Got up and left town early headed to Glacier. We were about 1 1/2 hours from the park...we arrived at Apgar entrance around 10:00 a.m. It was JAMMED!! We managed to get a parking space there at the visitor center where there was also a lodge, restaurants, etc. We immediately went to get our stamp. We had tried to get a room at a lodge in the park, but all was full for the weekend. It turned out to be some sort of special celebration weekend for the park (this park is an international park as it sits both in Canada and US). We went to restaurant and had a late breakfast while we decided our plan of action. We came to the obvious conclusion that we should have spent last nite closer to the park so we could have gotten here earlier, but that was hindsight. We live and learn (maybe slow learners). When we finished breakfast, we had almost decided NOT to do the park today and find a place to stay outside the park and drive the Going to the Sun Road early in the a.m. In the end, we decided that since we were already here we would brave the crowds and traffic and just go on through today. I made Jerry promise NOT to get impatient and upset w/ idiot drivers, etc. if we did this....he was pretty good about it....there were lots of slow places where people had stopped to watch bears, etc and all the scenic turnouts were crowded, but it really wasn't too bad.
Going to the Sun Road is just AWESOME!!! We started our drive along Lake McDonald which is probably the lowest part of the park and pretty flat. Lots of scenic turnouts and we hit a couple of them. We were able to get right down to the lake and it is so clear and pretty. The colors in the rocks on the bottom were beautiful also. At the end of the lake the road climbs pretty rapidly. Long switchbacks as it climbs up the mountains that the park is noted for. We stopped at lots of lookouts for gorgeous scenic vistas and until we got close to the pass we were able to look down into the valley where we had started out.
At Bird Woman Falls Overlook you look across this awesome valley to the falls which boast a drop of 492'. At one scenic point there were cars everywhere and someone had spotted a bear up on the mountain. It was a bear w/ 2 cubs and we think it was our first grizzly sighting. Of course we stopped also and got out to look and take pictures. One cub was black and the other brown and they were foraging alongside a waterfall and then finally wandered off along the mountainside.
Just before getting to the pass and the Continental Divide we stopped at Oberlin Bend that offered a gorgeous view of the mountains and valleys and the part of the highway we had just traversed....there was also a prairie dog village, a gorgeous waterfall from Oberlin Mountain and a mountain goat that was grazing right under the elevated walkway we were on....
When we got to Logan Pass, it took us forever to find a parking place and I thought Jerry was going to get into it w/ a woman who had darted out of a car and was standing in the empty spot where we were going to park and was "saving" it for her son who was coming around in his truck. However, someone pulled out a few spaces down and we had a better place to park. We went into the Visitor Center and got some information on some trails. We had seen lots of people walking along this trail above the road and as we got closer saw this beautiful meadow that you walk through as well so we wanted to walk part of that trail.
We took water and Snickers in our packs and headed out. When we had first arrived, there were bighorn sheep grazing on the grass strip of the parking lot...I went over to watch them, but by then they had moved on but there were some just across the road. They are so pretty....
The hike was absolutely breathtaking....gorgeous views and the walk through the meadow was beautiful as well. This is the Highline Trail. Once we got through the meadow, the trail was carved out of the side of the mountain and pretty level, but rocky. Along the cliff side there was garden hose covered chain anchored into the wall for handholds for the faint of heart. It was never really scary as the trail was plenty wide (3-4') in most places, but until you got used to it, the handrails were a good security blanket. We didn't go far, just far enough to get out on the rocky part of the trail and then some, but it was a nice walk.
Back at the truck we left the pass then went started downhill. We stopped at a vista of one of the few glaciers remaining in the park and it is diminishing fast. This was Jackson Glacier. The really neat place was Sunrift Gorge where this mountain stream rages down this chute that is maybe 5 ft. wide w/ walls 100+ feet. It was a very long chute as well. The water was absolutely gorgeous. This was also the shortest walk to Baring Falls and that was pretty neat as well. As we were driving along the eastern side of the park (still on Going to the Sun Highway) we passed the hanging gardens and a weeping wall and then came to Lake St. Mary. It was beautiful and we stopped at the boat launch and discovered that we could take a short cruise to the head of the lake. It was about 4 p.m. and we were nearing the park exit so we decided to come back for the cruise at 6 and went on to find a place to stay. St. Mary's Lodge was just outside the park and they had some rather rustic log cabins in addition to the lodge. The lodge did not accept pets (and every other place that did was full). They worked with us and we got a cabin which was right on the river. It had not been cleaned so they did that in a hurry...we kind of checked it out then drove back into the park to go on this cruise.
It was an interesting cruise. We went right around Wild Goose Island which is one of the most photographed sights in Glacier...it is a tiny island w/ a few evergreen trees in the middle of this gorgeous lake. The park ranger on board narrated the trip, including the geology and some of the history of Glacier. One of his concerns was global warming and what it is doing to the park...this is his 5th season here and when he started 5 years ago there were 39 glaciers in the park and now they are down to 26....who really knows for sure - we have heard conflicting reports all through the trip. When the cruise was over we headed back to the cabin, got our stuff out and let the dogs run a bit. We had dinner reservations at the lodge at 9 and after dinner, we headed for bed. I downloaded some pictures onto the laptop, but there was no internet so still can't get back to blog!
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