Aug 30, 2011 - Glacier National Park

We left our campsite at 0715 to dump our tanks and fill up with fuel. Our last chance to purchase fuel for over $5 a gallon. It was expensive, but our last fuel stop north of the border! The Trans-Canada Highway was a treat, a four lane interstate type road. The run from Lake Louise was downhill and filled with the beauty of the Canadian Rockies early in the morning. We drove thru rolling farmland and fields that had been recently hayed. Round bales of hay dotted the landscape. We tried to identify the grain growing in the fields, but could...

Aug 30, 2011 - St. Mary Campground and a hike to Mary and Virginia Falls

Our long-awaited return to Glacier National Park has finally come to be. We were last here in 1987 on our first cross-country trip with our three children. Since we arrived in the park around noon, we set right out on a hike. It was 3.7 miles roundtrip and our weary bodies felt each and every step, but the views were worth it. There are currently fifteen fires in the area, so the mountain vistas are hampered by some smoke. Although the years have faded my earlier memories, Glacier rivals, if not surpasses, any other of my favorite places.

Aug 16, 2011 - Back to Logan’s Pass

Day 32 Today was very windy with gusts up to 30 mph. The temperature was in the 70’s but felt much colder. We rode the park shuttle up to Logan’s Pass today. The shuttle is an effort by the park to limit the cars on the road and in the parking lots. We hiked on the Hidden Lake trail and saw the snow banks that are still on the mountains. We hiked on the Highline Trail. This is a trail that is open on the side of the mountain. We could see the Going to the Sun Road and watch the cars pass around the curves. We also saw some big horn...

Aug 14, 2011 - St. Mary, MT - East Glacier

Johnson's CG, Motel, Restaurant, St. Mary's MT Stop at the Lewis & Clark Exhibit in Great Falls. A very complete display of the Lewis & Clark expedition and the native Indians they met along the way. It includes the different ways of living of the various tribes, from Mandan earthlodges to Tipis. This CG will be our home for the east side of Waterton-Glacier NP.

Aug 14, 2011 - Waterton, Canada

Day 30 We rode the Red Bus today to the Canadian part of the Glacier-Waterton International Peace Park. The two governments cooperate to maintain the two parks in a way that promotes the health of the ecosystem of both. This was not as scenic as the Going to the Sun Road, but lovely just the same. We saw Chief Mountain which is scared to the Blackfeet Nation. We stopped and walked beside the Belly River on the reservation and got our feet wet in the cold water. We saw an osprey nest with 2 chicks. Mother Osprey was there on our way back....

Aug 13, 2011 - A Walk in the Woods

Day 29 Glacier Park has 700 miles of trails. Many are very long and arduous. We took some of the shorter trails to waterfalls that are easily accessible. The trails are steep in places, but somewhat level once we got down in the river basin. We are on constant look out for bears and called out and made noise to scare them off the path before we got there. Pictures show the falls we saw and some of the sites along the way. Trivia: There are about 300 grizzlies and 700 black bears in Glacier. This is feeding time and they love the berries...

Aug 12, 2011 - Going to the Sun Road

Day 28 We took the Red Bus Tour to Logan Pass, the continental divide, and Lake McDonald on the west side of the park. It was an excellent tour with a very knowledgeable guide who identified mountains, flowers, and animals. See the pictures. Trivia: The ecosystems on the 2 sides of the divide are very different. The west side is the edge of the Pacific Rain Forest System and so more moist with a different type of plants and appearance. The east side is drier with less foliage and rockier. It is the leading edge of the tectonic plates...

Aug 10, 2011 - On to the Mountains

Day 26 We were driving along in the prairie and off in the distance we see the mountains. They just pop up out of the prairie with no preamble of rolling hills. We saw them in the distance and they just kept getting bigger and bigger. The drive up US 89 from Browning to St. Mary was a real adventure—a narrow, curvy mountain road in need of repair in some places. But we arrived without mishap at the KOA St. Mary.

Aug 3, 2011 - August 2 & 3

If being tired is part of having a terrific time -I'm there. We've hiked over 28 miles in the last 2 days. The mountain air is certainly thin !!!!! We hiked to Gunsight Pass and down to St. Mary's falls -they were beautiful. Today we drove to Many Glacier and hiked to Swift Current Falls Trail. We actually saw a moose and baby. Unfortunately, someone got so excited and yelled OH OH and frightened them (that would be me) We did manage to get a couple of pictures of the Mama. Tonight we are going back to Many Glacier looking for bears....

Aug 1, 2011 - Snow in August

Today we hiked 6 miles in the snow for our second hike. It was like ice skating but the view once we got to the overlook was spectacular. Along the way we saw numerous mountain goats. We started hiking before 8 and took a three mile hike along St Mary's River. It is amazing the views we have seen of the mountains and lakes and rivers. When we left Logan Pass we also so some Big Horn Sheep. So far we haven't seen any bears and hopefully if we do see them it will be at a distance. I am not sure how much confidence that I have in bear spray....

Jul 29, 2011 - Glacier <--- ALL GLACIER POST ARE ADDED HERE

I will never be able to post a picture here that will do Glacier any justice. I can only try. The site of glacier when we crested the hill was breath taking. Will have a whole lot more in days to come. Hope this entry finds all of you well. MAD DASH FOR THE BORDER- Well yesterday we drove to Waterton Canada to Waterton/Glacier Peace Park . There were a lot of road hazards along the way. It is considerably smaller than USA's Glacier NP,but absolutely beautiful!! We left about 8AM and drove 34 miles to get there. Every thing we see is...

Jul 16, 2011 - Day 2 in the Eastern Section of Glacier National Park

This morning we started out early and caught the shuttle from St. Mary Visitor Center. We had decided to just stay on the bus to Logan Pass and see the sites of the eastern section of the Going to the Sun Road. It is a shorter drive and not as spectacular as the western section but still worth seeing. On the way back we got off at the St. Mary Falls trailhead and hiked to the falls and back. Picked up the shuttle at the end of the hike and headed back to the visitor center where we had parked the RV. We had lunch, went through our photos...