Glacier Park-Day 6

Second to the last full day here at Glacier.  Today we decided to go to another entrance of the park that we hadn't been to yet.  It is called Two Medicine.  In order to get there we had to drive about 40 miles across windy mountainous roads.  We decided to hike a trail that went to a waterfall called Rockwell Falls, about a 7 mile hike with a gain of 375 feet.  Well, we took a wrong turn and ended up at Aster Falls and then Aster Park which was an extra two miles with a gain of 670 feet.  It was a beautiful vista of the surrounding area. However, it wore me out.  We had a great hike, saw two waterfalls and gorgeous scenery.  Frank and I cooled off our feet in the stream.  It was 100 degrees, but a dry heat makes it bearable.  We put on suntan lotion, wear our hats and drink lots of water.

 

Glacier Park-Day 5

It took us most of the day but we did get out for a small hike today.  We went to the 1913 Ranger Station which is not even inside the National Park directly.  First we viewed the sparse conditions of the Ranger Station.  Hard to imagine the isolation those rangers would of had and the hard work they would of had to endure.  Then e found the Beaver Pond Loop that was suppose to be a three mile hike.  It turned out being one of my favorite hikes of the week so far.  We passed through open meadows, sweeping mountain vistas and a dark and mysterious forest.  It wound through an area that burned in 2006.  

After the hike, we got some groceries at the foodmart, made supper and planned tomorrow's hike.  I think we will go to Two Medicine, another entrance to the park and do a hike called Rockwell Falls, 7 miles round trip.  That will be the last big hike. Saturday is still up for grabs.  It will be the last day.  Every night we watch the moon come up over the mountains.  It has been very peaceful.

Glacier Park- Day 4

I skipped a day of writing. We returned at about 8:00 to our little camper, unfed and dead tired. So, today we take the day off and get reorganized. It is amazing how quickly things get disarrayed. I always have wondered why things fall to chaos instead of order. So, I am sitting in the KOA laundromat doing two loads. We a running low on fresh fruits and vegetables. Very few can be bought here. I was a little unprepared on the food category. Next time I would know better. It is a long way out for a good grocery store. They have food marts but they have very little besides bread, milk, beverages, and expensive jars of peanut butter. So, we are getting creative with what we have. We have three more days here until we leave. But about yesterday first... It was a tremendous experience. We headed for Canada to the International Peace Park. It was the first in the world. Now there are several throughout the world that share a unique biodiversity, in this case the upper Rocky Mountains/Glacier area. Our guided hike started at 10:00 in Waterton Park which is a little village with stores and restaurents, hotels and a campground.  It is beautiful. I felt like I was in a European town in the Swiss alps....or at least what I would think of as a European town in the Swiss Alps being I have never been to one. High up on a hill welcoming the little village is the Prince of Wales National Historic Site. It is open to the public to tour and there is a restaurant in it. There were about 20 of us on the hike, half from Canada and the rest from all over the U.S. We had a Canadian and a U.S. park ranger guide us on the hike. We stopped periodically and discussed and had activities regarding "peace" under different perspectives. The hike was 8.5 miles...but Frank and I got an extra mile in because we forgot our passports in the car and had to hike back to the car at the marina to get them. We had parked at the marina to save walking back to our car after the hike. That didn't work out. We needed to buy a boat pass because when the hike ended at the other side of Upper Waterton Lake at Goat Haunt we were ferried back to Waterton. The hike was excellent. After the first couple hills which were very strenuous and I was wondering if I would make it or not, it was fairly straight with little altitude increase. It was especially fun to come across the border markers of Canada and the United States. There was a swatch of land cleared that indicated the boundaries of the two countries. We shook hands there with our Canadian neighbors on the hike. We experienced very old forest and learned about the plants and animals of the area. At the end of the hike, we got our passports stamped because it was a port of entry, as remote as it is. We then got on our boat and returned, exhausted, sore but satisfied to actually accomplish the hike. By the way, the U.S. ranger was originally from Minneapolis. He was excellent. Great sense of humor and made the hike especially entertaining. Photo are included. Anyway, today we are laying low. Listening to the machines hum in the laundrymat is rather therapeutic. I need to plan our last few days here before the long drive home. Hope Becky is taking care of the garden. I am missing the produce!

Glacier Park. Day 3

Today we started at the Saint Mary Welcome Center and signed up for the 8.5! mile hike in the Canadian side of the park.  It is called the international Peace Park Hike.  We will hike across the international boundary from Waterton to Goat Haunt and return by boat. It this blog is empty tomorrow, it will probably be the result of something that happened to me on this hike.  Think positive thoughts.  But more on that tomorrow.

We went over the Going-to-the-Sun road that is 55 miles and takes us out the west side of the park.  The scenery is spectacular.  We went to the Lake McDonald Lodge and I took some photos of the inside.  There was also a reading room there.  I took a photo of it for my Bookclub.    There is so much history here besides the beauty and wildlife.  We went to Apgar on the far west side of Glacier Park and had a picnic lunch on the beach of Lake McDonald.  We explored around Apgar Village.  i bought my girls a souvenir which i cannot divulge at this point. What is a huckleberry?  frfffffffffThen we went back to Avalanche Creek where there are a stand of virgin timber of cedar trees, some over 500 years old.  We walked a 5 mile hike to Avalanche Lake.  Two of the miles were up.  I am not sure I am in shape for tomorrow's little hike.  There were many waterfalls at the lake from melting snow off the mountains.

I was dead tired after that adventure.  Home for pasta and a beer. I earned it.

Glacier Park. Day 2.

We decided to wait to go to Canada.  There is a 7 mile interpretive hike we are thinking of doing and it is only offered on Wednesdays and Saturdays.  That gives me more time to get in condition for these hikes.

So, today we went to Many Glacier which is another entrance into the park with a tremendous lodge based on the architecture of a Swiss chalet.  We decided to do an 8 mile hike around several lakes so it is relatively flat.  It was definitely  a workout.  I got a wonderful photo of a glacier waterfall. 

We saw a Great Horned Owl that must of been at least 2 1/2 -3 feet tall.  Also, we saw a grizzly bear.  We had to use our binoculars to see it which was about as close to one as I wish to encounter.

Pictures from Day 1