Glacier National Park-Day 1

Today we drove into Glacier National Park, just a few miles from our RV park. We have been here before but it never ceases to amaze.

We hear there are a lot of fires north of us in Canada and apparently some of the smoke is causing the air to be hazy. It made taking pictures much more difficult due to the haze in the air. Nonetheless, I took 105 pictures today. I told Don I had a lot of film. (I am sooo thankful for digital cameras!!) But not to worry, I won't show you all 105, I'll just pick a few.

We headed into the park, and immediately the mountains are spectacular.

Then on toward the "Going to the Sun" road. If you are not familiar with this road, it was built a long, long time ago. (Glacier is celebrating it's 100th birthday this year which will give you an idea how old it may be.)

How they accomplished this is absolutely beyond me. It is a narrow, two-lane road that snakes along the sides of mountains and through tunnels giving you incredible views of the mountains above you and the valley floor waaaaaaaaay down below you.

No large vehicles are allowed on this road, so our motorhome stays in the RV park. It can be scary enough in a car.

The "Red Bus" takes tourist on the Road to the Sun for those who don't want to drive it themselves.

There are lots of waterfalls as you go along. Some of which spray water on you as you drive the road, others you can see from across the valley. All are spectacular.

Because winters here are obviously very hard on the road, the summers mean lots of construction on it which has to be navigated by the many travelers (almost bumper to bumper) that take the road.

 

At one point when we were going very slow due to construction, I got this picture of the steel plate holding the railing. .

Those bolts are not connected to anything but thin air!!!

Look closely at this picture. The majority of the steel plate, including the bolt intended to stabilize and hold the railing to the wall, is hanging out in SPACE!!! IT'S IN THIN MOUNTAIN AIR FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!!! YEOWWW!!! Some things I am just happier not knowing about. I guess they need the construction work.

Anyway, it's an incredible trip across on this road and one not to be forgotten.

At the very top, Logan Pass, we were planning to take a hike to Hidden Lake Overlook. However it was so cold and windy when we got there, we decided it would be a miserable trip, and opted to move on.

Then, glancing up at the nearest mountain from the parking lot, we saw seven mountain goats walking around the very top of this massive rock mountain.

 

Mountain Goats on parade. Billy Goat is above and to the far right edge.

There were two little ones, and with the binoculars, we could even see the billy goat with his horns. It was great timing, they paraded all around the top and then around to the back and were gone. A very neat thing to see.

This picture is of only the very top of this mountain.

If you go to Glacier, you must take the Going to the Sun road, unless you are someone who doesn't tolerate extreme heights and skinny, twisty mountain roads well. (Like our favorite daughter-in-law, Leslie!) Me? I'm the passenger, never the driver on this kind of trip! I mean, someone has to man the camera, right?

On the way back we stopped off for a couple of hikes to different waterfalls. Those are always fun and usually worth the effort.

The first one was a couple of miles long and led to two different falls. It was somewhat of an up-and-down hike, a bit tough on old hips and knees. When we got back to the car, we toasted each other with a double dose of Aleve each. Not really, but if we had, possibly there would not be the groaning that is going on around here tonight....

 

After that the next hike was shorter and, thankfully, flat.

It was to a waterfall, that in the spring comes over the front of the falls, but in the late summer, (now) and with less water, it comes down behind the rock, appearing as if it is coming straight out from solid rock. Very unusual. They call it "Trick Falls."

The last one was not really a hike at all, just a short walk to an area called, Goat Lick. It is in a spot where mountain goats come down and lick the blue-gray colored rock in an area where there is natural salt in the rock.

Today we did not see any goats licking the rock, nor did we get licked by a goat. Probably a good thing. Maybe next time. It was still a beautiful area, but every place here is.


On the way back we saw a new forest fire had starting to burn, probably from lightening last night. It something that is always of concern here of course. We hope they get it out quickly..

When we got back to camp, we built a fire and just kicked back. Tomorrow we plan to take a couple more hikes...IF we can still move...