Glacier is an amazing place and a handful of days is just not enough to really explore like I wanted. For the most part, we spent time in West Glacier since it was closer and the entire length of Going to the Sun Road was not open yet. Wouldn't ya know it, this was the year that they had so much trouble with avalanches and a very late snowfall (80 inches on June 6) and the latest that they've ever opened the road! I was able to see my first black bear in the wild, tons of whitetail deer, a few "mulies", mountain goats, a very entertaining big horn, and some amazing scenery around Lake McDonald and St. Mary's Lake. We hiked a few of the trails....braving the mosquitos best we could....and I took tons of photos. Anyone that knows me, knows how I am with a camera...ha ha...The kids seemed to enjoy the views and at one point, the highest point we could reach by vehicle on the west side, hiked up the side of a mountain to see the tops of the waterfalls....they looked like ants. RJ and I couldn't let them outdo us so, we had to do the same....wow....I'll admit, at one point I got light-headed! It was slow going because of the mud, running water, and slick rocks.
Finally, the last day we were going to be able to spend in Glacier, we decided to get up early and travel the extra distance to enter the park at the St. Mary's entrance. We went to the Walton's Goat Lick and saw the Mountain Goats helping themselves to the minerals in the rocks, it was amazing to see how agile they are. The country we traveled through was amazing. I was almost as facinated by the scenery and the journey to the park as I was the park itself. It was interesting to see the "free range" grazing areas and crossing cattle guards as we got on and off the "highways"....along with the native american prayer bundles tied in some of the aspen groves along the roads....things we definitely do not see at home, things that remind you that you are in the west. We arrived at the St. Mary's entrance fairly early and it was an overcast day with on and off drizzle...who cares, we're goint to try and fit as much in as we can! We finally got to "play" in the snow at Logan pass, see the beautiful blue/green waters of St. Mary's Lake and the small, "Wild Goose Island" in the Lake. The snow capped mountains were beautiful and the clouds moving across them made for some interesting pictures. Going to the Sun Road is an amazing feat in itself...there were several times that there was only enough space for two vehicles on the road and that was it. We'd be driving along and I'd look towards RJ's direction and see amazing drop offs and miles and miles of view and then on my side I would look up and see waterfalls, the occasional tumbling rock--possibly from the Mountain Goat we saw peaking over the edge at the traffic at one point--ahhh, please don't hit the rental! That turned out not to be the only close call with the rental we had, once we arrived just above the Weeping Wall on Going to the Sun Road, we saw a big horn sheep milling around so, we parked and I proceeded to get out and take some photos. Well, we didn't park close to him, we made sure to give him his space. Well, I don't know if he was attracted to the pretty blue paint of the Explorer or if he thought RJ looked funny or if he just liked the way his reflection looked in the side of the family truckster....but....he walked right up to RJ's side of the vehicle and proceeded to have a staredown with him. He was so close that RJ couldn't get out of the vehicle. I handed RJ my camera so he could take pictures and then I watched from the safety of the other side of the vehicle, just cracking up. RJ then became worried that he might ram the side of the vehicle...and asked me what he should do. Well, I didn't know what to tell him....I just kept cracking up over the two sizing each other up. The first chance he got, RJ got out of the vehicle and walked away and funny, but the bighorn walked away too....guess it was RJ! ha ha
Glacier National Park is definitely on my list of places to go back to....I highly recommend it! One word of advise, make sure you have several days to really get out and "see" the park. Glacier has very few roads so, to really experience it, you have to get out and hike or go on some horseback rides. Here's just a few of the pictures from our trip:
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