Dan and I arrived at Glacier National Park on July 16. We had ridden (still the BMW) quite a few miles that morning without finding breakfast or, more importantly, coffee- and were certainly ready for both when we saw a small coffee shop and stopped. The waitress was lovely and friendly with everyone, but just did not wait on us. Meanwhile we overheard another customer being told the coffee maker was not working. It took us a while, but we finally walked out and continued down the road towards Glacier Park to the closest town, St. Mary’s. We did find a nice place to have breakfast and I was even able to purchase a new CF card for my camera so I could take pictures at Glacier and save my old card to upload pictures when I returned to Florida. Good thing, too. When I tried to download, I had lost many pictures.
Soon Dan and I drove
into Glacier Park and were told that indeed the Road to the Sun road had just
opened! That was the good news; the bad
news was that there was quite a bit of construction going on. Although there is
the cute, red, Park Shuttle, Dan wanted to take the bike so off and up we rode. Compared to Banff and Jasper the snow had
melted off and the landscape was much greener, lakes and river were more
accessible. In Park literature, however,
we were warned that due to climate change these glaciers were melting and in
perhaps as little as twenty years the Park glaciers would probably be gone!
Our assessment was that even after the majestic splendor of Banff and Jasper, Glacier was still different and a great visit. Most memorable for me was the glacial run-off causing the ash blue water to blast over the rocks we stood on. The construction and limitation of where you could safely stop to snap a photo was a drawback.
Our assessment was that even after the majestic splendor of Banff and Jasper, Glacier was still different and a great visit. Most memorable for me was the glacial run-off causing the ash blue water to blast over the rocks we stood on. The construction and limitation of where you could safely stop to snap a photo was a drawback.
Road to the Sun, the main driving road and only road through
the park provides many long vistas to marvel at as you drive up over the
mountains through the park. There are
places you just can’t stop to get a picture, but on the back of the bike, I
could sometimes grab a picture while moving along. We stopped at the Visitor Center at Logan
Pass, the highest point, and were amused to see the skiers coming down off Logan Peak after walking up with gear to ski down. They were so “cool” in shorts or no shirt and ski boots! Hikers and bikers were plentiful and tourists like us filled the parking lot. High on a rocky steppe above
the parking lot we were able to spot a bighorn sheep looking down.
We continued down the mountain road, twisting and switchback
coasting to the beautiful glacial blue river raging at the bottom, and a
campsite. Whew! We were back to being able to have park entry
fees waived, and paying half price for a campsite due to our having a National Park Pass. Back to
the $10.00 per night campsite and buy wood for $6.00. Much better-so we went out to dinner at the
tourist town near Lake McDonald walking distance to our campsite at Apgar. In the morning we would be ready to head to
Eureka, the Ksanka Hotel and a soft bed by evening.
Here are some pictures of Glacier National Park, Montana
Here are some pictures of Glacier National Park, Montana
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| Glacier National Park |
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