By the time we leave Glacier, we have hit 18 states and 5 National Parks.
The drive from Billings, MT to Glacier was pretty hairy as their mountain climbs are straight up instead of with switchbacks, so Lucy endured nonetheless. We were climbing up between 3200’ and 5200’ on I-90, and so I kept holding my breath as we approached summits along the way.
We drove Highway 2 into East Glacier and around the bottom of Glacier National Park on roads that are pretty good, but we hit a fair amount of rain and glad to get this drive over with …. But it was beautiful nonetheless.
We stayed at Moose Creek RV Resort, which has recently been bought from the previous owners. This is a young couple operating on an apparent shoe string, and so things were a little rustic, and the bathrooms were ridiculously outdated. They have grand plans, but it will be awhile before this campground is up to par with surrounding others.
On our first day in West Glacier, we spent time orienting ourselves to what was going on … went to the Visitor Center, got our bearings, and travelled up Lake McDonald a few miles to the Lodge, which dates back to 1914. This was a hub for the folks building the Going to the Sun Road, and today remains a beautiful spot for relaxing on the lake and having a glass of wine after a hard day of driving! Would love to stay there, but the budget limits us, and so back to our campground. This lake is over 10 miles long and so beautiful, with water crystal clear from the Glacier melt (and COLD!). Weather was sunny today and 66 degrees, but with high winds.
On our 2nd day, we got up really early to head up to Logan Pass. We tried to get a tour on the Red Bus tours, but they were completely booked, and we didn’t’ anticipate we would run into that issue. But driving ourselves up to the pass gave us more flexibility with our schedule and we were able to take Coco with us.
The environment cannot be adequately described in Glacier …. It’s pristine, it’s magnificent, it’s breathtaking, and frankly mind boggling. No pictures can reflect what you see with your eyes and so much of what we saw is confined to our memory. This place makes you so grateful for the sanctity of our National Parks, and hopefully they will always be preserved for generations to come. We have been to many of our beautiful national parks, and yet, we still have others to conquer in our travels.
There are many remarkable things about Glacier National Park, but one very intesting fact is that the waters melting from the glaciers and snowfields make their way to the Pacific, the Gulf of Mexico and Hudson Bay. This park straddles the Continental Divide in northwestern Montana.
Another wonderful thing going on in the Park is that this is one of the few places in North America where all native carnivores survive. There are grizzly bears, black bears, wolves who are now denning on the Flathead River for the first time in 50 years. Cougars are widespread in the park as well, along with elk and deer. There are over 250 kinds of birds ranging from bald and golden eagles, amongst many others, and 70 species of mammals that live in the International Peace Park. Native bull and cuttthroat trout are among over 25 species of native fish here. (This information is credited to and referenced in the Waterton-Glacier Map and visitor information brochure).
I don’t know if I already shared this, but my grandfather (Adrianne’s grandfather) was the contractor for the building of this Going to the Sun unbelievable road back in the 20’s, and we have family pictures in our album showing him and my Mimi and my mom up there during the summers in those years overseeing the construction of this very difficult task. Thus, this has been on a bucket list of mine for years!
I bought a really cool sign of the Going to the Sun Road that I can’t wait to display in our home office.
Logan Pass visit was a 45 degree day and so we were heavily layered. We were stunned by the beauty of many of the waterfalls along the road, McDonald Falls, Sacred Dancing Cascade Falls, Red Rock Falls.
We did a side trip afterwards to Columbia Falls and Hungry Horse Dam and Reservoir. Had a picnic in hand, and thought it would be nice to picnic at North Lion Lake in the National Forest….. until ….. sleet, hail, heavy rain, and so completed our picnic in the front seat of our van! It was great nonetheless. Think we spent about 3 minutes on a picnic bench before all this weather set in.
Wish I had bought some Huckleberry stuff – Montana is known for it prolific huckleberry products! Thus the number of bears who love them also.
On to Coeur D’Alene, ID. We drove through Kalispell, MT and the beautiful banks of Flathead Lake. This lake is immense, and it took us over an hour to just cover one north/south side of the lake on the west side. This lake reminded us of the ambience of Lake Chelan in Washington State. Surrounded by the huge Rocky Mountains created a picture of immense beauty. Very pristine, and enjoying many water activities, including an active sailing community throughout the lake. The town at the bottom of the lake is Polson, and really reminded us of the town of Chelan and its multitude of activities for family fun! Would be a great vacation spot for families and kids. And a brand new Walmart for us to go resupply!
A few more high passes, but Lucy hangs in there still thankfully, and now we are warming back up – took a shower and put shorts and flip flops back on! Woo hoo! Nothing out of the ordinary, and a campground that’s jam packed and not well maintained. Off to Wenatchee tomorrow!
Looking forward to a week of seeing friends, chilling, relaxing, getting our hair cuts with our friend in East Wenatchee, who did our hair for years, seeing her mom who dog sat for Coco for so long, and just some mellow moments. After that, on to Snoqualmie, and seeing our FAMILY! Yay – can’t wait to give our little guys Hadden and Logan a big hug and spending some quality time with them for a few days before heading over to Belfair State Park for our month of Camp Hosting, which we are also very excited about for the month of August! More later!
Such an interesting post, B&A! And your photos are gorgeous! Such a beautiful part of our country!
Great pictures! Love Glacier I’m usually there every two years. Still planning next summers trip but I’m thinking of Glacier again and then going up into Canada to Banff and Jasper.
Beautiful pics you two! I love all the falls and just talking about 60’s feels good. Everything ok here. Notice to mailman is both on the inside and the outside of the box so we shall see.