The timing just barely worked out for us. We had planned to spend a day and a half at Glacier National Park in Montana on our recent vacation. The first day was to be Monday, September 30th on the west side of the park, and then on Tuesday, October 1st, we planned to check out the east side of the park for a little bit on our way north to Alberta. We were very glad that we spent our full day on the west side, because due to the government shutdown on October 1st, we never did get to go in on the east side.
We were just inside the park gates when we first encountered wildlife - this white-tailed deer.
Sadly, however, that would be the only wildlife larger than a squirrel that we saw all day. The weather wasn't great, and that certainly didn't help.
The road skirts one side of Lake McDonald for quite a distance. The lake and the sky were both rather grey that day, but beautiful nonetheless.
When we visited, Going-To-The-Sun Road was already closed for the winter and for repairs. (Usually it is open until weather makes it necessary to close it at Logan Pass, but this year it was scheduled for some repair work, so it was closed about a week before we arrived.) We decided to drive up the road as far as the closure and then work our way back down, stopping at some of the scenic overlooks and trailheads. The farther up the mountain we went, the colder and wetter the weather got! At The Loop (the highest point we could drive to), it was alternately snowing and hailing! (Go HERE to see a map of Going-To-The-Sun Road)
This is the longest tunnel we had to drive through. LOL
From the same spot, but looking down:
We decided to go just a little ways on the hiking trail at The Loop. While we would have liked to see a bear, we were just as glad we did not see one while hiking!
Okay, this is far enough for us. If you could see beyond that bridge, the trail appears to be only about two feet wide and along the side of a steep slope, plus by that time it was precipitating pretty hard. I believe that would be the quintessential 'wintry mix' often mentioned by weathermen - a combination of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and hail. Not even kidding.
Back at the Heaven's Peak overlook (which is where we parked), we had to pause long enough to take a "band picture". Between these album art photos and the finger-face photobombs (they will get their own post, I think), we certainly have some unique vacation memories...
At a stop further down the road (I think it was probably at Logan Creek):
Amazing how green some of the trees were; what a contrast to the grey skies!
We hiked to Avalanche Lake, but I'll share those pictures in a separate post.
We were just inside the park gates when we first encountered wildlife - this white-tailed deer.
Sadly, however, that would be the only wildlife larger than a squirrel that we saw all day. The weather wasn't great, and that certainly didn't help.
The road skirts one side of Lake McDonald for quite a distance. The lake and the sky were both rather grey that day, but beautiful nonetheless.
When we visited, Going-To-The-Sun Road was already closed for the winter and for repairs. (Usually it is open until weather makes it necessary to close it at Logan Pass, but this year it was scheduled for some repair work, so it was closed about a week before we arrived.) We decided to drive up the road as far as the closure and then work our way back down, stopping at some of the scenic overlooks and trailheads. The farther up the mountain we went, the colder and wetter the weather got! At The Loop (the highest point we could drive to), it was alternately snowing and hailing! (Go HERE to see a map of Going-To-The-Sun Road)
This is the longest tunnel we had to drive through. LOL
From the same spot, but looking down:
We decided to go just a little ways on the hiking trail at The Loop. While we would have liked to see a bear, we were just as glad we did not see one while hiking!
Okay, this is far enough for us. If you could see beyond that bridge, the trail appears to be only about two feet wide and along the side of a steep slope, plus by that time it was precipitating pretty hard. I believe that would be the quintessential 'wintry mix' often mentioned by weathermen - a combination of snow, sleet, freezing rain, and hail. Not even kidding.
Back at the Heaven's Peak overlook (which is where we parked), we had to pause long enough to take a "band picture". Between these album art photos and the finger-face photobombs (they will get their own post, I think), we certainly have some unique vacation memories...
At a stop further down the road (I think it was probably at Logan Creek):
Amazing how green some of the trees were; what a contrast to the grey skies!
We hiked to Avalanche Lake, but I'll share those pictures in a separate post.
********************************
This post was added to the Throwback Thursday Blog-Style link-up hosted by Tots and Me... Growing Up Together! on October 22, 2015
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