We
got up early and headed for the "Going to the Sun Road". We knew it
would be a long and wonderful journey and it turns out we were well placed to
leave as early as we did. We didn't
return home until 10 PM!
At
Glacier National Park, the Going to the Sun Road is the premier road through
the park. There are many turn outs along
the way for picture taking as well as trails for hiking. We took so many
wonderful images! All along the way we
were experimenting with different settings on our cameras and seeing how we
could represent the landscapes we were drinking in. The seemed to be no way to capture what we
were feeling and seeing, but we did our best trying!
There
are visitor centers at both East and West Glacier as well as at Logan
Point. We stopped at Logan Point to look
around and buy a few things.
We
had planned to hike and had found out about the trail to St. Mary and Virginia
Falls. We found the trail head and suited
up! That comprised of selecting our
camera gear, putting our lunch in the packs, and donning the bear spray. Cheri was the little scout and she carried
the bear spray and went first on the trial.
We
hiked through a previously burnt forest that was in the process of
rebirth. It was glorious! Sun shining, the lake below was filled with
rock flour and glistening with the blue green color that the region is famous
for. Remarkably, flowers were still
blooming. We got to St. Mary's and
carried on to Virginia. The sun came out
on the falls by the time we arrived and we had a picnic lunch on the rocks next
to the falls. So blessed!
We
hiked back and carried on along the Going to the Sun Road until we got to the
East Glacier visitor center. After
visiting the center and making a much needed pit stop, we decided to leave the
park and reenter into the Many Glaciers section of the park. There was a hike there that we wanted to
try. Along the way we saw the most
amazing yellow aspens with big blue sky and white puffy clouds! Oh did we make images!!!!
We
found the trailhead for the Swiftcurrent lake trail and started out. Cheri with the bear spray and Dottie with a
clanging metal water bottle. It was
wasn't long before we encountered some people on the trail who told us there
were two bull moose just off the trail ahead.
WAHOO!!!! bonanza!!!! Cheri had
waited years to see bull moose!!
Everyone was thrilled. We stood
on the trail and waited for them come out.
John graciously gave Cheri his camera when she asked if she could
shoot! Dottie, Cheri and John got some
great images.
We
heard there was bear in the area, but later learned the sighting had been about
2 miles away. We continued on and were
treated to magnificent reflections and great scenery.
We
got to the Hotel and the guys went to get the car. Dottie and Cheri talked with two Mennonite
women.
We
were all starving by then and agreed to find a place to eat dinner. We wondered aloud if the Two Sisters we had
seen on the way in might be open. We all
voted to go there if it was. LUCKY! It was not only open, but was fabulous!! Eclectic, amazing atmosphere and food. Painted On the roof as you come in is
"Aliens Welcome". John best bison steak he had ever eaten. It had a sauce of Huckleberry on top. Cheri and Dottie had bison burgers and Paul
had fried chicken.
We
didn't realize that we had two hours to drive to get home. Yikes! We had hoped to see e Milky Way while
we were out west, but had been told no way on that night because of
clouds. Wrong! Stunningly beautiful skies were at hand. We all enjoyed the night sky but were too
tired to shoot it.
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