GLACIER NATIONAL PARK July 22nd

We didn’t get quite an early enough start to beat some of the crowds in Glacier. Of course, this is the height of their season so it was expected! But since we had drive so long yesterday, we didn’t get moving until about 8:30 a.m.

This is one of the most spectacular national parks ever! I don’t think when we all went through here with the RV on the way home from Alaska in ’90 or so, that we were able to drive the Going-to-the-Sun highway. It’s a 2 lane road and quite narrow and heart-stopping in spots! Rod kept his eyes on the road and wasn’t able to enjoy the view until we would stop at a lookout.

Inside McDonald Lodge

Outside McDonald Lodge

Funky shuttles around the park.

We first stopped at Apgar Visitors’ Center to get our stamp for our passport books and pick up brochures. Then we drove along Lake McDonald and stopped at its lodge. The Trail of Cedars, a short hike past some huge cedars, was next but there was NO parking! They were doing road construction on several miles of this road so the turnoffs were blocked off and we just had to drive on.

The Loop, a 180 degree turn at the top, was a bit hair-raising. We were able to finally find a parking spot so we could do a pit stop, get stamped and pick up a magnet. And take some photos! People in the parking lot had spotted some mountain sheep high on a gravel spills that we watched with binoculars.

Mama and baby mooses!

Going-to-the-sun Highway!

Hard to see 2 big horned sheep in center

A stuffed one!

Waterfalls

Down the otherside were many waterfall stops for photos when we could find a place. The glaciers were melting and sending tons of water down the canyons. There are something like 700+ glaciers of varying sizes in this park. There are at least 7 peaks over 10,000 ft. high. In addition to the sheep, we spotted a mama moose and two moosettes!, some cattle that had wandered out on the road, a dead marmot, I think, in the middle of the road, and finally at our last stop Many Glacier lodge, a bear in the distance up on a mountain wandering around.

We finished up driving along St. Mary’s Lake and town as we left the park. Rod found a shady picnic table on the Indian (Blackfeet) reservation as we left where we pulled over for lunch. We enjoyed the huckleberry cobbler Rod had picked up, in lieu of Huckleberry pie which he couldn’t find.

Now we’re headed into the homestretch, a long flat, mostly grasslands ride across Montana and North Dakota. We’ll drive tonight until Rod gets tired and we find a spot. No reservations here! We’re headed down to St. Paul to drop off Betty and head back to Neenah. There is only the Teddy Roosevelt National Park in western NDakota that I saw. I think that’s pretty much just a drive through. We’ll see tomorrow.