Discovering Lodges

There are some amazing Lodges up here that have been built along lakes that I have discovered make a really nice place to go to for warming up around a big fireplace or having some social time in the saloon. I have met some really nice people from all over the place....everyone are very intrigued that I would be doing this trip solo......I have only met one other woman doing a solo road trip...a 20 year old from Denmark.
McDonald Lake Lodge.

Many Glacier Lodge.

Grinnell Glacier

The only way to see this glacier is to hike in....5.5 miles one way with an elevation gain of 1600 ft. !! As you can see from this information board, the glacier is melting causing huge chunks of ice to sluff off into the water....becoming icebergs.

A fairly strenuous hike...took about 7 hours...but I have to say it is the best hike I did here in Glacier National Park...maybe the best one of ALL my hikes so far....(the runner up is the one in Canada on Parker's Ridge)

Bear grass....though I did not see a bear, one of the park ranger's I passed had just come across one taking a bath in one of the lakes I hiked around. The icebergs floated around in the lake, changing positions as the wind blew them around.

Waterfalls coming off the glacier. Sooo much water...it's amazing they are not melting faster!

Looking back to where I started...on the far end of the far lake!!

Iceberg Lake

Hiked to Iceberg Lake.......4.8 miles one way with a 1200 foot elevation gain...a very cool hike as you would be hiking through forests one minute and the next you would be on the edge of a cliff in open meadows with fantastic views of the lakes and mountains.

The site at the end of the trail is breathtaking...and almost surreal...
even though there were no icebergs, there was a glacier that came down to the water's edge

Hanging out with a Blackfeet Indian

I attended one of the special presentations made by the Blackfeet Indians at the campground amphitheatre and met Jack Gladstone.....he invited me to stay at his cabin on the Reservation adjacent to the Park...so that is where I am now....getting reception on my aircard!

He has recorded a few CD's at Cedar Creek Recording Studio in Austin, Texas.
The Blackfeet were here long before this place became Glacier National Park and he has a story to tell!! Using his guitar and voice he continues the oral tradition of his ancestors.

Hiking around St. Mary Lake

Where are the Glaciers?

Jackson Glacier as seen from the road, the only one I understand that is visible from the road...I will be hiking to some and will have those photos for you later...

Well....they are disappearing......this sign along the road explains that they will be gone by 2030 but the new scientific estimates now say 2020!! This "Crown of the Continent" is the source for so many rivers. The continental divide here is actually a triple divide...with 3 drainage basins coming to a point....one to the Pacific Ocean, one to the Gulf of Mexico/Atlantic Ocean, and one to the Hudson Bay/Arctic Ocean.....very important source of water!! This park straddles the Canada/United States Border in the state of Montana so I may be going back and forth as I see this beautiful place.

Going-To-The-Sun Road

There is an amazing road that cuts through the middle of Glacier National Park right through the Rockies, which this is the narrowest section of the entire Rocky Mountain Range. The road itself is amazing, built in the 1930's with hand labor and then mechanized steam shovels, it is in a phase of reconstruction now and we had to wait for one lane traffic in several places.

In the springtime there is water gushing out of this wall, there is only a few trickles now.

Notice the guys hanging off the wall reconstructing the beautiful rock work that borders this road that just hangs off the cliff in most places...what an engineering marvel....a bit scarry too as it is very narrow...I think cars were smaller then.

The 1930 buses were refurbished with more efficient technology by Ford Motor Company in 2002 and now the fleet runs the road taking people for a grand tour. There is also a free shuttle system in place that I took the first time up the mountain...you ride a large bus up to Avalanche Creek and then get on a smaller one to go up to the top. A smaller one is parked right in front of the damage done by an avalanche in January...total destruction.
At one of the pulloffs I met this couple from Goldwaithe, Texas.....they have taken about the same route I have on this motorbike, tentcamping along the way..and they are older than me!! One thing I love about the National Parks is meeting people from all over the world, but when I meet someone from home it is special too...like I met a guy from Sulphur, Louisiana on a hike to Hidden Lake! Glad them cajuns are travelin!!

Colors of Glacier NP

There are soo many colors here.....I guess coming from the land of ice and snow, I just notice it more or maybe it's because the rock and minerals are so diverse.

Blue glacial water, red rocks...green trees.....ahhhh..... The 2 hour hike to Avalanche Lake was a very welcome sight. Fishing is allowed, no license needed inside the park..wow....and a limit of 2 Cuttroat Trout. There were a few fly fisherman, but noone catching anything.

The powerful avalanches uproot or snap trees and sweep the trunks downslope to water's edge.

Logans Pass in Glacier National Park

I didn't waste any time getting to the heart of Glacier National Park.....hiking above tree line at Logan's Pass.....it is a very popular hike so to protect the fragile landscape, a boardwalk has been built... BigHorn Sheep are off in the distance....thanks to the zoom on my camera I can bring them to you!

Ground squirrels seem to be so friendly and almost appear to pose for the camera.Hidden Lake, a glacier lake, is a nice reward at the top......situated in a half-moon-shaped cirque surrounded by mountains about 8600'