a little better but we're not into going too fancy since we're usually still grungy from being in the field all day. We have eaten at a number of places and have found that for MEXICAN FOOD, Los Corporales in Columbia Falls (West side) and La Hacienda in Whitefish (west) are not bad; for ITALIAN, we ate at Ciao Mambo in Whitefish and it wasn't bad at all; for general food we really enjoyed the Buffalo Cafe on 3rd St in Whitefish.

Lastly, one place that you absolutely MUST visit if you're willing to make the drive for it is the Polebridge Merchantile in Polebridge on the NW side of the park. Polebridge is a haul from everywhere but it's not a bad drive in itself. It's an hour's drive from West Glacier via the Camas and N. Fork Roads from inside the park and an hour fifteen from Columbia Falls via the N Fork Road. Most of the way up is paved but the last 10 miles or so is via a well maintained dirt portion of the North Fork Road. This place has really good fresh made sandwiches, so of which are hot. But what makes this trip worth every second of the drive are the world famous Huckleberry Bear Claws from this cafe. There's a little store on the left side of the road about a mile or so before you reach the Polebridge Merchantile that sells their own version of the bear claw. Nice little place and you can get some beer, wine or a drink here if I remember right but their bear claws don't come close. If you travel all the way to Glacier and don't go the extra miles to drop in here and get the Huckleberry Bear Claws you have not had a complete Glacier experience. Eat them when they are fresh (and sometimes still warm) and you'll think you've died and gone to heaven.   :whoopie:


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## Myxdvz (Jun 20, 2014)

Are the views accessible by driving? Or will you have to hike to see anything spectacular (say like Zion NP)?

Planning for a nature trip next year for summer, but worried that my kids may be too young.  They would love the wildlife, but I am going to dread hiking.


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## Greg G (Jun 20, 2014)

Myxdvz

All the views are not accessible by driving.  For example those Avalanche Lake pictures (the 3 waterfalls off the mountains) are only accessible by hiking. There are also many others only accessible by hiking.
However you can see lots of spectacular views by driving.  GTSR being a big one, lots of places in Many Glacier, Two Medicine, along the North Fork road,.
shagnut,  I mostly lived off groceries I had for the 9 days there.  I ate out at The Shak and Piggyback BBQ in Whitefish and Two sister cafe just outside of St Mary.  All very good.  edboyd59 knows way more than I do as this was my first time to GNP. 

Greg


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## Greg G (Jun 20, 2014)

I did stop by the Polebridge Merchantile on my way to Lake Bowman.  From the Merchantile to the Lake was probably 45 minutes to go just 6 or so miles.  A windy, pothole ridden, little over 1 lane road.  Unfotunately I didn't know about the Huckleberry Bear Claws, although I did get pretty good Huckleberry pie and ice cream at the Two Sisters Cafe on the east side.   Also Huckleberries weren't in season yet, but the pie was still very good with the berries from last season.

Greg


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## Greg G (Jun 20, 2014)

Here is a pic I took of the Polebridge Mercantile bldg.

Greg


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## edboyd59 (Jun 21, 2014)

Myxdvz said:


> Are the views accessible by driving? Or will you have to hike to see anything spectacular (say like Zion NP)?
> 
> Planning for a nature trip next year for summer, but worried that my kids may be too young.  They would love the wildlife, but I am going to dread hiking.



Don't dread the hiking, embrace it. You don't have to do a 10 mile, grueling hike over treacherous terrain to go "hiking". There are many hikes in Glacier and elsewhere that are only a mile or so long over generally level ground that can be done by anyone is good health and general fitness. There are even trails set-up that are handicapped accessible so that anyone can get off the driven road and see things away from the car. Most National Parks have hiking maps that list the trails, distance and difficulty, so you can chose the ones suitable for your level of comfort.

When trying one of these hikes, pick one that is short, well traveled by a lot of folks, and at a difficulty level that suits the needs of your family (one without dangerous drop-offs high in the mountains, for instance). Take a small back pack with some water and snacks, and go for it. Your kids will take something away from this that might stay with them for the rest of their lives. Some places have guided walks where rangers will provide information about the area's natural history and help point out the nature that your untrained eye might not pick up.

Glacier is bear country and this means that they be encountered anywhere. If your are not at all experienced and don't know what to do in the event of an encounter, that is a reason that I say to pick trails that are traveled by a lot of people. Bears and other dangerous wildlife (like moose) tend to avoid noisy, well traveled areas, so you'll feel safer here as you get your own hiking legs under you than you would on trails less traveled. 

Try it, you might find that you get as much out of it as the kids do, perhaps even more.


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## edboyd59 (Jun 21, 2014)

Greg G said:


> Unfortunately I didn't know about the Huckleberry Bear Claws, although I did get pretty good Huckleberry pie and ice cream at the Two Sisters Cafe on the east side.   Also Huckleberries weren't in season yet, but the pie was still very good with the berries from last season.
> 
> Greg



See, there's always a reason to go back and this is certainly one of them. We have gone at the end of June/early July and huckleberries are not yet ripe on the bushes. They use canned or frozen huckleberries, I'm sure but it doesn't matter, the bear claws hear are literally world famous by those in the know. All of the food sold here is, to my knowledge, baked/prepared right here daily. 

We often stop here in the morning, grab some sandwiches for lunch, a bear claw and fresh coffee for breakfast, and head up the Inside North Fork Road to one of the lakes (usually Kintla) for a day. It's a wonderful drive over a dirt track, but maintained and usually passable by any car.


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## Greg G (Jun 21, 2014)

Myxdvz

Along with what edboyd59 indicated,  I picked up a copy of "Best Easy Day Hikes Glacier and Waterton Lakes National Parks" by Erik Molvar, and "The Best of Glacier National Park", by Alan Leftridge, before going to GNP as this was my first time hiking anywhere.  I had the Kindle versions of them on my cell phone (with back up batteries) so I could easily refer to them while hiking.  It was very helpful.  There are numerous websites on hiking glacier that have a lot of good information on what to have in your backpack for the type of hike you're doing, difficulty of the trails, views you'll see, etc.

http://www.hikinginglacier.com/

http://www.glacierhikers.com/

Greg


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## Ricci (Jun 24, 2014)

We'll be staying at Meadow Lake Golf and Ski Resort in Sept.  Can't wait!!


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## Greg G (Jun 29, 2014)

Here are all my pics  (slideshow, F11 for full screen).  Definitely will have to make another trip so can see Going to The Sun Road when it's open.  Glacier National Park is really an amazing place.

https://picasaweb.google.com/104032461920437224005/GlacierNationalParkJune2014#


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## DaveNV (Jun 29, 2014)

Greg G said:


> Here are all my pics  (slideshow, F11 for full screen).  Definitely will have to make another trip so can see Going to The Sun Road when it's open.  Glacier National Park is really an amazing place.
> 
> https://picasaweb.google.com/104032461920437224005/GlacierNationalParkJune2014#




Nice work, Greg.  I just wish you'd had a good time there. 

Dave


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## Greg G (Jun 29, 2014)

Dave

It was just terrible   All kidding aside, hiking really opens up a lot of new possibilities.
I think I even kinda liked the fact that I could possibly encounter a bear along the trails,  really gets the adrenaline going 
I think went on 8 trails in all.  I believe I also treated myself to Huckleberry ice cream at Apgar village after several of the hikes on the west side.

Greg


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## DaveNV (Jun 29, 2014)

Huckleberry ice cream is an excellent incentive. 

When we were there in 2011 there was still a lot of snow, so we didn't see any big bears, but we were nearly run off the road by this young black bear who ran right in front of our car by Fish Creek.

Dave



Greg G said:


> Dave
> 
> It was just terrible   All kidding aside, hiking really opens up a lot of new possibilities.
> I think I even kinda liked the fact that I could possibly encounter a bear along the trails,  really gets the adrenaline going
> ...


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## DaveNV (Jun 29, 2014)

But I think of all the pictures we took, this image of a Moose feeding near Two Medicine was the best one. 

Dave


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## Greg G (Jun 30, 2014)

Dave

I imagine that was a real shock seeing this black bear running right in front of your car (it's not like your'e trying to miss a squirrel) .  Very picturesque photo with the moose and mountains in the background.

Sounds like they've opened the east side to Jackson Glacier Overlook but there's been enough snow that they're only allowing access to the Loop on the west side and via shuttle only with vehicles still only allowed to Avalanche.  Seems like additional snowfall, and rock slides after plowing have caused this on the west side.

I don't know if it's typical, but I saw more critters in the Many Glacier/Two Medicine area than I did elsewhere.  I also remember people driving really slow along Many Glacier Rd around 9 pm or so, probably looking for wildlife.

Greg


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## DaveNV (Jun 30, 2014)

Greg G said:


> Dave
> 
> I imagine that was a real shock seeing this black bear running right in front of your car (it's not like your'e trying to miss a squirrel) .  Very picturesque photo with the moose and mountains in the background.
> 
> ...



The road where the black bear showed up had fairly heavy brush on both sides.  He came along the crest of a hill, parallel to the car, almost keeping pace with us.  Then he ran at an angle down the slope and into the roadway, right across in front of us. Probably no more than ten feet in front of us.  If I'd been going faster, I'd have hit him, I'm sure.  

I managed to stop the car, and the bear also stopped running, once he was on the opposite side of the road.  It was almost like he was chasing after us, like they might run down a prey animal.  But when I stopped, he stopped, and he started browsing on branches along that side the road.  Long enough for us to get the camera out and get a picture of him.  Then he ambled off into the brush, and that was that.  I didn't get really scared about "what ifs" till afterwards.

The moose shot was a perfect accident.  We came around a corner on the road outside the Park near Two Medicine, and there was the moose - standing ankle deep in that flooded field about 100 yards away. She was calm and easy for a bit, maybe 30 seconds after we stopped, then started moving fairly fast toward the side of the field, and off into the trees.  That image was the best one we got. 

I was at Glacier back in the mid-90s in early June, and they'd just opened the GTSR the day before.  So we were able to drive over the Pass.  It was striking.  Someday I'd like to go back a bit later in the year, and see if we can recreate that great drive.  We were there the first week of June in 2011, and they didn't open GTSR till sometime in July.

Dave


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