These photos are from Wednesday, 7/29. After a yummy breakfast at the lodge, we headed out for Many Glacier on the east side of Glacier NP. One of the disadvantages of taking pictures from the bike is that I can't take notes of the names of lakes and things, so I have to rely on my memory. Ha! Fat chance of that :( You recall I'm going to be 60 in about a week, right? So I do remember there was a Lake St. Mary and a Sherburne Lake, but honestly I don't know for sure which is which in the pictures. So enjoy the scenery, and forgive me for not providing an accurate account of what you're seeing.
Trying to shoot the picture behind me again, forgive the antenna :)
It's very lush in many areas of the park.
Clouds hanging around again, but we didn't get wet. In fact, we had beautiful days in the park.
There are still a few pockets of snow here and there at the higher elevations. The photos don't do justice to the size of these mountains. They make you feel very, very small.
I'm pretty sure this is Lake St. Mary.
We stopped in St. Mary for some coffee, and of course there were more beautiful flowers everywhere.
Kari was cold, so she broke out the rain gear for an extra layer. Long sleeve shirt, hoodie, leather jacket, and a rain jacket on top, jeans and rain pants on the bottom. I think she finally got warm sitting out in the sunshine with some hot coffee :-)
Obviously petunias love this climate.
Some parts of the road were pretty rough. It was a challenge to watch the road, keep the bike moving and upright, and snap photos. The ultimate in "point and shoot" photography!
The landscape isn't really slanted, it's just the photographer not holding the camera quite straight.
The water is a beautiful, clear green color. Jim tells me that's caused by minerals in the runoff from the mountains.
Darn vehicles get in the way of the pretty picture.
I "think" this is now Sherburne Lake. Don't quote me on that.
Kari getting a photo.
The Many Glacier Lodge. This is where I originally wanted to stay, but I guess you have to book this one a year or so in advance. Now I see why... gotta stay here one of these days, the views are breathtaking!
One of the buildings nestled in the mountainside.
We stopped at the top for a cold drink, and of course more flowers...
On the way back down the mountain. Are you tired of looking at big rocks yet? I just never get enough of these views.
Loving the blue sky!
When we got back down to St. Mary, we decided to take the road north toward the Canadian border. The landscape changes to beautiful farmland nestled against the mountains.
Horses grazing on the hill. I thought I got a closer shot, but I guess I missed that one.
More Blackfoot Indian sculptures.
The flag of the Blackfeet Nation.
Cool rock formations off in the distance.
Headed back to St. Mary, we passed the firefighters' incident base. These are the huge helicopters that dip water out of the reservoir to drop on the fire.
I just caught the edge of the encampment where the firefighters are staying. There were at least a couple of hundred tents set up in the area.
We really hadn't seen much of the fire area, but the wind shifted and we could now see it from the road near St. Mary. This is the eastern end of Going to the Sun Road, closed from St. Mary to Big Bend. I'm going to have to get back here to ride that and actually see the glaciers.
A couple of shots of the Glacier Park Lodge on the way back in. It's tough to get a good photo because of all of the beautiful trees in front of the structures. The lodge was built in the 1940's by the Great Northern Railroad.
Once off the bike, I walked down through the gardens in front of the lodge to get these.
Jim, Kari and I said our goodbyes after a scrumptious dinner of smoked prime rib in the Empire Bar dining room. I was hitting the road early to try to get some photos of the Going to the Sun Road on the west side of the park before I headed out for my two day ride to Lake Powell. Jim and Kari were going on to Great Falls, MT to visit her parents, about 90 miles or so east of the park. It was great seeing my cousin Jim, who will turn 60 about two weeks after me. We are both the babies of our families. Jim grew up with three big sisters, Firelei, Jane and Carla. They both spoiled and tormented him all through childhood :-)
In the morning, I rode back over to the west side of the park. It was 39 degrees when I left the lodge. Brrrr!!! I didn't bother with the electric gear, but added a couple of layers under the jacket and turned the heat on in the grips. I stopped for breakfast and coffee in West Glacier before heading up "the road." Unfortunately the rest of the world was doing the same, so I was only able to ride about 15 miles of the 33 miles that were open up to Big Bend. At Avalanche campground, the park rangers were stopping traffic because the road at the top was already full. The choice was to park the bike and take a shuttle up, or wait until they let more vehicles in. So, with a schedule to sort of keep and 1,000 miles to get to Lake Powell in 2 days, I opted to turn around and head out. I did get a few shots of the river on the way down.
The water is crystal clear!
I love the way the river has carved out its path over millions of years.
Lake McDonald
Some information about the fires in the last 12 years. Over 36,000 acres burned in 2003 in several separate fires.
I hated to say goodbye to this beautiful park, but it was time to get on the road. I took many more pictures on my way to Lake Powell, and I'll try to get those posted Sunday evening when I stop for the night on my journey back east. I chose to take U.S. 93 south from Kalispell instead of the interstate, so while it added a hundred miles or so and was a bit slower, the scenery was well worth it. The Salmon River Scenic Byway in Idaho was awesome! Fun curves and great views.
I haven't quite figured out the route home yet, since the ferry from Bullfrog to Hall's Crossing on Lake Powell is closed and that's how I had planned to leave Lake Powell. I'd like to ride some of the Glen Canyon National Recreation Area (Bullfrog is located within the park), but I'm going to have to look at the map. I won't be taking my laptop on the houseboat, but I'll certainly be taking a lot of pictures. So stay tuned, I'll be back in a couple of days!
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